Ed O’Neill halted filming to give ‘Modern Family’ stepson acting lesson

Ed O’Neill wasn’t just Rico Rodriguez’s TV dad — he was also his real-life mentor.

When the duo first shared the screen as stepfather and stepson on Modern Family, the young actor was only 11 years old and still learning the ropes. But he quickly learned that O’Neill would always have his back.

“He truly took me under his wing like no other,” Rodriguez told fellow Modern Family alum Jesse Tyler Ferguson during a visit to his Dinner’s on Me podcast. “There was one time I remember vividly — it was early on, probably the first season — where I was having trouble with this one line. Like, I just couldn’t hear what I was saying. I didn’t know I was saying it wrong.”

Rodriguez said he kept having to start over while the episode’s writers and director gave advice. “They keep coming in like, ‘Hey, Rico, try like this,'” he recalled. “It was going on for a little bit so it was a little frustrating.”

On top of that, Rodriguez said he began “overthinking everything” and found himself “on the verge of crying” because he couldn’t figure out where he was going wrong. That’s when O’Neill stepped in.

“It came to the point where then Ed goes, ‘Alright, stop, cut the cameras.’ And he told the director, ‘Go sit down'” Rodriguez recounted. “He brought me to the side. And he was like, ‘All right, Rico, look here. Here’s what I think you’re having trouble with here. Repeat after me… Try it like this.'”

O’Neill helped him run through the line several times, trying it different ways until they were ready to start rolling again. After that, all Rodrguez needed was two more takes and he nailed it.

“He would look at me and give me a wink like, ‘I got you. Don’t worry,'” he added of O’Neill. “From that point on, I knew I could trust him.”

Rodriguez said that O’Neill continued helping him through difficult scenes across the next few years — until season five rolled around. “He was like, ‘I don’t need to work with you anymore. You got it. You’re good,'” he recalled. “I love Ed. I owe a lot to him.”

Rodriguez and O’Neill starred on Modern Family from its very start, alongside Ferguson, Sofia Vergara, Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen, Ariel Winter, Sarah Hyland, Nolan Gould, and Eric Stonestreet. Though the wide-ranging conversation saw Rodriguez speak highly of the entire cast — who he called a “second family” — he acknowledged that he lucked out having O’Neill and Vergara as his onscreen parents.

“They’re just such legends in their field,” he said. “And it’s kinda funny because I had no idea who Ed was when we first got on the show. I had no idea who he was. My dad was like, ‘Oh, you’re working with Ed O’Neil?!’ I’m like, ‘Who’s that?'”

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He joked that he didn’t truly understand the hype until he spotted Vergara — but not for the reasons anyone might expect.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, the lady from Madea Goes to Jail. I love her. I’m working with the movie star!,'” Rodriguez said of his reaction. “Not knowing all the things she’s accomplished.”

He added, “I was really lucky being able to have them as as mentors.”