Jesse Tyler Ferguson Says ‘More’ Unemployment Than Early Jobs

Jesse Tyler Ferguson remembers having to choose between working at his trade or taking unemployment so he could eat at the start of his career.

“I started in the theatre. I got my equity card pretty easily (when) I did Shakespeare in the Park,” Ferguson, 49, said. Kathy Bates during the Tuesday, January 14, episode of his “Supper on Me” podcast, which was taped before the Los Angeles wildfires it broke out last week.

He noted that when the show moved to Broadway “it only lasted a few months” and his career slowed down. To make ends meet he worked a few odd jobs.

“I was working in a gift shop. I worked in coffee shops,” Ferguson recalled.

Although he was still dabbling in the theater during that time the money was very small. “We’ll do things off Broadway. But (there were) times when the paychecks you’d make doing these off-Broadway shows weren’t as good as the unemployment,” he explained, adding, “I’d really have to think, like , ‘Do I want to eat, or do I want to grow my artistic self and take these great parts?’ And there (were) times when I was very nervous about it.”

He pointed out that “taking work would actually mean a pay cut because my unemployment is greater.”

Ferguson made his Broadway debut in 1998’s On the Town. He later starred in the original cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Beewhich started in 2006. His Shakespeare in the Park gigs include 2007’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream2010s A Winter’s Tale a The Merchant of Venice and 2015 The Tempest.

Related: Jesse Tyler Ferguson Jokes ‘Modern Family’ Daughter Sends Him to ‘Voicemail’

Jesse Tyler Ferguson has nothing but love for his Modern Family costars — even if his TV daughter, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, sometimes leaves him to read. “I called her the other day, and it went straight to voicemail,” Ferguson, 49, told Us Weekly exclusively about Anderson-Emmons, 17, while promoting his partnership with Tovala for their (… )

His small screen career began in 2006 when he started playing Richie Velch The Class before landing his biggest TV role to date playing Mitchell Pritchett on Modern Family in 2009. The sitcom ran for 11 seasons, ending in 2020. (It was nominated for five Emmys during the show’s run.)

In 2022, Ferguson made a splash on Broadway once again with Take Me Out. He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Mason Marzac. He returned to the big screen in 2023 for Cocaine Bear and follows it up with All We Love in 2024. Ferguson also had a guest star role on Elizabeth last year.

Outside of acting, Ferguson hosts her podcast and raises her two children with her husband Justin Mikita. (The couple welcomed sons Beckett and Sullivan by proxy in 2020 and 2022, respectively.)

Related: How Like Us Is Jesse Tyler Ferguson? We put it to the test

Jason Mendez/Getty Images Jesse Tyler Ferguson is just like Us – he has a sweet, but simple nickname for his significant other! “We both call each other this, but it started as ‘Baby boy,'” Ferguson, 49, reveals exclusively in the latest issue of Us Weekly, referring to her husband, Justin Mikita. “I go, ‘Hey, (…)

“We’re a bit overbearing at times, and we want to embrace them and curtail them,” Ferguson said. just say Us Weekly in December 2024 of his parenting style.

“Together, they’re both like, ‘Okay, enough, back up and together we decide you’re a little underwhelming,'” he teased. “I love that they’re kind of already, like, drawing a line in the sand together about us.”

Ferguson noted that he was fine with his children uniting against their parents, saying Us“That’s very sweet. I love that they’re going to have each other for life.”