Modern Family prepared Jesse Tyler Ferguson for fatherhood.
The 50-year-old actor's alter ego, Mitchell Pritchett, helped the star learn how to communicate with and understand children through his on-set relationship with Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who played Lily, the adopted daughter of Mitchell and husband Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet).
Jesse - who has sons Beckett, 5, and Sullivan "Sully", three, with his 40-year-old spouse, producer-and-actor Justin Mikita - explained to Parents: "Aubrey was about three when we started, which is wild to me because she was as young as my youngest is now.
"I can't even imagine him having a job!
"But there's a lot of downtime on set. For me, it was about having conversations and communicating with kids in a way that wasn't patronising, but also getting to know kids as people.
"It taught me a lot about meeting her where she was at...communicating with them through questions and just being open to their questions.
"It gave me a good practice run at that."
Jesse has yet to introduce Beckett and Sully to Modern Family, which ran on ABC from 2009 until 2020.
He said: "They know that I was on TV, but they have never seen Modern Family."
But in 2024, the tots experienced their dad's fame when he, Eric, Sofia Vergara (Gloria Delgado-Pritchett), Ed O'Neill (Jay Pritchett), Julie Bowen (Claire Dunphy), and Ty Burrell (Phil Dunphy) reunited at the SAG Awards to present the Ensemble in a Comedy Series category, which FX's The Bear won.
Jesse recalled: "A few years ago, the full adult cast of Modern Family presented at the SAG Awards. I got all dressed up in my suit, and they said goodnight to me.
"Justin let them stay up and watch. So they saw me on television in the exact same suit I had just left the house in. It was probably weird and abstract for them, but it wasn't like they thought I was inside the TV.
"They knew that something was happening elsewhere."
Jesse is still very close with his Modern Family co-stars.
He said: "Honestly, I think it was just a lucky moment in time that we all came together. They always talk about lightning in a bottle, and that's truly what it felt like.
"If you're with a group of people for 11 years, there's going to be ups and downs, but the valleys were just never deep enough to sever bonds.
"There are reasons that you love people and reasons that people drive you crazy, but you still love them immensely."
