In 2009, Sarah Hyland made her debut on the iconic sitcom, 'Modern Family'. Little did she know at the time, but the gig would change her career, the sitcom would go on for 11 seasons and over a decade, releasing 250 episodes. We saw the likes of Hyland and Ariel Winter grow on the show throughout the years.
The cast was extremely close behind the scenes, however, during the final season, Hyland wasn't exactly thrilled with her character direction. She got little camera time, nor was she too pleased with the direction of her character during the last episode. Hyland made it known that she wasn't happy - some fans have theories that the show might've tried to cancel her during the last season, given how we didn't see much of her. Let's explore what went down.
Despite The Hiccup, Hyland Loved Her Time On The Show
Although she wasn't exactly thrilled with the way things ended, Hyland kept a close relationship with the cast.
She shared an emotional post just prior to the finale, showing that she really held no ill-will despite how things played out on-screen, "Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened. To put it in Bachelor terms, I’ve had an incredible journey with this show. Our cast and crew were always phenomenal and we very quickly grew to be a real-life #modernfamily I will miss these people tremendously but am so grateful I was lucky enough to work with them. So get your tissues ready...Thank you all for being there every step of the way. We love you."
Hyland clearly hasn't forgotten about her time on the show. She recently posted a tribute to her TV mom, Julie Bowen. She also celebrated the milestone when the show hit one year that it went off the air. Clearly, despite the controversy, Hyland looks at her time on the show quite fondly. She's now starting to branch out into different gigs, however, at first, she really didn't want to know anything, "The thing as an actor, is it’s like, ‘Will I have a job tomorrow?'” she said in the interview. “With Modern Family ending, it’s like, ‘Oh, great. I’m never going to work again. I’m going to have to sell everything and live out of a shoebox.'”
She remembers her time on the show fondly, however, that wasn't the case while shooting the last season.
Incomplete Send-Off
During the final season, Hyland's spots were few and far between. Making matters that much more messy, she responded to a fan that noticed her lack of involvement.
Oddly enough, Hyland didn't even take part in her grandfather's funeral, a decision that was quite odd, "I guess I should’ve put a spoiler alert for Grandpa Frank dying, but I was just caught off-guard,” she continued, joking, “Like, as his granddaughter, you think I’d be invited to his funeral.”
Ultimately, Hyland wanted more for her character. She had a different vision for Haley, as she stated with Cinema Blend, "There are so many amazing mothers who are also hard workers and excel at their jobs and kill it every day in both aspects. That would have been a really cool thing to see, especially from someone like Haley. I wanted Haley to own her badassery in the fashion world—becoming a badass stylist or brand mogul or anything like that."
Despite the send-off she did not envision, Hyland stated with Us Magazine that her growth on the show was something she was very proud of, ''She’s grown. She’s always had a heart of gold and loves her family tremendously, but just like every teenage girl, simultaneously hates them all at once,” Hyland said at the time.
“You’ve seen her make mistakes and own up to mistakes and then make those same mistakes again. But I’m really happy with the way that she has grown, and there have been some situations where she has been forced to grow even more so. Every new mother goes through what Haley’s going through, especially when you have twins.”
A great evolution of her character, especially when assessing all of her ups and downs along the way. Who knows, maybe she'll get a proper send-off during a reboot down the road... fans want to see and the cast has been open to it.
Maybe then, she'll finally get the proper redemption story that everyone really wants to see.
Sources: Us Magazine, Cinema Blend & People
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