Sarah Hyland Was Told She Was "Too Old" To Audition For Haley On "Modern Family"
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Whether you grew up watching Sarah Hyland as Haley Dunphy on Modern Family or you're watching her (almost) every night as the host of Love Island USA, there's no doubt that the 32-year-old is a mainstay of modern (pun intended) television.
So, BuzzFeed virtually caught up with Sarah ahead of the premiere of Love Island USA Season 5 to ask her all about the project — and how it compares to her time back in the day on Modern Family:
THEN: What’s one thing that went into making Modern Family that fans probably wouldn’t know about or expect?
Sarah Hyland: I feel like I had such a loud mouth when we were filming Modern Family. What else can I say? What people don't know is when Haley was pregnant, they made a fake prosthetic belly for when we did an ultrasound scene. I had to go into a place and they took pictures of my stomach. Every woman's dream, right? Pictures of your stomach for skin tone — and I have some freckles on my stomach, and on the prosthetic, they had them where they would be if this skin was stretched out.
It was so creepy and crazy. I was like, "Do I get to keep this?" And they're like, "No." Who just has a prosthetic of my pregnant stomach somewhere? Where does that go? It's so weird. I also wore a onesie for when you don't see the actual skin of the belly. I got so into character that I gained like 20 pounds on set — because in my head, I go, "Crap, I'm eating for three. I have twins!" And then I'd go back to my trailer and take it off and be like, "Oh no, what did I do?" every single day on repeat.
NOW: What’s one thing that goes into making Love Island that fans probably wouldn’t know about or expect?
Sarah: I don't think the fans know how hard art production and props worked — just what goes on behind the scenes to make the villa, it's so amazing. These people are so talented. Our crew is so hard-working — and it's so hot outside, they're building all the things, they're painting the stuff, and the landscapers are about. It's such a beautiful thing. That's why I talk about the villa a lot, because just the crew, the art department, and everything that goes into making the villa is hundreds of people working nonstop to create it. And the villa this year is going to be epic. It is massive. We have new features in it and it is on the beach in Fiji.
BuzzFeed: Have you ever grabbed a little something from the villa?
Sarah: No, I should! I have to this season. Thank you. If they blame me, I'll just say BuzzFeed told me to do it. Not you specifically, I won't say your name, I promise.
THEN: What was the casting process like for Modern Family?
Sarah: Originally, they didn't want to see me for Modern Family because I was 18 and Haley's character was 15. They were like, "She's too old." And at the time, my agent's assistant fought for me to get in the room. She was like, "She doesn't look 18 years old, I promise you! She looks very, very young!" So I went in and they pre-read me for the cast — like, they didn't put my audition on the tape — and then he brought in the casting director. The casting director, Jeff [Greenberg], had me read and then he was like, "Okay, now do it again, and now I'll put it on tape." They just were very much like, "She's too old. She's 18." And then after that, I went to see the director and creators.
NOW: What was the casting process like for Love Island?
Sarah: They called me up and said, "Are you interested?" And I said, "Hell yes, I am. I'm planning a wedding though, I'm getting married in August. Can I even do this? Where are you filming?" They told me and I was like, "Cool. I can do this now." And that's how that went. Yeah, planned a wedding, did Love Island, and got married in the middle of Love Island. It was crazy.
THEN: What was the most challenging thing about filming Modern Family?
Sarah: I was 18 when I started, I was there through all of my 20s. The kids were 10 or 11 when they started the show. So for them to go through puberty in front of millions of people — and for myself, a lot of traumatic things happen to women when they're in their 20s. Most of the time you don't have to put on a smile and go to work and do it in front of millions of people — everyone has to smile and go to work. I think that was probably the most challenging part, was all of the lows in my 20s that I experienced. I had to very much put them to the side and leave it at the door whenever I went to work, because I just refused for anything to affect my job.
NOW: What’s the most challenging thing about filming Love Island?
Sarah: The show is so much fun for me to film — if you're having fun doing what you love, nothing will seem difficult. There was a lot of dirt from my trailer to the villa. I'm stubborn, and I'm like, "I can walk in my shoes." So I always had dirty feet and then they'd be like, "No Sarah, you're tracking dirt through the villa."
THEN: What was your favorite day on the Modern Family set?
![Sarah: I think a lot of us have the same answer. For me, for sure, Halloween, second season, is my answer every time. Sofía [Vergara] with the American accent, Ed [O'Neill] with his gargoyle face. It was so, so fun. It was one of the only times where I kept breaking character alongside everybody else, we all were just laughing all day. It took so long to film that scene — which, normally, it would be super, super fast for us, but we all kept laughing hysterically. Plus, any time I'm with Jesse Tyler Ferguson — there was a scene of us having afternoon tea and I just was like,](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/CK.3NdU80qEG4lBmTfY8Vw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0Nw--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/buzzfeed_articles_778/f7c046950f3084c2f6687ac5a32d023f)
Sarah: I think a lot of us have the same answer. For me, for sure, Halloween, second season, is my answer every time. Sofía [Vergara] with the American accent, Ed [O'Neill] with his gargoyle face. It was so, so fun. It was one of the only times where I kept breaking character alongside everybody else, we all were just laughing all day. It took so long to film that scene — which, normally, it would be super, super fast for us, but we all kept laughing hysterically.
Plus, any time I'm with Jesse Tyler Ferguson — there was a scene of us having afternoon tea and I just was like, "I'll have some fun and surprise Jesse with a, like, Dick Van Dyke Cockney accent," and he lost it. I was like, "Do you not want me to do the accent?" and he was like, "No, do it! It's so, so funny." We had so much fun with our little fasteners and teapot.
NOW: What was your favorite day on the Love Island set?
Sarah: My favorite day, last season of Love Island, was the very first day. It was my first day with the islanders and the islanders' first day seeing the villa. It was just so fun. Everybody was vibrating at such a high frequency and so excited. I honestly think that my favorite day, this upcoming season of Love Island USA on Peacock is probably going to be the first day. We have a lot of exciting new things, we have a new way that the islanders couple up, so no one's seen that before. That is going to be very, very fun to watch for me 10 feet away from them. Our first episode was 90 minutes long, so you can only imagine what can happen on the first day that takes 90 minutes long.
THEN: You’ve worked with Adam Devine for some years now. What was your first impression of one another?
![Sarah: I met Adam before before he was even on Modern Family. The first time I met him was, like, at the Sherman Oaks Galleria — I was leaving the movie theater, and he was going in with Blake [Anderson] from Workaholics. My buddy [Matt] Shively was like,](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/.P2sAdW_FiDO8JVUqBttLQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0OA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/buzzfeed_articles_778/6b45806e08525e98ec079756d36dad67)
Sarah: I met Adam before before he was even on Modern Family. The first time I met him was, like, at the Sherman Oaks Galleria — I was leaving the movie theater, and he was going in with Blake [Anderson] from Workaholics. My buddy [Matt] Shively was like, "Tight butthole dude, tight butthole," introduced himself, and that's how I met Adam.
We all hang out now, but it's wild. Adam's parents used to live two or three doors down from my aunt and uncle in Omaha, Nebraska — so we have this crazy past with our family members. They were telling him like, "Oh, you guys should hang out and be friends," and he was like, "I'm not gonna just text the girl from Modern Family because you live down the block from her aunt and uncle, that's crazy." My mom said the same thing to me about him and I was like, "I'm not going to just reach out to the Workaholics dude. That's so weird!" And now we've worked together so much, and Wells and I were just at the Devines' 4th of July, and it's just so crazy how everything worked out. I'm just such a fan of his, he's such a good dude.
NOW: Who from the Modern Family cast has changed the least (in a good way)?
Sarah: Probably Ed O'Neill, in the best way possible. Ed knows who he is. He knows how he works. He's like the Yoda of Modern Family. There's no change necessary. He's just sitting in a yoga position in the sky, beaming down words of wisdom.
Thanks for talking to us, Sarah! Both Modern Family and Love Island USA are available on Peacock now.
Note: Quotes have been edited for length and/or clarity.
