"Modern Family" star Julie Bowen has had a stunning transformation over the years, and it's one that her fans have got to witness firsthand, given that she spent 11 years as part of the main cast of the beloved sitcom. For the entirety of the show's run, Bowen starred as Claire Dunphy, wife of Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell) and mother of Haley (Sarah Hyland), Alex (Ariel Winter), and Luke Dunphy (Nolan Gould). With her type-A personality, highly competitive nature, and of course, her demonstrable love for her children,
Claire was an undeniable source of both humor and heart on "Modern Family." And Bowen herself has some experience as both a wife and a mother, not to mention a sense of humor and screen presence that make her feel like a real-life version of Claire.
The "Modern Family" star's real-life partner for many years was Scott Phillips. The former couple was happily married for 13 years, and though Bowen and Phillips ultimately got divorced in 2018, by all accounts they have maintained a solid co-parenting relationship for the sake of their three sons, Oliver, John, and Gustav Phillips. In June 2025, Bowen took to Instagram to celebrate Oliver's high school graduation. She shared a sweet photo posing alongside her ex-husband, in which their eldest son can be seen puffing down on a fat stogie. "To the most original, interesting, and funny kid I know [...] You are a high school graduate!" the Emmy winner proudly wrote. Showing off her sense of humor, she added, "The future is yours (but that cigar will definitely make you puke)."
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Her Claire Dunphy Side Came Out When Julie Bowen Was Quizzed On Her Kids' Slang
In "Modern Family," one of Claire Dunphy's defining characteristics is her competitive nature, and how it affects her approach to family, work, and of course motherhood. Life imitated art in October 2024, when one of Julie Bowen's sons quizzed her on Gen-Z slang on Instagram as part of a collab with IHOP, and she was evidently determined to get a perfect score. And, to the actor's immense credit, she immediately went three for three, correctly defining "no cap," "goated," and "My Roman Empire." The similarities between Bowen and her most famous character weren't lost on viewers, either, with one user hilariously commenting, "She played herself in modern family."
However, Claire would probably be disappointed to learn that Bowen immediately ruined her winning streak in the second part of the video, as she failed to correctly define "bussin'." The Emmy winnr also seemed annoyed by the term, and initially refused to believe her son had ever said it. At any rate, Bowen finished strong by correctly defining "rizz," and making it abundantly clear that she had it. When she got an overall "B" grade at the end of the video, Bowen was once again possessed by the competitive spirit of Claire Dunphy, remarking, "That's better than you get in school, my love." In the caption, she added that she felt she deserved at least an "A-" for getting four of the terms right.
It's worth noting that, although playing Claire will likely define her career for the rest of Bowen's life, the actor doesn't resent the comparisons. As she reasoned to People in 2024, "I've always thought, if Claire Dunphy is the last job I ever had, then I lived a good life."
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