Hard to say goodbye! Julie Bowen revealed she had an emotional first day back to work on Modern Family‘s final season in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly on Wednesday, November 20.
“I had a hysterical crying fest the first day back,” Bowen, 49, told Us while chatting about her partnership with Genentech. “We always go back and do, like, a table read and we do, like, photos, you know. And that day for some reason just wrecked me. So much so that I thought ‘Oh my God, the rest of the season is gonna be a disaster.'”
Bowen added that she didn’t have time to focus on the show ending for long because she was immediately swept up in wrapping the final season.
“That first day I just couldn’t get my breath,” the actress, who portrays mom Claire Dunphy, recalled. “I kept sobbing. It was sort of the beginning of the end. Now we’re in the groove it’s hard to imagine. It’s like your last year of college or something you’re like, you’re almost done. You’re like ‘Really? it doesn’t feel like it. Talk to me after I finish that final exam and then I’ll be sobbing.'”
However, she believes Eric Stonestreet will shed a few tears when filming ends. “I actually think Eric Stonestreet is going to cry a lot,” she told Us. “He is such a softie. He really, really has a heart of gold and is a teddy bear and this job has been such a huge part of life, I mean it’s been a huge part of all of our lives. But he’s the first to say he was doing commercials and getting little guest star parts and was a working actor but this has been such a life-changing thing, and he’s just such a nice midwestern boy with the best heart and he’s gonna sob.”
As for how the sitcom will end, Bowen’s guess is as good as the fans. The Maryland native told Us that she still doesn’t know what the conclusion of the show will be. However, she hopes the show continues to bring the comedy like it has since its premiere in 2009.
“My goal is just to deliver what we’ve been delivering for 10 years and give that to ourselves and the people that watch the show because it would be disingenuous to suddenly become a soap opera or like too much learning and hugging. People learn and hug on comedies but hopefully not too much because then it’s not as funny,” Bowen said.
The Modern Family cast has grown into a real family over the years. Bowen told Us that it’s been “weird and fantastic” to watch the once-child actors grow up.
Bowen and Stonestreet, 48, star on the comedy series along with Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Nolan Gould, Sarah Hyland, Ed O’Neill, Sofia Vergara and Ariel Winter.
Modern Family’s final season airs on Wednesdays on ABC at 9 p.m. ET.
