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Her decision not to have children with husband, producer Dean E. Johnson, also played a part.
“I didn’t even want kids,” she said. “So that wasn’t even on the table for me.”
The role of Claire Dunphy ultimately went to Julie Bowen, who starred alongside Ferguson, Ty Burrell, Sofia Vergara, Ed O’Neill and Eric Stonestreet.
Bowen won two Emmy awards for her role, and Modern Family—which aired for 11 seasons from 2009 to 2020—won a total of 22 Emmys.
But that doesn’t mean Greer was totally benched from the show. After all, she played Phil Dunphy’s ex first during season one. And, eventually, she did go on to play a mom on TV in 2022’s Reboot.
