Judy Greer Reveals She Turned Down an Audition for ‘Modern Family’ — Here’s Who She Almost Played

“I don’t know yet if I want to be America’s mother,” the actress recalls thinking about the potential role.

Judy Greer had a very specific reason for refusing a hearing for Modern family.

The 49-year-old actress revealed in a recent episode of Jesse Tyler Fergusonthe podcast of Dinner is for me that she was offered an audition for Claire, the matriarch of the Dunphy family – ultimately played by Julie Bowen – but she passed up the opportunity because she didn’t want to play a mother.

“I was asked to audition for Claire,” Greer said on the podcast, noting that it was at a point in her career where she was starting to play characters with children.

THE Archer The alum then explained her thought process behind playing a mother on television rather than in a film, stating that the episodic medium stays with audiences longer.

“In a movie, people see it and then they forget about it,” she said. “On a TV show, it’s like, ‘You’re mom. That’s it.’ “

Greer noted that she “didn’t even want kids” in real life, saying “that wasn’t even on the table for me.”

She continued, “I was like, ‘I guess I’m not going to audition for that.’ I was really torn about it, but I ultimately didn’t make it. Who knows if I would have gotten it anyway? I was like, “I don’t know yet if I want to be America’s mother.”

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Greer was in his thirties at the time and felt the role was “so limiting compared to what I was already doing.” She also feared it would harm her nomadic lifestyle.

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“Besides the perception of who you are as an actor, it’s also a lifestyle,” she said. “I thought, ‘Well, I like traveling a lot, and I like making all these movies, and I like going to all these places, and I like meeting all these people.’ “

Greer then appeared in a guest role in the first season of Modern familyaired on ABC from 2009 to 2020. In the episode “Truth Be Told”, she played the role of Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell) ex-girlfriend Denise, who tried to come between him and his wife Claire.

Related: Aubrey Anderson-Emmons is ‘grateful’ for Modern family, but thinks children should give up acting in favor of a “normal” childhood

The actress later worked with series creator Steve Levitan on the short-lived Hulu series. Restartreleased in 2022.

“I love him,” Greer said of Levitan later in the podcast episode.

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In November, the The best Christmas competition ever the star took a trip down memory lane with PEOPLE in an exclusive interview and revealed the prop she “stole” on the set of her 2004 film 13 In progress 30.

She said she stole a coffee cup with the logo of Balance magazine, where her character Lucy worked alongside Jennifer GarnerIt’s Jenna.

“I stole it completely,” she said. “And I love it so much. I used to drink coffee from it, but now I don’t because I’m afraid I’ll break it.”