Ty Burrell is one of the most beloved comic actors in recent years, and there’s a reason behind that. The actor’s breakout performance in Modern Family has been winning hearts since 2009 and continues to draw new fans even now.
In fact, his onscreen chemistry with Julie Bowen, who played his wife in the series and won an Emmy for it, was so good that people couldn’t get enough of them. Inevitably, he didn’t take it so well when his co-star’s award win was questioned and degraded by the media.
In a spectacular show of solidarity and admiration for Bowen, Ty Burrell called out the criticism boldly. Of course, in true Phil Dunphy fashion, the most respectful manner.
Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen made their marks in Modern Family
Ty Burrell’s Phil Dunphy in Modern Family won over fans from the very first episode. The emphatic, well-meaning, and goofy dad in contrast to Julie Bowen’s strict, if somewhat uptight Claire Dunphy charmed the fans so well that it is a shock to many fans to learn that he almost missed out on the role entirely.
What makes that fact even more surprising is the fact the show’s creators Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan wrote the character for him in the first place. Thankfully, things worked out for the best for Burrell in the end and that’s what matters.
More importantly, the series also proved Julie Bowen’s self-diagnosis of being unfunny wrong so well that she earned six Emmy nominations for her performance and won two of them in 2011 and 2012.
Interestingly, she once noted in an interview with Metro UK that as much as she loves winning the award, “it also means everyone has got a clear shot at you and that is a very frightening prospect for most of us.”
Unfortunately, her fears were not exactly unfounded as just after her win she had to face severe criticism from the late Deadline founder Nikki Finke. In a live commentary during the Emmys 2012, Finke wrote in the outlet,
Listen-up, Hollywood: Beautiful actresses are not funny. They don’t know how to do comedy…Only women who grew up ugly and stayed ugly, or through plastic surgery became beautiful, can pull off sitcoms or standups. Bowen isn’t a comedienne just like Brooke Shields wasn’t and a zillion more.
Moreover, Finke also urged Hollywood to not cast Julie Bowen or other “beautiful actresses” in sitcoms. This, obviously, didn’t go over so well with Ty Burrell. As a result, he came with blazing guns to defend his co-star and onscreen wife. However, in the most polite way possible.
Ty Burrell defended Julie Bowen’s Emmy win in true Phil Dunphy fashion
Ty Burrell appeared for an interview with Vulture shortly after Nikki Finke’s opinions made waves in the industry. Burrell’s interview was centered around Butter, the comedy-drama movie starring Jennifer Garner opposite him as his wife, with the added star power of Hugh Jackman in the mix.
However, in light of the controversy, the topic inevitably turned to that. When asked about his opinion on the matter, the Black Hawk Down actor didn’t shy away from stating his response as plainly as possible.
Is she saying Julie isn’t funny? I don’t believe that to be true. I would guess that Nikki Finke’s premise is that there haven’t been enough obstacles in her life to be funny. I think Kristen Wiig would have something to say about that. She’s beautiful and probably the funniest person walking around.
As it stands, Nikki Finke wasn’t the first person to share such views, nor would she be the last. Moreover, few award wins have ever resulted in complete applause from the audience and media without questioning it.
Hence, the biggest takeaway from the debacle is the grace Julie Bowen showed even while facing such commentaries, and the way Ty Burrell stood up for her given the slightest chance. If anything, this only cemented what fans already knew about the Modern Family cast. That is, they truly became family over the years.
Modern Family is streaming on Hulu.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
