‘Modern Family’ Star Returns to ABC for New Show

Modern Family‘s Sarah Hyland is heading back to ABC for a new pilot, joining the cast of fairytale drama Epic, from Once Upon a Time creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis and ABC Signature, Deadline reports. Epic, headlined by Brittany O’Grady and also starring Eleanor Fanyinka, is described as a “romantic anthology series” giving a new spin on favorite fairy tales for the modern age.

Hyland’s character, Rose, is a princess ready to marry her Prince Charming when her fairy tale ending gets flipped upside down when he gets cold feet. Trying to preserve her perfect life opens Rose up to a world full of unexpected possibilities, which ABC viewers will get to see more of if the pilot is ordered to series by the network. James Griffiths is directing the pilot, and it won’t be up for fall 2021 consideration based on the filming timeline, which Hyland revealed on social media just began this week.

“A Rose and her steed: An EPIC Series… maybe,” Hyland wrote of the news on Instagram Tuesday, posing in a face mask alongside her horse. “So excited to be working on a project for the first time in over a year! I’ve already been overseas for a month with the most amazing cast, we started shooting yesterday, and let’s just say that this is going to be… EPIC.”

Hyland bid farewell to Modern Family in April 2020 as the long-running ABC show came to an end, telling PEOPLE that it was the people she would truly miss as she moved forward in her career. “Our crew is amazing and, of course, I love our cast, they are very special people,” she said at the time. Growing with her character from a ditzy teen to a mother of twins over its 10-year span, Hyland reflected on growing alongside Haley. “After this is done, I will be turning 30,” she said. “I started playing Haley when I was 18, so it’s really all of my 20s that have been spent in the Dunphy house.”

“I’m really excited to go out and branch out and do other things,” she continued of what was next for her following Modern Family‘s wrap. Hyland’s first big project out of the gate was romantic comedy The Wedding Year, where her commitment-phobe character Mara played opposite Tyler James Williams.