Top 20 Stars You Forgot Appeared on Modern Family
#20: Judy Greer as Denise
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If you’re a fan of romantic comedies, there’s a good chance you recognize Judy Greer, but you’re not quite able to place her. She’s a character actress known for her “best friend” roles in films like “13 Going on 30,” and “27 Dresses.” She’s also been featured in comedy series like “The Big Bang Theory,” “Arrested Development,” and, of course, “Modern Family.” In season 1, Judy Greer plays Denise, Phil’s ex-girlfriend, whom Claire is convinced is flirting with him through their Facebook messages. When Phil invites Denise over to prove that she’s just being friendly, she and Claire get along surprisingly well, but it isn’t long before Phil finds out Claire was right.
#19: Mary Lynn Rajskub as Tracy
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Although Mary Lynn Rajskub has starred in a plethora of movies and TV shows--seriously, check out her IMDb!--she’s most known for portraying Chloe O’Brian in the action drama series “24” and Gail the Snail in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” She can also be recognized in popular titles like “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Gilmore Girls,” as well as more recent films like “Night School.” In “Modern Family” she plays Mitchell’s ex-girlfriend. In a typical “Modern Family” misunderstanding, Mitchell sees her with a red-headed boy who he believes could be his son. When Cam and Mitch confront her about it, they discover that the boy is, in fact, a man--and Tracy’s husband.
#18: Lauren Cohan as a Receptionist
This one is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of cameo. In an early season of “Modern Family”, “The Walking Dead”’s Lauren Cohan was featured as a walk-on receptionist for Billingsley, “the Harvard of preschools”. In their search for the best preschool to enroll Lilly in, Mitch and Cam score an interview with Billingsley School, and are greeted by none other than Maggie Greene--before the Zombie Apocalypse, that is. If you’re not familiar with “The Walking Dead”, you might know Cohan from her other roles such as Bela Talbot on “Supernatural,” Rose in the “Vampire Diaries,” or the lead character, Greta Evans, in the horror film “The Boy.”
#17: Aya Cash as Vanessa
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Aya Cash has quite the repertoire of bitter characters. In this episode, Alex gets an interview with a recruiter from Princeton. The recruiter, Vanessa, is played by Cash, who rants over the phone about every candidate seemingly being robotic copies of each other. Luckily, Alex overhears this and manages to sway the interview in her favor. If you’re looking for more of Cash’s unlikeable roles, you’ll want to turn to the absolutely vile villain, Stormfront, in the recent superhero drama “The Boys.” Other portrayals include Jordan’s assistant Janet in “Wolf of Wall Street” and Gretchen Cutler in “You’re the Worst,” where she acts alongside yet another “Modern Family” guest star, Chris Geere.
#16: Kristen Schaal as Whitney
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If you happen to be rewatching the first season of Modern Family and think you can recognize Whitney’s voice more than her face, we’d guess you’re probably a fan of animated shows. Kristen has quite the distinct voice, which makes her perfect for characters like Louise from “Bob’s Burgers,” Mabel from “Gravity Falls,” and Sarah Lynn from “BoJack Horseman.” In this episode of Modern Family, she plays Manny’s blind date. While Manny thinks he’s meeting up with a kid his age, Whitney is under the impression that Manny is much older. Honestly, who can blame her? Manny Delgado has always been wise beyond his years!
#15: Greg Kinnear as Tad
Greg Kinnear is known for a ton of movies, including blockbusters like “As Good as It Gets,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” and “Stuck on You.” In “Modern Family,” Kinnear guest stars as Tad, a prospective client of Phil’s. Whereas he won’t give Phil more than a handshake, Tad goes in for a kiss on the lips when it comes to Claire’s greetings. Phil dismisses it as merely cultural, but Claire insists that he lingers. Fortunately, it does turn out to be a cultural thing, but Phil still ends up jealous--not over the whole kissing thing. No, Phil gets jealous over Tad’s ability to make his wife laugh.
#14: Jason Mantzoukas as Kenny
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Whether you know him as “Parks and Rec”’s Dennis Feinstein, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”’s Adrian Pimento, or Derek from “The Good Place” Jason Mantzoukas delivers. And his performance on “Modern Family” is no exception. Although his role is a little less… spirited than some of his others, Mantzoukas perfectly embodies, as Phil puts it, “some slimy middle-aged jeans salesman.” To give context, Hayley dates his character, Kenny, a co-worker twice her age. Claire figures out Hayley’s only doing this to get back at them, but Phil is a little more on edge. By the end, Phil forfeits the game of chicken, and he and Haley share a sweet father-daughter moment.
#13: Horatio Sanz as Armando
Best known for his work on “SNL,” Horatio Sanz is a Chilean-American actor and comedian. He plays the role of Armando, Gloria’s mooching cousin. Weirdly enough, Armando doesn’t speak English, so Sanz has no lines at all in the episode. Regardless, true comedians don’t even need lines to be funny, and Horatio Sanz is perfect proof of this. There’s a lot going on in this episode, which doesn’t leave a lot of space for his character, but Sanz manages to loiter around in the background of the other storylines with a subtlety and ease that is completely perfect for someone who clearly isn’t supposed to be there. It’s funnier that he doesn’t speak! Plus, his end credit scene is just… muah, chef’s kiss!
#12: James Van Der Beek as Bo Johnson
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Calling all “Dawson’s Creek” fans! Apparently, Dawson Leery has acquired a country accent and a criminal record all these years later. Well, at least the character wearing his face does! Bo is Cameron’s first crush and his sister Pam’s husband-turned-ex. His name is mentioned in a few episodes throughout the show, but we don’t actually get to meet him until season 9, when he shows up at Mitch and Cam’s apartment after getting out of jail. Pam is staying in the unit upstairs and Bo asks to meet the son they have together. Although he appears a changed man, it turns out that he actually hasn’t gotten his life together at all. He proposes to Pam (again) but, as it turns out, he has a backup girlfriend waiting outside.
#11: Martin Short as Merv Schechter
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Do you remember comedian Martin Short’s cameo? It’s brief but hilarious. Merv Schechter is an eccentric marketing expert and friend of Phil’s. Short plays this part probably exactly how you would expect him to, and every second of it is magnificent! The comedian joined “SNL” in the 1984-85 season after Eddie Murphy took his leave. Although he had big shoes to fill, Short’s many characters helped revive the show’s fanbase. From there, he went on to do movies and TV, and even starred in two Broadway plays, one of which he earned a Tony Award for. If you’ve heard the title “The Martin Short Show,” it’s for good reason. He’s had three shows under this name: a sitcom, a sketch comedy show, and a talk show.
#10: Ben Schwartz as Nick
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If you're a fan of Parks and Rec, there’s a good chance you had something very specific in mind when Nick and his crew walked in. Better known as the iconic Jean-Ralphio, Ben Schwartz played an up-and-coming entrepreneur in the world of closets on “Modern Family.” Schwartz has a knack for playing characters who are objectively --such as Clyde Oberholt in “House of Lies” and F. Tony Scarapiducci in Netflix’s “Space Force”--and Nick is no exception. While Jay was first offended by his offer to purchase Pritchett's Closets, Claire eventually convinces him that it would be a good idea to merge their two companies, where Nick and his team still manage to annoy Jay to no end.
#9: Danny Trejo as Gus
Do you think Gus carries a machete around with him? If you’ve seen “Spy Kids,” you get that joke. If you haven’t, we’ll explain. The part of Isador Cortez, or “Machete,” was actually written specifically for Danny Trejo. The character went on to star in his own series of films, the second of which actually features Sofia Vergara. This wouldn’t be the first time the two met, though. On “Modern Family,” his character Gus takes a liking to Gloria who has joined Claire on the committee to plan Luke and Manny’s school dance. Boasting a packed resume both before and since this guest spot, it’s nice to see Trejo stop by for a brief appearance here.
#8: Aisha Tyler as Wendy
In all of her performances, Aisha Tyler’s acting is natural and enjoyable. In season 5 of “Modern Family,” she appears in the episode “Spring-a-Ding-Fling” as Mitchell’s old classmate, Wendy, who offers him a job. He’s led to believe that she’s a horrible boss who treats her employees badly but, once he confronts her, he realizes the misunderstanding. Wendy, on the other hand, thinks he might be right, given her single status. Out of her many TV roles, many will recognize Aisha Tyler best from her time as Charlie on ‘Friends.” You might also recognize her voice if you’re a fan of the animated show “Archer,” where she plays Lana Kane.
#7: Keegan-Michael Key as Tom
This is probably one of the funniest, most well-executed scenes in the whole series. Claire and Phil go to dinner with a couple they met on vacation and, although they get along super well, there’s just one problem: they never pick up the tab. Claire finally caves and confronts them. Turns out, Phil lost a bet to Keegan-Michael Key’s character, Tom. The bet in question? How many crickets they could sneak into their wives’ food. [SB: Phil: “Not live ones, they were roasted!”] Oh, well, when you put it like that… Key, as with all his roles, brings just the right kind of humor to this scene. He’s also leant his voice to a number of animated movies including “The Lion King,” and “Toy Story 4.”
#6: Patton Oswalt as Ducky
Patton Oswalt is one of those actors you can’t remember not being in something. He’s the voice of Remy the Rat in “Ratatouille,” the narrator in “The Goldbergs,” and is even part of the MCU through “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” where he played the Koenig brothers (yes, all of them). After making his debut on “Seinfeld,” Oswalt has gone on to star and guest star in endless movies and TV shows; one of them, of course, being “Modern Family.” While the family is in Vegas, Phil performs one of his new magic tricks for the top Vegas magicians. Oswalt can be spotted as the head magician at the table, and then later again, when Phil manages to (accidentally) wow him with a different trick.
#5: Bobby Cannavale as Lewis
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Out of all the roles to cast Bobby Cannavale in, the last one you’d imagine would be a clown. ...Which is what makes it so great! What is Fizbo the Clown without his partner Lewis? The duo had split up when Cam started dating Mitch but, in this episode, Fizbo & Lewis get the band back together for one last show. Lewis, however, is under the impression they’ll reunite permanently. When he finds out it’s just a one-time thing, he’s upset…? Angry? Sent into a fit of blinding rage? All we know is that there’s a frying pan involved. On second thought, maybe Bobby Cannavale was perfectly cast for this. After all, he’s no stranger to tough-guy roles.
#4: Winston Duke as Dwight
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Before he was M’Baku in Marvel’s “Black Panther” or Gabe Wilson in “Us,” Winston Duke was a different kind of star: the sports kind. Dwight is the best football player on the school team Cameron coaches. When Cam finds out Dwight has to move, he offers up his home as a place to stay until the end of the season. For the next few episodes, Lilly discovers what it’s like to have a sibling of her own. Something tells us she’s not very thrilled. Well… better Dwight than M’Baku, right? If a football player eats that much, we can’t imagine how the leader of the Jabari Tribe would raid the fridge!
#3: Ray Liotta as Himself
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Does this man even need an introduction? He didn’t need a character role in this episode, so we’re going to go with no introduction required! When the Dunphy kids forget a gift for their Uncle Mitchell’s birthday, they make him a coupon for a fun day with the three of them. In this episode, Mitchell cashes in the coupon and the kids scramble to put together a fun adventure. They end up taking him to Barbra Streisand’s house, where they run into the current owner: Ray Liotta. The kids feel guilty about screwing up Mitchell’s birthday gift, so Ray offers to take them to meet Barbra Streisand. Mitch doesn’t meet her so much as he talks to her through her gate’s speaker but that’s still something, right?
#2: Stephanie Beatriz as Sonia Ramirez
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Sonia Ramirez lives a double life as Detective Rosa Diaz and you can’t convince us otherwise. Stephanie Beatriz first appeared in season four of “Modern Family” as Gloria’s sheltered sister. It isn’t long before she comes out of her shell, though, and accuses Gloria of stealing Jay and the life that should have been hers. Their subsequent interactions in later episodes are pretty consistent, with the two sisters caught up in continuous fights. It’s later revealed that the source of their rivalry stems from their competition over their father’s approval. As mentioned, Stephanie Beatriz has since made her mark as “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”’s Rosa Diaz, and more recently as Carla in the film adaptation of “In the Heights.”
#1: Kevin Hart as Andre
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This is one of those weird, maybe slightly off-putting instances of watching an old clip of a celebrity before they were famous. Kevin Hart was just starting to make a name for himself around the time that he was featured in “Modern Family” as the Dunphys’ neighbor, Andre. He’d certainly gained a little recognition at the time, but he was nowhere near the status he has now. Andre became fast friends with Phil, albeit not for that long. It’s a downright tragedy that he didn’t get to stick around for more than his two-episode appearance, although he did manage to get in one of those sacred “Modern Family” “confessional” talking head scenes. Pretty impressive, Andre! Must be the Kevin Hart charisma!
