Summary

  • Modern Family guest stars brought star power and talent to the sitcom, with big names like Nathan Fillion, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and James Marsden standing out among the pack.
  • These guest stars played memorable characters and added something special to the show, from Fillion's hilariously named weatherman to Miranda's important role in Jay adopting his beloved dog Stella.
  • While some guest stars had short flings or disappeared after a few episodes, their contributions to Modern Family were noteworthy, such as Winston Duke's adorable football player and Chris Geere's geeky professor.

The roster of Modern Family guest stars made for some of the best and most memorable episodes in the show's 2009-2020 run. From its critically acclaimed first season, Modern Family was able to bring in some big-name stars and exciting talent to add to the sitcom. There were so many Modern Family cameos that some viewers may have even forgotten about the famous faces that popped up. While every cameo was memorable in its own way, of course, some Modern Family guest stars stand out among the pack.

Though the cast of Modern Family created the characters that made the show so special, it was always fun to see the new characters who would come in and out of the show as it went on. Relationships have come and gone, characters have passed away, and guest stars have contributed in large part to what has made the series so great. From some of Hollywood's biggest stars to future big names in earlier roles, these Modern Family guest stars added something special to the show.

Watch Modern Family on Hulu

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15 Nathan Fillion

Introduced In Season 8, Episode 4, "Weathering Heights"

Nathan Fillion as Rainer Shine with Phil and Haley on Modern Family

Nathan Fillion, best known for his roles in television series like Castle and Firefly, portrayed a weatherman hilariously named Rainer Shine on Modern Family for multiple episodes. Phil tries to become friends with him when he and Haley meet him at the station, but he accidentally convinces Rainer to ask out Haley, which she accepts.

The two start dating, much to Phil's chagrin, and Rainer even proposes to her, although the engagement only lasts a few minutes until they both realize that it would be a terrible mistake. The age difference between Haley and Rainer is hard to ignore, making it a difficult relationship to get behind. In the end, it is such a short fling that he hardly ranks at all among Haley's relationships on Modern Family.

14 Lin-Manuel Miranda

Introduced In Season 2, Episode 22, "Good Cop Bad Dog"

Guillermo (Lin-Manuel Miranda) with glasses and long hair in Modern Family

Lin-Manuel Miranda is best known for his work in musical theater and on Broadway with musicals like In the Heights and Hamilton, but before Hamilton, he guest-starred on an episode of Modern Family. He portrays Guillermo whom Gloria meets at the grocery store, where he works, and she brings him home to pitch his innovative dog training ideas to Jay for a potential investment.

It's a small guest-starring role, but a pretty hilarious one now that Miranda is an even more well-known figure. However, Miranda's role ends up being far more important than it initially seems, as it is through him that Jay adopts his beloved dog Stella.

13 James Marsden

Introduced In Season 2, Episode 11, "Slow Down Your Neighbors"

James Marsden in a hot tub in Modern Family

James Marsden gained fame with notable roles in The Notebook and the X-Men franchise, but his guest-starring role in Modern Family allowed him to fully display his comedic acting. Cam and Mitchell find Barry (Marsden) in their hot tub one night and decide, because he's attractive, that they'll allow him to stay and learn that he's an expert with Reiki massages.

Cam and Mitchell argue about whether they should continue seeing him only to find that he's been living in their daughter's fairytale castle in their backyard. As popular as he is in the X-Men movies, it is roles like this that allow Marsden to be silly that led to his recent work in the Sonic the Hedgehog movies as well as his Emmy-nominated role in Jury Duty.

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12 Edward Norton

Introduced In Season 1, Episode 8, "Great Expectations"

Edward Norton playing a guitar in Modern Family

Edward Norton was one of the first Modern Family guest stars and is one of the biggest stars to appear on the show. Norton is known for starring in iconic movies like Fight Club and American History X, and frequently collaborating with Wes Anderson. He guest-starred on one episode of Modern Family as a quirky musician, Izzy LaFontaine.

Claire hires him to play at their house for her and Phil's anniversary because she thinks that he was once part of Phil's favorite band, but he hilariously wasn't, and Phil doesn't recognize any of his music. With an actor who is known for his intense and serious roles, it is a lot of fun to see Norton being so goofy in a role like this.

Edward Norton has been nominated for three Academy Awards for his performances in Primal Fear, American History X, and Birdman.

11 Matthew Broderick

Introduced In Season 4, Episode 8, "Misery Date"

Dave (Matthew Broderick) on the phone in Modern Family

Matthew Broderick is best known for his various movie roles like the iconic Ferris Bueller's Day Off but he took the time to guest star in an episode of Modern Family. Dave (Broderick) is one of Cam and Mitchell's friends and Cam tries to convince Dave to get back into the dating world after his recent break-up.

Dave and Phil meet and realize they went to the same college, which prompts Phil to invite him over to watch the game. Dave thinks he's on a date and continues to call Cam, who doesn't know he's with Phil, throughout the night for dating advice. It is typical sitcom hijinks but Broderick helps to sell the premise with his genuinely likable performance.

10 Winston Duke

Introduced In Season 8, Episode 3, "Blindsided"

Dwight (Winston Duke) crying on Cam's shoulder in Modern Family

Before he was stealing scenes as M'Baku in Black Panther, or leading a family against doppelgängers in Us, Winston Duke appeared in a few episodes of Modern Family's eighth season as Dwight. The star football player on the team that Cameron coached, Dwight stayed with Mitchell and Cameron for a while after his home life became unstable and would have required him to move before the end of the football season.

In addition, Dwight also briefly dated the younger Dunphy daughter, Alex. He was an adorable addition to the series, with both of Winston Duke's Modern Family storylines being incredibly memorable. But after only a few episodes, Dwight disappeared without another word — and Winston Duke would go on to become the rising star in Hollywood that he is now.

9 Chris Geere

Introduced In Season 9, Episode 13, In Your Head

Chris Geere as Arvin with a suitcase in Modern Family

Chris Geere is perhaps best known for his role as Jimmy in the cult hit cable comedy You're The Worst. But for seven episodes across seasons nine and ten, Geere recurred on Modern Family as Dr. Arvin Fennerman. An esteemed professor of astrophysics at Caltech, Arvin is adorably geeky and awkward, and amazingly humble despite his impressive achievements.

Alex Dunphy also has a clear crush on her instructor, and Dr. Fennerman does wind up becoming romantically involved with her older sister Haley on and off throughout the tenth season. He seems invested in their relationship, despite the intelligence deficit between the two of them. Eventually, Haley chooses to once again date her former high school love, Dylan, and after she and Arvin break up, he's never seen again. However, it was nice to see a different type of love interest for Haley.

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8 Stephanie Beatriz

Introduced In Season 4, Episode 13, "Fulgencio"

Sonia (Stephanie Beatriz) grinning in Modern Family

Before she was winning hearts with her performance as Detective Rosa Diaz on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Stephanie Beatriz briefly appeared on Modern Family as Gloria Delgado Pritchett's younger sister, Sonia. Visiting from Colombia, Sonia was initially quiet, mousy, and withdrawn, totally the opposite of the vibrant and outgoing Gloria. But all of that changed when it was revealed that Sonia was the woman Jay Pritchett was initially interested in.

Learning that her sister got the life that should have been hers, Sonia turns vindictive, attempting to kill her sister and seduce her brother-in-law. Every performance that Beatriz turns in is over the top and hilarious, and her Modern Family camoe is no exception, showing off her impressive comic range throughout.

7 Jon Polito

Introduced In Season 6, Episode 5, "Won't You Be Our Neighbor"

Jon Polito smiling with Mitch in Modern Family

For most of the series, Jay Pritchett and daughter Claire Dunphy have owned a closet sales business, Pritchett Closets. The closet industry is a pretty cutthroat one, as Pritchett Closets has always been at war with fellow sales company Closets, Closets, Closets, Closets. And for Jay, this rivalry was truly personal, as Closets, Closets, Closets, Closets was run by his traitorous former partner, Earl Chambers, played by the character actor legend Jon Polito.

Prior to Polito's tragic passing in 2016, Earl was a force to be reckoned with in the series, though his appearances were few and far between. He and Jay often went head to head and toe to toe, with even Jay's children getting sucked into the middle of their fights on more than one occasion. After Polito's death, Earl Chambers was briefly recast with another actor, but it just wasn't the same.

6 Kevin Hart

Introduced In Season 3, Episode 7, "Treehouse"

Kevin Hart giving a direct-to-camera interview with Phil in Modern Family

Long before Kevin Hart was one of the world's most famous comedians, he had a brief guest-starring role in the third season of Modern Family as Andre, the Dunphy family's neighbor and Phil's new friend. Phil and Andre bonded over their likewise quirky senses of humor, with one particular scene finding them trying to make a song out of the phrase "brother from another mother" to describe the sudden closeness of their friendship.

Andre wasn't around very much, only appearing in the episodes "Treehouse" and "Planes, Trains, and Cars," but his friendship with Phil led to some truly hilarious adventures, such as when he managed to convince the impulsive Phil to buy a much fancier car than he needed. In the end, it seemed as though there were bigger plans for Hart's role on the show that never materialized.

5 Kevin Daniels

Introduced In Season 2, Episode 10, "Dance Dance Revelation"

Longinus (Kevin Daniels) wearing a waistcoat in Modern Family

In the early seasons of Modern Family, Cam and Mitch's circle of close gay friends provided some of the show's most hilarious and instantly iconic moments. One of the best of these beloved characters was Kevin Daniels' Longinus, a larger-than-life character who would have been promoted to sitcom icon status based on his name alone. Longinus worked as a cologne salesman in the early season, resulting in various hilarious mall mishaps, including when he and Phil got into a spraying war, spraying each other with cologne directly in the face.

Longinus wasn't used much in the later seasons of the series, which is a real shame, considering his contributions of dry witty remarks and larger-than-life physical humor made the early seasons special. He has appeared occasionally at events that Cam and Mitch have thrown, including their wedding, but nothing has compared to the early years.

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4 Shelley Long

Introduced In Season 1, Episode 4, "The Incident"

With a sitcom icon like Married with Children's Ed O'Neill assuming the role of family patriarch Jay Pritchett, Modern Family really needed to deliver someone of the same caliber when they chose the actress to play the Pritchett matriarch and they delivered. Throughout the series' first ten seasons, sitcom legend Shelley Long, best known as Cheers' Diane, recurred as the bohemian, loudly opinionated DeDe Pritchett.

Although she only appeared in eight episodes of Modern Family, Long's DeDe was always guaranteed to inject some drama and hilarity into every episode she took part in. Whether physically fighting with Gloria, engaging in a screaming match with ex-husband Jay, or sarcastically commenting on the lives of her children, DeDe was unarguably one of the series' secret weapons. Sadly, DeDe died in Modern Family season 10.

3 Fred Willard

Introduced In Season 1, Episode 10, "Undeck The Halls"

The Pritchett children aren't the only ones who have comedy icons for parents, however. Phil Dunphy's lovably loony and optimistic father, Frank Dunphy, is played by comedy legend Fred Willard, known for his appearances in works such as This Is Spinal Tap and Everybody Loves Raymond. Phil is often thought of as a total nerd, with pie-in-the-sky dreams — and as soon as the audience meets his father, it's not hard to see how the apple didn't fall very far from the tree at all.

Most of Frank's appearances in Modern Family consist of him showing up unexpectedly, which forces the Dunphy clan to figure out how to deal with him and his frankness — both literal and metaphorical. Later in the series, he remarries, and it just so happens to be to a woman who was once Phil's babysitter — and Phil's first crush. Frank died in the show's final episode, with Willard passing away in real life only a few months later.

2 Reid Ewing

Introduced In Season 1, Episode 1, "Pilot"

From the moment that Dylan Stardust Marshall appeared in the Modern Family pilot, it was clear that the series had found something truly special in his adorable portrayal by Reid Ewing. Over the years, Dylan has remained just as adorably dimwitted as ever, proving time and again that he's the only man to have ever really understood Haley. While they were once ditzy high school sweethearts, who got into trouble more than they ever got out of it, Dylan and Haley have both grown up over time.

In season 11, Dylan and Haley are married, with twin babies on the way. And all the while, Ewing's performance has been one of the few constantly hilarious parts of the series. He never misses a comedic beat, whether in line delivery or the sheer amount of physical humor the series requires his lanky self to endure. Dylan is one of Modern Family's best and most unique characters, and he wouldn't have been anywhere near as memorable without Reid Ewing.

1 Nathan Lane

Introduced In Season 2, Episode 3, "Earthquake"

From early on, Nathan Lane established himself as one of the best of the Modern Family guest stars. It certainly doesn't hurt that Sherman "Pepper" Saltzman is one of the most hilarious characters in the entire series. Larger than life despite his diminutive stature, Pepper is one of Cameron and Mitchell's oldest friends, a wedding planner with a flair for all aspects of life.

Given his line of work, he's far more dramatic than any of the other characters in the series - even the overly wrought Cameron. But not once are his dramatics tiring, or eye-roll-inducing. If anything, his histrionics are infectious, leading viewers to give into fits of hysterical laughter as he moves from one zany moment to the next. His relationships with his husband Ronaldo, as well as Jay and Phil, have especially been highlights of Lane's tenure on Modern Family.

Modern Family Poster
Modern Family
TV-PG
Comedy
Mockumentary

Modern Family is a comedy series that follows the unconventional Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker family as they redefine what makes a family in their modern age. Broken into sub-families, the three diverse groups shake up the nuclear formula with empty nesters, adopted children, gender neutrality, and more as they attempt to navigate the various pitfalls and comedic misadventures of their dysfunctional but warm-hearted family dynamic.

Release Date
September 23, 2009
Cast
Ed O'Neill , Sofia Vergara , Julie Bowen , Ty Burrell , Jesse Tyler Ferguson , Eric Stonestreet , Sarah Hyland , Ariel Winter , Nolan Gould , Rico Rodriguez
Seasons
11
Writers
Christopher Lloyd , Steven Levitan
Network
ABC
Streaming Service(s)
Hulu
Showrunner
Christopher Lloyd , Steven Levitan