'It Is Costing Me My Career': When Jesse Tyler Ferguson Recalled His USD 2000 Sneeze and Vocal Injury That Disrupted Modern Family Filming

Jesse Tyler Ferguson recalls the vocal injury caused by a sneeze while filming Modern Family, leading to a costly re-dubbing of his lines. READ

By Anushka Solanki

Published on Nov 17, 2024 | 07:28 PM IST | 5.8K

Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchel Pritchett in Modern Family [Image via ABC]

Jesse Tyler Ferguson recently shared a disastrous incident that took place during the filming of Modern Family. The actor who plays Mitchell Pritchet on the popular sitcom shared an anecdote from Season 5 that changed a lot of things for this character. On the episode of Dinner's On Me, Jesse opened up about how a vocal injury led him to dub all his lines from the particular season.

Jesse shared that the injury occurred when he tried to stifle a sneeze on set, resulting in a vocal cord hemorrhage. His doctor immediately advised vocal rest for 10 days, but the timing couldn't have been worse, as the show was in the middle of filming. "I was like, ‘You don’t understand, if I do this, it is costing me my career,'" Ferguson explained, recalling how devastated he was. "I was so mad. Like, I had tears welling up my eyes."

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Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Sophia Vergara & Eric Stonestreet [Image via Instagram]

The actor then shared that the team of Modern Family was supportive during this phase. The producers allowed him to take vocal rest, but the episode had to be filmed without Ferguson’s voice. Once he recovered, he returned to the studio to dub all his lines, but the result was less than ideal. “I mouthed my lines on a microphone later. It was terrible,” he said. “I look like a ventriloquist is operating my voice. I do not look like I’m speaking.”

Ferguson’s frustration was evident as he recalled how the incident affected both his performance and the production. Despite the challenges, he managed to push through, humorously reflecting on the unexpected consequences of his vocal injury

The episode in question is from Modern Family Season 5, titled "ClosetCon '13," where Mitchell visits Cam’s family on a farm. Ferguson humorously referred to the incident as a "USD 2,000 sneeze" when he spoke about the hefty medical bill. Despite the uncomfortable experience, the story remains one of the more memorable incidents from the popular sitcom.

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