The Modern Family cast wasn’t just a fictional family on screen—they genuinely became one behind the scenes. Rico Rodriguez, who portrayed the adorably dramatic Manny Delgado across all 11 seasons, recently shared a heartwarming and hilarious revelation about being playfully manipulated by his onscreen mom, Sofia Vergara.
Appearing on former costar Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s podcast Dinner’s On Me, Rodriguez opened up about their off-camera dynamic. "It was so funny because I was always with Sofia. And, you know, it's no secret that Sofia sometimes goes off the rails," he said, referencing Vergara’s well-known penchant for improvisation. "So she’d go off-script and then turn to me and go, 'Rico, what’s my line?'"
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Rodriguez admitted he came to set prepared—not just with his own lines, but with everyone else’s too. That attention to detail, however, ended up earning him more than just praise.
"I love Sofia, but I got played. I got played by Sofia," he confessed with a laugh. He recalled one instance when Vergara arrived late to a table read. "Being the nice person that I am, I knew how she marked her lines in her script. So I thought, 'You know what? I’ll mark her script for her.'"
His thoughtful gesture was met with gratitude—cheek touches, warm thanks, the works. But it set a precedent. "The next week, she was on time. I sat down, marking my sides, and we start the read. Then it gets to Sofia, and she says, 'Rico, you didn’t mark my script.' I was like, 'What? I didn’t know I was supposed to! I only did it once because I was being nice!'"
It quickly became a running joke—Rodriguez essentially stepping into the role of Manny off-screen, too. "I was literally Manny in that moment, helping out Sofia," he said, laughing. "But honestly, I love Sofia, so I didn’t mind doing it."
The beloved sitcom, which aired from 2009 to 2020, remains a fan favorite and is currently available for streaming on Hulu and Peacock.
