Rico Rodriguez Jokes He 'Got Suckered Into' Doing Tasks for TV Mom Sofía Vergara

Published: June 4, 2025

Rico Rodriguez, the 26-year-old actor from Modern Family, recently appeared on the Dinner's On Me podcast, where he shared a hilarious story about his onscreen mom Sofía Vergara. Rodriguez joked that he "got played" into giving Vergara a helping hand during the cast table reads.

The actor recalled how he was tricked into marking Vergara's script for her during the show's first season. "I got suckered into it. I love Sofia, but I got played. I got played by Sofía," Rodriguez said, adding that he was just trying to be nice and help out his onscreen mom.

However, things took a turn when Vergara arrived late to the table read and Rodriguez marked her script for her. The next week, Vergara was on time, and when it came to her lines, she asked Rodriguez why he didn't mark it for her. Rodriguez explained that he thought it was a one-time thing, and Vergara handed him her script, leaving him feeling embarrassed in front of the whole cast.

"I was literally Manny at that point helping out Sophia," Rodriguez said, referring to his beloved Modern Family character.

Ed O'Neill Took Rico Rodriguez Under His Wing on Modern Family

Rodriguez also shared a heartwarming story about his former costar Ed O'Neill, who played the patriarch of the family Neil Prichett. Rodriguez said that O'Neill took him under his wing on the show and helped him with a difficult line during a table read.

"Ed was like, 'Alright, stop, cut the cameras.' And he told me, 'go sit down'… He brought me to the side. And he was like, 'all right, Rico, look here. Here's I think what you're having trouble with here. Repeat after me. Try it like this,'" Rodriguez recalled.

Rodriguez added that O'Neill would give him a wink after they worked together, making him feel more confident.

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Rico Rodriguez and Sofía Vergara on Modern Family Credit: Randy Holmes/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

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Rico Rodriguez and Sofía Vergara on Modern Family Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty

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Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Rico Rodriguez on the Dinner's On Me podcast Credit: Dinner's On Me

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