The Modern Family cast wasn’t just a fictional family—they became a real one behind the scenes. Rico Rodriguez, who played the adorably dramatic Manny Delgado across all 11 seasons, recently shared a heartwarming and hilarious story about being playfully “used” by his onscreen mom, Sofia Vergara, during the show’s run.
Appearing on former costar Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s podcast Dinner’s On Me, Rodriguez opened up about their off-camera dynamic. “It was so funny because, like, I always would be with Sofia. And, you know, it's very well known how Sofia sometimes goes off the rails,” he said, referencing Vergara’s penchant for improvising on set. “And so she would go off the rails and then she would turn to me and go, ‘Rico, what's my line?’”
Rodriguez revealed that his deep familiarity with the script—knowing not just his lines but everyone else’s too—ended up getting him roped into an unexpected role: personal script assistant. “I love Sofia, but I got played. I got played by Sofia,” he admitted with a laugh.
He recalled one instance when Vergara arrived late to a table read. “Being the nice person that I am, I knew how she marked her lines on her script. So I thought, ‘You know what? Let me be nice and mark her script for her.’”
That single act of kindness set a precedent. “She gets there, and she's like, ‘Oh, thank you. Thank you, Rico,’ touches my cheeks—very Sofia,” Rodriguez recounted. “And then the next week, she’s on time. I sit down, I’m marking my sides, we start the read, and it comes to Sofia—she goes, ‘Rico, you didn’t mark my script.’ I’m like, ‘What? I didn’t know I was supposed to! I did it once because I was nice!’”
It was a moment straight out of the show itself—life truly imitating art. “I was literally Manny in that point, helping out Sofia,” Rodriguez said, laughing. “But you know, I love Sofia, so I had no problem doing it.”
Modern Family, which premiered in 2009 and concluded in 2020, remains a fan favorite and is currently available to stream on Hulu and Peacock.
