Jesse Tyler Ferguson on Fatherhood, Enfamil Partnership, 'Modern Family' Memories, and Theater (Exclusive)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson is happy in his role as a father of two. But his journey to fatherhood was unconventional, and he needed some help along the way. The Modern Family alum and his husband, Justin Mikita, welcomed their two sons – Beckett, 3, and Sullivan "Sully," 5 months – via surrogate. And similar to his character on the hit ABC sitcom, as a Type-A parent, he knows firsthand all the little yet important details that go into decisions, especially when it comes to feeding a baby. Ferguson has partnered with Enfamil to share his family's feeding story, primarily why Enspire Optimum formula – Enfamil's closest formula to breast milk – was a no-brainer for them in providing their children the daily nourishment they need.
PopCulture.com spoke with Ferguson on how fatherhood has impacted his life, and whether or not his 11 years on Modern Family as an adoptive parent of two prepared him for his real-life experience. He also spoke about Enfamil, his work as a theater actor, and how fatherhood is now an extension of his public brand and persona. Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel.
PC: First of all, congratulations on the partnership, and before we get into how that all came about, obviously, you have a very modern family. What type of research went into your feeding journey as you prepared for fatherhood, and how did you land on using Enfamil?
JTF: Justin and I were both obviously totally new to this, and we did a bit of research specifically around what kind of formulas to use, but when we were at the hospital with Beckett, they actually gave us Enfamil at the hospital. That was one that I was probably going to end up using and then once the hospital was like, "This is the one we use." I was like, "Okay, perfect. Great."
What I love about Enspire Optimum is its closest formula to breast milk. Justin and I can't breastfeed, so just knowing that we are doing as much as we can to give Sully all of the nutrients that he needs and all of the vitamin he needs is really important to us. It's also the only leading brand with Lactoferrin, which is something I did not know about. I was like, "What is that? A drag name?" No, it's like a component found in breast milk. When you're at the hospital, for Justin and I, it was important for us to have the surrogate pump and also give us the colostrum, which is a really important part of the first feeding from breast milk. That also is a component that is really important. Just getting anything that is as close to what we would be able to do if we were able to breastfeed – it was really important to us, so it was a no-brainer.
PC: How did the partnership with Enfamil come about?
JTF: They asked me. They said, "You have a unique experience with being a parent." I'm in a same-sex couple, and we had to look for alternate means to feed our children, and it was just very important to us to find the best. That's why we landed with Enspire Optimum. I think there are just so many people, both obviously same-sex couples like Justin and myself that have to look for alternate means to feed their children, but there are also so many straight couples and single mothers who are having to look for alternate means. Maybe they can't produce breast milk, maybe they're having issues with latching, so it's very important, obviously, when you're stressed out and you're a new parent and all you want to do is make sure that your child has the right nutrients. It can be a really stressful thing and they just make it really, really easy and you know that your baby's getting everything that it needs. I was thrilled to be a spokesperson for that. It's very important for me to make sure my children are, obviously, well-fed and nurtured.
PC: Now you're a father of two, so did you find any differences in feeding your first child versus your second?
JTF: Sully is like a machine. He just wants to eat, and eat, and eat, and eat. I think if we finished the bottle, he would order another one. He'd be like, "Another round of that." With Beckett, he would have a bottle, then he'd be fine. Sully, he's a maniac. I'm shocked at how much he eats. He's already in nine-month-old clothes, and he's only just pushing five months, so it's like he's growing at a rapid rate. I do notice a difference there for sure.
PC: Now, you've been very open about your surrogacy journey, as well as other public figures. I feel like it's definitely becoming more of a common topic of discussion, but I feel like there is some stigma attached to it. Do you feel as if surrogacy gets its just due in terms of the journey to becoming parents?
JTF: I think there's obviously many different ways to expand your family. Adoption's obviously a way. I have friends who have foster cared as well. For us, surrogacy was the way that we wanted to go. Justin is a cancer survivor. My husband's a cancer survivor, and he went through chemotherapy at a very young age, and his parents had the foresight to bank his sperm before going through chemotherapy. We really wanted to honor that thoughtfulness that they had when Justin was so young, so it was always our plan to work with a surrogate.
We found a wonderful person who is obviously so generous with her time and her husband was so generous, and it's not a small thing to ask someone to carry your child. It's a very meaningful relationship that's developed between the intended parents and the surrogate. She's truly an angel in our lives and that she's been able to help bring us two beautiful young children that we love so much is so important.
With people who are looking to expand their families, it's a conversation that needs to be had. Everyone needs to be on the same page. There are pros and cons and complications to every single way, whether it's something that's an accident or just a happy surprise, or if it's something that you have to truly plan every step of the way like surrogacy. It's something that needs to be agreed upon. At the end of the day, we have these two wonderful children that we hope to raise to be two wonderful men who will make this world a better place, so that's what we're looking forward to.
PC: Now, ironically, in your role as Mitchell Pritchett in Modern Family, you adopted two children, and now in real life, you are the biological father of two. Did the show and working with Aubrey Anderson-Emmons and the other children prepare you at any level for what fatherhood entailed?
JTF: You know, would think it would, but it really didn't. It's so different. When Aubrey was very young and she would get fussy on set, a caretaker would come in and take her away, and then they would play with her. She had go to school. When it's just you and your kid, there's no nurse that shows up to sweep the baby away because I need a break.
PC: Gloria doesn't walk in, yeah.
JTF: That's right. That's right. I thought it would prepare me. I love children. I babysat kids before I was successful as an actor, so I've always been someone who's been very comfortable around children of all ages. That for me was something that I kind of slid naturally into but I don't think, I wish that being being a dad on TV would've prepared me more, but it really didn't.
PC: There was a reported Cam and Mitch spinoff and was there any truth that, and if so, what stalled that project and would you be open to it at this point, what, three years removed since the show has been off the air?
JTF: Right. There was some truth to it and there was a really wonderful script that was written. I'm not an executive at ABC. I'm not an executive anywhere, but there's obviously lots of reasons why they just felt like it was not the right time. I do think Modern Family was on for 11 seasons. Mitch and Cam were in people's living rooms for 11 years. That's a really great run and I think there's space and room to tell new stories, so I understand why maybe they thought, "Okay, maybe now is not the right time. Maybe we need a little more space from them before we bring them back."
I personally am really excited to see the shows that are coming in. A lot of shows held the door open for shows like Modern Family and I know that we're holding the door open for shows that are going to push the envelope even further and show even more representation. I'm excited to see these new stories being told, and I was happy to step back and be like, "Let the new kids come in."
That being said, I love Mitch. I love Cam. I love all the characters of Modern Family and I love the people that I created that show with so if there was an opportunity to come together at some point in the future, I would certainly entertain it. Like I said, the spinoff that they wrote was really, really good. We had great writers and really great minds behind that show, so you can only imagine that what they came up with was very exciting and very fresh, and very new, and I loved it. It was sad that it didn't happen, but who knows what the future holds.
PC: Now you mentioned that Modern Family really opened the door up for a lot of shows that it's kind or to have different discussions about what family and life look like. What are you most proud of that Mitch and Cam represented, especially with Eric Stonestreet not being someone who identifies as LGBTQ+, but he is obviously an ally, and you joked in the past that he was gay for pay.
JTF: What I'm really proud of is I grew up in Albuquerque, Mexico. I was born in 1975. I was a closeted kid. I was part of the LGBTQ community, but I didn't tell anyone for a long time. I searched for representation of myself in pop culture and I didn't see a lot of it, so I'm just so proud that we were able to be that for kids now and that we were a committed couple who did have a family and were part of a larger family. It means a lot to me that they – look, they were sitcom characters, but they were also fully realized people and weren't just the next-door neighbor that would pop in every once in a while.
Eric and I talk about it. We're like, would he have gotten this role if Modern Family was being cast today? I think he'd be the first to say, probably not and that's a good thing. I think that we have come a long way, but I think at the time, I read with several different actors for the role of Cam. Some were gay, some were straight, and there was just something about Eric and there was this spark in this chemistry between the two of us that you couldn't ignore. I wouldn't have traded him for any other Cam. I don't think the show would've been as successful without him and I adore him so much. I think he brought so much heart and levity and compassion and empathy to that character. I just don't see anyone else as him. That being said, would he be cast today? Maybe not, but I love that we had that moment and he's someone that will be very important to me for the rest of my life. I love his Cam.
PC: Now, you mentioned that you loved all of the characters and your co-stars that you worked with, but who was your favorite character, aside from yours and your immediate Pritchett-Tucker household?
JTF: Gosh, that's a hard one to answer. Oh, it kind of changes because actually, I was watching a rerun the other day. It just happened to be on and I was like, "Oh, let me pause and look at this blast from the past."
PC: I literally watched the show from start to finish seven times.
JTF: Really?
PC: I'm in the middle of season six right now. Yeah.
JTF: I love that. Right now, maybe it's because I'm a father, I'm really enjoying Sarah Hyland and just the antics that she's gotten into. First of all, I think she's an amazing comedian and she has a huge career in front of her and she just consistently makes me laugh. I just think she's a really, really, really funny character on that show. That's a really hard question to answer because Sophia also makes me laugh incredibly hard. Ty makes me laugh. I have such fondness for Julie who I think is so brilliant on that show. Every time I see her, she feels like a sister to me, so it's a really hard question to answer, but I do find myself laughing really hard at Sarah Hyland's material.
PC: Now, you said that the show was on for 11 seasons. Obviously, I know that because I'm still obsessed with it. Do you feel as if it was a good time for it to end or do you think that because of everything that was going on in 2020 that it was kind of like, "Okay, let's do it."
JTF: I'm surprised that we got to finish it, actually. We finished a month before COVID hit, so I'm just thrilled that we were able to finish the series. We were thinking about ending after season 10. I'm kind of glad that they gave us one extra year because, for us as a cast, and probably for our fans, it was an opportunity to really say a long, slow goodbye and know that each step of the way, this was the last time we're going to be doing this thing. I was really grateful for that season 11.
But, I think it was also time for us to move on. I was ready to move on as an actor and as an artist. I had a play in New York that I was really excited to go do that I eventually got to go do after things opened up after COVID. I think all of us are looking to expand what people think of us. It's very hard when you play a character on television for 11 years to get people to look at you in a different way, so we will probably spend the rest of our careers in the shadow of these characters. I think all of us want to try new things and I was really excited by that opportunity to stretch and do new things.
PC: Speaking of doing new things, as you mentioned you've done more than one play, but obviously, you won a Tony for your performance in Take Me Out, and it received major social media buzz thanks to the nude photo leaks. What was your take on the the whole fanfare from that whole ordeal?
JTF: I was disappointed about the leak, obviously. That was a safe space for these actors. Theater is a sacred space and I was disappointed that someone broke that trust. The play is the play and it's good. It was good before the leak and it was obviously the same play after the leak, so I was very proud of the show we created. I was concerned that some of the people that were coming to the show because of the nudity were in for a very boring evening of theater because they're confronted with a lot of really big thoughts and ideas and three minutes of a nude scene that they were excited to see. I was also like, "Look, mean. This is a really brilliant play that tackles really difficult themes, themes of racism and homophobia and toxic masculinity, and it's really important to talk about." If it's more eyes on this play, then that's great.
PC: Now, just for fun, because what the new things were leaked, were you excited when you saw that there would be a nude situation in the play, and were you more excited that you didn't have to be a part of it?
JTF: I was definitely happy to not be a part of the nude scene. I've been nude on stage before when I was younger, not in my forties though. I think those days are done. I knew the play. I was a fan of the play already. I saw it in its original run in New York, so I was very aware of what the play was. Honestly, and this is a perfect testament to the play, I remembered very little about the nude scenes and the shower scenes. What I remembered was how much the play moved me, and specifically, how much Dennis O'Hare, who played the role that I got to end up inheriting, moved me. For me, it was about the great opportunity of doing this wonderful play by Richard Greenberg. Then I was like, "Oh yeah, there's also these shower scenes. That's exciting too for some people." It's certainly brought in a very wide array of an audience.
PC: Now, is there one that you have more of an affinity for, the stage or television and film?
JTF: I never envisioned myself being a film actor or a television actor. I always wanted to be a theater actor. I'd love to do a film. I certainly love the reach. I had said earlier in this interview, I never saw myself represented in pop culture so the fact that I could be that for other kids as an out gay actor playing a gay father on television, that's very important to me. That outreach, you don't get doing theater cause that's only for that small amount of people, a thousand people a night. With TV, you can reach millions of people in one night. But I do love the intimacy of theater. I love that it's this special thing that takes place in that room for that group of people, and it will never be the same. That's just a really special electric thing that I'll never get tired of.
PC: Now that you obviously have a lot more time because you're not filming as much, and like you said, you've always dreamed of being a theater actor, but obviously, your world has broadened up a little bit more. What are you looking forward to doing next and how are you looking to continue to share your fatherhood journey with Enfamil partnership and outside of that?
A lot of celebs when they become parents, they start these baby brands, which I appreciate because I'm an expected mother so I've been really into all of this stuff that's going on now. My aunt just subscribed to Honest Company's Pamper and Wipe subscriptions, so they're coming every four weeks.
JTF: Yes.
PC: It's always interesting to see when celebrities become parents, what they do with that. It's like an extension of their celebrity afterward.
JTF: This partnership is a perfect example. It's a thrill to do this because I am in a same-sex couple and I can't breastfeed, so the fact that I can share my experience with Enfamil and how much it's meant to me to know that I am giving my babies the best possible first start is great. I love that I can share that piece of advice. When anyone asks what would I feed my kid, I would absolutely say we used Enspire Optimum Enfamil and it's been wonderful for us. Look at how big this child is, just proof and point, but it's just very easy and your children are getting the nutrients that they need. That's very important for me. I will say you're going to be swimming in things, more than just Pampers.
PC: I know. It's crazy.
JTF: It's astonishing how many things that, half of them you don't need. Some of them are great. My mom's constantly surprised at that, she's like, "This thing never would've existed 40 years ago, and I can't believe you get to use this thing that's making things so much easier. We had to put you in a car and drive you around the block seven times over speed bumps to get you to go to sleep, and now there's this crib that we'll do it for you." We're very lucky that we have so many resources, but I will say, you're going to get a lot of advice and it's a lot of picking and choosing and just going with your gut instinct is very important, for sure. And congratulations.
PC: Oh, thank you. Do you foresee yourself starting – I don't really see this – we have a lot of the mommy brands, but a father brand or a daddy brand?
JTF: I have a foundation, Pronoun, and we've created some sleep sacks with this great company, so that's something we're doing. I'm actually interested in writing a kid's book about my journey because as I was trying to talk to Beckett about being a big brother, I was having a hard time finding books that weren't tied into a traditional family with a mother and a father. I was having to create my own stories to explain to him what it meant to be a big brother, so I think there's a space in the literary world for kids' books about this unique experience. Yeah, I'm definitely thinking about it for sure. I'm not going to be the next Honest Brand, but I love that they exist.
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