Matt LeBlanc has revealed he was offered the role of Phil Dunphy on Modern Family but he turned it down because he didn’t believe he was the right man for the job.
The Friends star told USA Today that in 2009, the Modern Family pilot script came across his desk with the offer to play Dunphy.
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“I remember reading it thinking, this is a really good script, (but) I’m not the guy for this,” LeBlanc told USA TODAY.
“I’d be doing the project an injustice to take this. I know what I can do, I know what I can’t do. Plus, I’m having too much fun laying on the couch,” he said.
The role went to Ty Burrell, who has won two Emmy awards for his time playing the goofy, lovable realtor.
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LeBlanc also revealed to USA Today that he offered some advice to Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays lawyer Mitchell Pritchett on Modern Family.
Ferguson reached out to LeBlanc when the Modern Family cast was in a salary dispute in 2012. LeBlanc and his former Friends cast members united in 2002 and negotiated together to land US$1 million-per-episode pay deals.
LeBlanc said he told Ferguson and his co-stars to “stick together,” saying ” You have to walk out, or they won’t take you seriously.”
Even though the situation was serious, LeBlanc used the opportunity to make a joke about it. He said he sent a text message to Ferguson after the cast didn’t show up for work and said, “Hey, I killed it as Mitch today at the table read, thanks for the opportunity!”
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