It was quite the ride for Ariel Winter during her time on Modern Family – her career has been filled with ups and downs – mostly ups when it came to her time on the show;
"It’s pretty insane that I’ve basically spent half of my life on the show, but it really has been an amazing experience for me. I work with amazing people, and I honestly am so grateful for everything I’ve done and all the people I’ve met," she continued. "They’re basically a family I grew up with -- the crew, the cast, everybody -- so it is crazy to be doing something for that long because most shows don’t go that long, and we are so beyond lucky that we have."
Like the rest of us, she did have some struggles which included body image. However, once again, thanks to the show, it was another hurdle she was able to climb, as she explains with Teen Vogue;
“As I got older, I was surrounded by people like Sofia Vergara, and people who were curvier like me and were proud of it," Ariel said. "And [they] were showing it off. That really helped me to move forward and be proud of my body."
It was basically all ups throughout her journey on the show, however, she does recall one episode in which she wasn’t exactly thrilled with her role.
Winter Loves To Look Back At The Highs And Lows On The Show
Perhaps the biggest role model throughout the show’s history was the Alex character. Surprisingly, Winter doesn’t feel the same way and instead, she doesn’t like the term role model in general;
"It sucks for the person you're putting on the pedestal because nobody's perfect and we all make mistakes," she says. "The role model idea is, 'Follow this perfect person and your life will be great,' But that doesn't exist. So, for me, I think (being a) role model is kind of crap. Everyone should grow to be their own unique person that they love and that they're happy with."
She spent half her life on the show, so it only makes sense that she loves to look back on the best and worst moments. Winter admits with USA Today that her braces stage wasn’t exactly her favorite moment during the show’s lengthy run;
"It's a lot of fun because we now get to go back and look at our younger years," says Winter. "We can be like, 'Oh, wow! That's the year I had braces. That sucked.' You get to have those memories on video."
We’ll all be enjoying those reruns for years to come. Though as she admitted in the past interviews, Winter was ready to move on.
Though She Was Ready To Move On
Winter is excited for the road ahead – she’ll get the chance to take on a different role and that excites the young star;
“I’m excited to explore new characters as a young woman instead of the awkward child you see here,” she shared. “There are a lot of amazing roles for women coming up that I’d love a shot at! I also plan on producing content.”
Along with acting, Winter decided to further her education with UCLA – prepping for life beyond acting;
“I could be working now and then never work again the next 10 years, so I thought it’s important to have knowledge in another subject that you like, that you could have as a plan in the future.”
Clearly, she’s ready for her post-Modern Family life. She’ll always have the memories of being a major part of the sitcom and family we all envied. However, it wasn’t all hugs and kisses – as she admitted on the Ellen Show, there was a particular episode she wasn’t fond of.
She Wasn’t Happy With The Halloween Episode
She dropped this major bombshell during the Ellen Show, claiming she was none too pleased during the Halloween episode, which saw her locked up in a cage throughout the show, while the others had fun on-set throughout the filming.
Looking back, Winter wishes things would have gone differently, especially given how much she loves Halloween outside of the show.
Teen Vogue has the proof, as a couple of years back, Winter dressed in three different couples’ costumes alongside her former man Levi. She definitely made up for it, as she dressed like her normal self inside of the cage during the particular Modern Family episode – it was a very Alex like move but not one that real Ariel Winter was fond of!
Sources – Good Morning America, Teen Vogue, USA Today, YouTube & Good Morning America