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Julie Bowen Says Ariel Winter Is “Fantastic” After Emancipation: “I’m Really Proud of Her”

Ariel Winter and Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen updated Us Weekly on how her on-screen daughter Ariel Winter has been doing after her recent official emancipation from her mother.

Ariel Winter has the full support of her Modern Family! Actress Julie Bowen shared with Us Weekly how her on-screen daughter has been doing since her recent emancipation following a three-year custody battle.

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"She's so good," the Modern Family actress, 45, told Us at Jhpiego's Laughter Is the Best Medicine event at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, on Tuesday, May 19. "She's emancipated, and she worked really hard for that. She worked really hard for that."

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Bowen praised the 17-year-old star, who's played her precocious middle child on the series since 2009, for facing such difficult personal circumstances. "I'm really proud of her," the star told Us. "She's really become a very responsible young woman, and that was a very trying time."

In 2012, Winter was removed from her mother Chrisoula "Chrystal" Workman's care after startling allegations of physical and emotional abuse surfaced. In 2014, her big sister Shanelle Gray was named Winter's official guardian.

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Just last Friday, May 15, Winter announced via Twitter that she was officially emancipated at age 17. "I'm really lucky I have an amazing support system and lovely people in my life who have given me the support and guidance to have been given this wonderful opportunity," the actress wrote. "Most importantly I want to thank @shanelle_gray and my father [Glenn Workman] for their special support regarding this matter, I really couldn't have done it without them."

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According to Bowen, Winter — like her on-screen persona Alex Dunphy — is an actual prodigy. Winter told E! this week that she plans to go from the small screen to law school. "I would love it [if she became a lawyer]," Bowen told Us on Tuesday. "She can do anything she wants. She's a genius. She's a smart, smart girl."

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