Julie Bowen Shares How ‘Modern Family’ Cast Maintains Strong Friendships

The cast of Modern Family developed deep friendships with one another while filming 11 seasons of the hit ABC comedy. Though the show ended in 2020, their friendships have remained. 

In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Julie Bowen, who starred as Claire Dunphy on the show, said the key to staying connected is their text group thread. “The group chat is everything, because we’re all spread out,” she explained. Eric Stonestreet lives in Missouri, Ty Burrell lives in Utah, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Sarah Hyland are both in London. “The group chat is the key.” 

“We’ll just throw things on there, things that crack us up, nice things,” Bowen continued. “We’re always chatting.” 

In her own June interview with PEOPLE, Sofia Vergara, who starred on the show as Gloria Pritchett, also mentioned their group chat, noting that her on-screen husband, Ed O’Neill, is the hardest to keep up with. “Yes, we do. We do, and we use it a lot. It’s very confusing. Ed answers like five days later about something, and then we have no clue what he’s answering about. So it’s pretty cool,” she explained at the time. 

In August, Bowen, O’Neill, Vergara, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson reunited, sharing a snap on Instagram to excited fans. “With my American family!!! ❤️❤️ I cant believe its been 6 yrs since the Modern Family finale!!!😫😫 I miss u guys!!!” Vergara captioned the photo. Ferguson wrote alongside his photos from their reunion, “I love these people.”

Modern Family premiered in 2009. The 2020 series finale marked the show’s 250th episode. During its run, the show won 22 Emmy Awards out of 88 nominations. Since the show ended, O’Neill has largely stayed out of the spotlight, resurfacing as the disgraced Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in FX’s Clipped and having a recurring role in 2025’s All’s Fair. This winter, he’ll appear in the Netflix film Bad Day with Cameron Diaz and Danielle Brooks.