Aubrey Anderson-Emmons has opened up about her experience as a child actress in the hit ABC sitcom “Modern Family.” The 16-year-old played Lily Tucker-Pritchett for nine seasons, making her first appearance on the show at the age of four.
In a TikTok video posted on Tuesday (March 16), Aubrey explained that she landed the role thanks to her mother’s agent. The teenager is the daughter of actress and writer Amy Anderson.
After “three or four auditions,” Aubrey got to meet who would become her on-screen father. “I had a chemistry read with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays my dad on the show. He’s the ginger one, [I] love him,” the California-born star recalled.
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons has opened up about her experience as a child actress on “Modern Family”
Image credits: aubreyandersonemmons
“We were very lucky. ‘Modern Family’ is one of those shows where the actors are not [on set] every single day, so it was easier for me growing up,” she explained. This is because the series follows multiple families, meaning each actor has fewer scenes compared to a show with fewer characters.
“It was a little bit stressful for my mom, I bet, but I was probably there two to three days a week.”
Aubrey then said the most common question she gets asked after people learn that she was a child actress is whether growing up on a TV set was “really fun.”
Aubrey played Lily Tucker-Pritchett for nine seasons on the hit ABC sitcom
Image credits: aubreyandersonemmons
“The thing that I think people don’t realize is that I was working. If I wasn’t working on the set, then I had to do three hours of studio school a day, so I had no time to rest except for lunch,” she said.
“There are moments that were fun, for sure. And there were things I loved about it. But, you know, it is work.”
Growing up on the set of “Modern Family,” the 16-year-old worked with Miss Sharon, whom she describes as “the best studio teacher.” Ariel Winter, Nolan Gould, and Rico Rodriguez all took classes with her as well.
She started working on the show when she was only four years old
Image credits: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
“Then they graduated all before me. When I was ten years old and above, I was doing school with nobody but the set teacher — which is nice because you get more one-on-one time, but then you’re also not having social interactions with other kids.”
The actress also revealed that she was homeschooled while working on the show. “Because I was on set a lot, my mom decided to homeschool me from the first grade,” she said.
“Modern Family is one of those shows where the actors are not [on set] every single day, so it was easier for me growing up,” the 16-year-old explained
Image credits: IMDB/Peter “Hopper” Stone/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc
After three or four auditions, a young Aubrey had a chemistry read with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays her dad on the show
Image credits: IMDB/Richard Foreman/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc
Now, she’s attending a public high school, where she has reconnected with her passion for acting following a “break” from her career.
“I started the theater class at my school. And I was like, ‘I kinda want to do this!’ And now I’m auditioning again,” she shared. Currently, she doesn’t have any specific TV or film projects she’s working on.
However, she hopes to release new music soon, which is another one of her passions.
Aubrey is now working on her music career and taking theater classes at her high school
@aubreyandersonemmons Very greatful to have been on a show that made so many people smile:) #modernfamily #fyp #foryou ♬ original sound – aubrey
Aubrey’s positive experience on set contrasts with that of other former child stars. Recently, a group of Nickelodeon stars have come forward with their stories of abuse on the set of popular shows that aired from the 1990s to the 2000s.
The five-part Investigation Discovery “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” highlights the toxic work environment of the children’s television channel and exposes negative behind-the-scenes details about the child actors’ experiences on set, including allegations of sexual abuse.
People pointed out that Aubrey’s positive experience differs from that of other child stars
