Aubrey Anderson-Emmons Is ‘Grateful’ for “Modern Family,” but Thinks Kids Should Skip Acting in Favor of 'Normal' Childhoods

The actress, who played Lily Tucker-Pritchett, says if she did it again, she would wait to pursue her acting dreams

Aubrey Anderson-Emmons is opening up about the ups and downs of child stardom.

The 17-year-old actress, who played Lily on Modern Family beginning in season 3 when she was 4 years old, sat down for a chat on the Thursday, Nov. 21, episode of Just Trish with Trisha Paytas. Joined by mom Amy Anderson, Anderson-Emmons talked about what it was really like being a child star.

Paytas, 36, shared that when she was a kid she always wanted to be an actress, and she has thought about bringing her own daughters into the industry. “I would say wait 'til they know what they want to do,” Anderson-Emmons advised. “We both would say don't do it,” her mom added.

Paytas was surprised, noting that the actress and her mom are “so normal.” Anderson-Emmons explained, “Modern Family has brought me so many blessings into my life, and I'm forever grateful. But I think kids need to have a normal experience and I don't know if that's the way to do it. And I feel like I definitely was more troubled when I became older because of the show.”

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When the show ended, the actress was 12 years old and she felt a little unmoored. “I felt I didn’t really know what I wanted to do after the show, and I think figuring out your hobbies and experiences for yourself is important, not having your parents choose for you.” She noted her mom didn’t exactly choose for her because she “wanted” to act when she was little, but, “How do you choose what you want to do for eight years when you’re 4 years old?”

Anderson-Emmons’ mom chimed in to say that she thought stereotypes about child stars are a little exaggerated. “My belief is the majority of kids in this industry turned out just fine or even really great,” she said. “A lot of adult actors were child actors and are really thriving in their careers, and a lot of people who were child actors go on to do completely different things ... But that's not who we hear about. We want to hear about the ones who are troubled.”

“We know a ton of kids who are in this industry and we know a lot of people who are not, and I’d say more kids who are not in the industry are having troubles in their teens than the industry kids,” she added.

Related: Jesse Tyler Ferguson Makes Modern Family Costar Aubrey Anderson-Emmons 'Really Nervous' at Her School Plays

On Modern Family, Anderson-Emmons’ Lily was the daughter of Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Mitchell and Eric Stonestreet’s Cameron. She told Paytas that she thought Modern Family was the “best show” to be on because the workload was split between the different houses on the show, so she usually wouldn’t work five days a week. She also said her experience was really different from stars on the Disney Channel or Nickelodeon who might be expected to do more and lead a series at a young age.

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When Modern Family ended in 2020, she took “a break” from acting, after she'd started doing self-tape, at-home auditions during the COVID-19 pandemic that gave her “so much anxiety.”

“I told my mom I want to quit,” she remembered. So she did. Anderson-Emmons went back to full-time school, and it was only when she got involved in her high school theater department that she decided she wanted to step back into acting again. She now has a large following on TikTok, where she often shares stories from her Modern Family days.