Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Mitchell Pritchett on “Modern Family” was a revolutionary character. As one of the first gay characters played by an out gay actor in network primetime, the impact he and his onscreen husband Cam (Eric Stonestreet) had on political issues like marriage equality and the generally widespread societal acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community cannot be overstated.
But in a “Dinner’s on Me” podcast interview published Tuesday, the five-time Emmy nominee remembers the balancing act of playing Mitchell being a “tricky” one, noting that gay audiences were particularly harsh toward the character for not living up to their expectations.
“I was in the trenches fighting for marriage equality, and I felt so lucky to be part of a pop culture touchstone that was also part of that same issue,” Ferguson told guest Riz Ahmed. But the series’ cultural prominence came with some baggage, too.
“It was tricky for me because I had to tune out that noise of a community wanting me to do it correctly and preciously and, you know, my desire to do it with nuance and levels and layers and also poignancy,” he said. “I just felt like there was no way to please both camps.”
The tension especially came, the actor said, in his desire to lean into Mitchell’s flaws at a time when, by his account, a lot of LGBTQ+ audiences were wanting a character a bit more polished to represent them.
“I felt a responsibility from the community when I was given a role like the one I had on ‘Modern Family’ to get it right and to do it with care and precision,” Ferguson said. “I’m in a place where I’m, as an actor, being given a role where I’m attracted to the messiness of that character. I’m attracted to their flaws. Like, that’s what makes it interesting — and honestly, that’s what makes the audience interested in watching me.
“No one wants to see perfect people. No one wants a sitcom or a movie where it’s like everything just happens neatly,” he continued. “And yet, I felt like, you know, at least in the first few seasons of ‘Modern Family,’ being put on a pedestal in a way as far as like, OK, this is the gay couple that’s a network television on a huge show. They better get this right.”
Ferguson remembered one storyline where “the gays were furious” because Mitchell didn’t want to kiss Cam in public. Instead of considering the traumatic reasons PDA might be out of Mitchell’s comfort zone, the actor remembered feeling like the response was just, “Why are they not kissing?”
“It was more powerful to show the story of like, why is this character worried about showing public displays of affection with his partner?” Ferguson shared. “It’s because of his past. It’s because of his history. It’s because of the trauma he had as a kid growing up and being gay and being teased by his sister. It’s like all these things that made the story interesting and made it last for 11 years are the things that I was also being criticized for.”
Listen to Ferguson’s entire “Dinner’s on Me” podcast episode with “Relay” star Ahmed here.
