Jesse Tyler Ferguson says he once considered returning to the world of Modern Family, but ultimately decided he was ready to move on to new roles.
The actor, who played Mitchell Pritchett for all 11 seasons of the hit ABC comedy, spoke about the idea during the March 3 episode of his Dinner’s on Me podcast.
Ferguson revealed that producers had discussed the possibility of a spinoff that would continue the story of Mitchell and Cameron, the characters he and Eric Stonestreet portrayed on the show. Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who played their on-screen daughter Lily, was also part of the early conversations.
“At one point the studio was talking about a spinoff with Eric and me,” Ferguson said. “It was definitely something that came up.”
The discussions happened shortly after Modern Family ended in 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around that time, Ferguson had been preparing for the Broadway revival of Take Me Out, which was delayed because of the pandemic. The pause gave him time to think more carefully about what he wanted to do next in his career.
As the spinoff idea began to take shape, Ferguson said he realized he wanted the chance to try different projects rather than return immediately to the same character.
“I had this moment where I thought, ‘I want to date other people,’” he said, using the phrase as a metaphor for exploring new roles.
Although the project never moved forward, Ferguson made it clear he still has a strong connection to the series and the people he worked with for more than a decade.
He added that while he chose to pursue other opportunities for now, he wouldn’t rule out working with the Modern Family cast again in the future.
