GROWING UP IN THE SPOTLIGHT
ACTRESS ARIEL WINTER ON PLAYING ALEX DUNPHY, AND HOW MODERN FAMILY CHANGED HER LIFE
Being in the industry is a different lifestyle than if I was a normal kid. You have to learn different things — ARIEL
Ariel Winter didn’t take long to become a household name across the world, with her role as Alex Dunphy on the epic comedy series Modern Family. She started as a child actor and is now a successful adult with impeccable comedic timing and acting chops. Here’s Alex talking to us!
Q Are there any similarities between you and Alex?
A lot. I mean, the snarkiness is not all acting. I am very sarcastic at times. I started acting when I was four, and I always loved it. And now I want to go to film school. What I like about Alex is that she’s more of a role model.
She’s showing the teen girls that being intelligent is important and getting a good education is one of the most important things in life.
Q Jesse Ferguson said that the writers try to make you work with your personality and then the character’s and, like, kind of mix it in..
They try and use a lot of our personality traits in the characters. It’s difficult to kind of merge them, but for me, it was pretty easy. The biggest difference is Alex doesn’t really care about friends and doesn’t care about how she looks as opposed to, as you can tell, I do. Q What kind of artists are you inspired by?
I love Adele, Rihanna and Katy Perry. What I like about Adele is that she doesn’t have to have a full dance routine to go up on stage and perform. She can just stand there and sing, and it moves an entire stadium because she’s got an incredible voice. In my music, I want to have fun beats because I like to dance.
Q How is your relationship with your sister in real-life compared to your relationship with Haley?
My sister and I look exactly alike and sound exactly alike, but Alex and Haley are polar opposites. My sister has more of a motherly relationship with me, but we’re still best friends. Even though we fight, we could probably talk to each other about everything.
Q What kind of advice did the other actors give to you?
Nobody really gives advice. We all do our job and then, once we’re done with our acting, talk about our lives and normal things. But I have had a lot of the actors just tell me to stay sane because it’s really difficult to.
Q What makes it hard to stay sane, do you think, in the entertainment industry?
Just everything. It’s a different lifestyle than if I was just a normal kid. I get up at 5 am, come to work at 6 am. Then I go to a press junket, or to an event or then I come home and do my schoolwork. You just have to
Q What’s the best and the worst thing about being famous?
One of the greatest things I like is being able to be a role model. A kid once told me that after seeing Alex’s glasses and braces, the kids at school stopped bullying him.
The worst parts are the early call times. I’m not a morning person, so waking up at 4:00 a.m is hard.
Q Whose career would you like to emulate?
Natalie Portman. She’s had an incredible career and she’s extremely classy.
Q Who, from the cast, cracks you up the most?
Well, I work with Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell and Sarah and Nolan mostly. Julie Bowen says some very crazy things, and Sophia Vergara’s accent always manages to kill me.
(Modern Family seasons 1–8 air weekdays at 8:30 pm on Star World and Star World HD)