AS TOLD TO
PIERRE DE VILLIERS
PHOTO
CHRISTOPHER BEYER / CONTOUR BY GETTY IMAGES
The Modern Family star on bad hair, good moustaches, living in a van
and why he wanted to play a dog in his latest film
Ty Burrell
I’m lucky I reached a career peak
in my 40s.
If I’d had success earlier,
I might have misused it. I wasn’t a very
mature younger man. When I hear
stories about younger actors going off
the rails, it makes perfect sense.
Marry someone better than you.
That’s the secret to a strong marriage.
I know it sounds like I’m currying favour
with my wife [Holly, whom he married
in 2000], but it’s really true. If you have
someone who is in some ways more
evolved than you it drives you to up
your game. My wife has taught me
everything I know about unconditional
love. Our relationship is strong because
I aspire to that.
Being an adoptive father
has been
a beautiful process [Burrell adopted
two girls, in 2010 and 2012]. You just
can’t imagine your kids not being in
your life. There’s this feeling that they
are of your flesh and blood. They are
blossoming and watching them evolve
has been amazing. With adopted kids,
you don’t just project things onto a kid;
it’s been an amazing process seeing
them reveal themselves to us. A big
part of why I wanted to do
Mr Peabody
& Sherman
[about a time-travelling dog,
voiced by Burrell, who adopts a boy] is
because I‘m an adoptive father.
Travelling with young kids is tough.
You have to really want that holiday.
We’ve travelled a little bit as a family:
the last trip we did was to the UK in the
spring for two weeks. It’s the getting
there... Spending hours on a plane can
be brutal with kids. You feel so terrible
about the other passengers. People
have paid good money for that flight.
Home feels like a holiday.
We live in
Utah about half the year and it feels like
a vacation because it isn’t LA, even if
I’m working. My wife is from Utah, and
my brother and I bought a bar there, so
it’s become a refuge.
It’s difficult to date when you live
in a van.
Women aren’t impressed by
the line: “Come on back to the van.”
I stayed in one during grad school to
save money. On the upside, I learned
I don’t need much to be happy. Right
now, I’m in the process of building out
a van so I can take my girls camping and
have a similar experience – to live as
simply as possible. It’s come full circle.
I love growing a moustache.
When
I’m in my off season, I grow a beard
because it makes you less recognisable.
At the end of the summer I shave it into
a moustache. My wife hates it.
The cast of
Modern Family
genuinely
like each other. We’re lucky in that way.
Like any family, there are moments that
we get frustrated, but I’m amazed at
how much harmony there is.
If I could travel back in time
, like
Peabody, I’d go back and revisit a few
haircuts right before they happened.
I’m also an obsessive sports fan, so
it would be great to go back to the
beginnings of sport. I’d love to go back
to the first Olympics. There would be
lots of naked running.
Mr Peabody & Sherman is in cinemas
from 7 February
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