Eric Stonestreet Reveals How The Super Bowl Help Land Him An Unexpected Role

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The Super Bowl is a major event that always gets people talking – whether they’re celebrating or arguing! Beyond the game itself, it also creates unexpected moments, like a celebrity appearance in the finale of a TV show and even sparked a new friendship for actor Eric Stonestreet.

My wife, Lindsay, has been a Reba McEntire fanatic since she was a kid, so meeting her was a huge dream come true. She even told Reba we’d named our cat after her! We just wanted to say hello and let Lindsay cross meeting Reba off her bucket list. It also rekindled a friendship between me and Rex, and started a new one with Reba – we’d only met briefly before. Then, out of the blue, Rex texted me saying Reba – ‘the boss,’ as he called her – wanted to know if I’d be interested in being on their show. I didn’t even have to think about it – of course, I said yes! That’s honestly how the whole thing happened.

When Reba McEntire’s character, Bobbie, and her sister Isabella disagree, they encounter a man played by Stonestreet. To prepare for the role and fully embody the character within the Southern setting of Knoxville, Tennessee – located in the Southern Appalachian Region – Stonestreet developed an accent. He was inspired by McEntire’s own Oklahoma background, adding a twang to his voice.

Stonestreet explained he intentionally avoided making his character’s background tied to a specific location, wanting to avoid anyone pinpointing his origins. He sees it more as a nod to Reba’s roots. While he’s originally from Kansas and currently lives in Missouri, he never realized he had an accent until others pointed it out. He doesn’t notice it himself, but believes it’s simply a more pronounced version of his natural way of speaking.

How Happy’s Place Differs From Modern Family

Eric Stonestreet is best known for playing Cameron Tucker on all 11 seasons of Modern Family, a role that earned him two Emmy Awards. His new show, Happy’s Place, is quite different, though. Unlike Modern Family, Stonestreet says working on Happy’s Place feels more like doing a stage play because of the live audience. While the traditional multi-camera sitcom format might seem old-fashioned to some, Stonestreet believes it’s actually the most engaging type of comedy for performers.

Stonestreet loved performing in front of a live audience, describing it as an amazing experience. Having done theater before, she especially appreciated getting instant feedback – knowing exactly what was working and what wasn’t. She found it incredibly fun, energetic, and revitalizing, and it constantly reminded her why she became a performer: to bring joy and laughter to people, and she felt that connection in those immediate moments.

Eric Stonestreet really appreciated the consistent schedule while working on Happy’s Place, something he often found difficult to achieve elsewhere. He admitted the work hours were fantastic – he never had a call time before or after 9:30 AM. Living just a short four-minute drive from the Universal Studios set was a huge perk, especially compared to his Modern Family days where his commute could be anywhere from 45 minutes to three hours, depending on whether President Obama was visiting. Stonestreet even joked that he tried to be late one day, but still arrived a minute early – it was that easy of a week.

A set schedule with a good commute? An actor can only dream.

You can watch Modern Family on Hulu and Disney+. The final episode of Season 2 of Happy’s Place will air on NBC on Friday, April 24th, and will be available to stream on Peacock the following day.

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2026-04-23 00:43