Before They Were Stars Part I
November 16, 2011 § 4 Comments
In Hollywood, you have to fake it until you make it. For most of the Modern Family Cast, the sitcom was the first taste of widespread success they had found in the entertainment industry.
Julie Bowen appeared in the first few seasons of ABC’s Lost, which happens to be my favorite TV show that has ever aired. Bowen played ex-wife to Jack Shepard, the main character in the series. They met when Sarah was the victim of a spinal injury. She was never suppose to be able to walk again, but Jack was her spinal surgeon and saved her, then became her husband. Their marriage ended badly. Sarah was the one who ended things, Jack contested the divorce. On the island, his failed marriage gave him a lot of guilt. In the first clip, we see Julie Bowen realize she has feeling in her legs. It’s a powerful emotional performance.
She also appeared television shows like Ed, ER, Boston Legal and Weeds. Below is a clip from Ed. From these and other clips of her acting past, I have noticed Julie Bowen plays powerful feminine roles, regardless of genre. She has a level of control in all of her characters that she has maintained consistently throughout her career.
Ed O’Neill is most well known for his role as Al Bundy, an suburban American father and shoe store owner on Married with Children from 1987-1997. In the clip below, O’Neill talks about how he landed the role. His character on Married with Children is similar to Jay Pritchett. Both have a very dry sense of humor, full of sarcasm. Bundy has much less patience and can be mean sometimes.
Ed O’Neill on “Inside the Actors Studio”
The first few minutes of this video shows that angry side of Ed O’Neill, when talking to fat women at his shoe store. Maybe this is what Jay was like in his former marriage. If so, I’m glad he’s with Gloria.
Modern Family Marvels 
Oh Sarah, how we learned to hate you after crushing Jack’s heart. We shall never forgive you. But seriously, she is a very, very good actress. I don’t watch Modern Family so I can’t vouch for her there, but she was impressive in Lost…until every fan wanted her dead. Good to see she’s landing some significant gigs.
I love articles like this that include actors’ pasts. A really early role featuring Julie Bowen can be seen in Happy Gilmore as Adam Sandler’s love interest. Ed O’Neill can also be found in one of childhood’s greatest movies, Little Giants. Despite their earlier attempts, it seems that Modern Family may be the most successful.
I loved it when I saw her move into this role on Modern Family. She got her chance to step into a semi leading role, and she has been doing great! In all her other cameo’s she was great. The variety of characters she has played give a testament to what kind of actress she is.
Anybody remember Happy Gilmore? Yeah, that’s what I thought! Man, I never got that into lost, but what a powerful scene that was when she finds out she has feeling in her legs. I probably would have married him, too.