Modern Family: Alan Tudyk Actually Created One Of The Show's Best Lines
It's become pretty well known that, despite Christopher Lloyd having written the part of "Modern Family's" Phil Dunphy with him in mind, Ty Burrell almost didn't get the job. At that time, 200 other actors were considered for the part. "A very, very funny actor came in to read for the part, but he ad-libbed a change to the line," Lloyd tells EW. "He spoke the words 'WTF, Why the Face' for the first time." That very, very funny actor was none other than Alan Tudyk, who had already proven his comedic brilliance with roles like Wat in "A Knight's Tale," Wash in "Firefly" and "Serenity," and Simon in "Death at a Funeral."
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Tudyk said Lloyd called him after Burrell was finally cast to ask if they could still use the line. "It's very flattering to me," he said. "They're super funny guys, and they wanted to write one that they liked as much or better, but they decided mine was the funniest." The line became a hallmark of the kind of guy Phil Dunphy was.
He was originally supposed to audition for Mitchell
Despite his affinity for comedy and goofiness, Alan Tudyk has always been wary of being typecast. So, while he's best remembered for roles such as Steve the Pirate from "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" and Tucker from "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil," he also has characters such as the murderous Alpha from "Dollhouse" and the veterinarian Doc Potter in "3:10 to Yuma."
Before "Modern Family," Tudyk had done a pilot for a show by "Will and Grace" creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan called "Fourplay," in which he and Ty Burrell played a gay married couple. Even though Tudyk had an audition set up for Mitchell, he was worried the character was too close to "Fourplay's" Drew, so he asked if he could audition for Phil instead. "I got the sense that they wrote that for Ty," he told Entertainment Weekly, "but they were generous enough to let me audition."
Tudyk decided to improv a bit, changing the lines he was meant to say. Finding out that they liked his riff so much that they decided to keep it was one of the highlights of Tudyk's career. "Being an actor and auditioning, there's not a lot of affirmation surrounding jobs you don't get, so this is truly a standout."