Ed O’Neill was a hardworking 41-year-old character actor when, in 1987, he was cast as Al Bundy on the Fox TV series Married . . .With Children. The raunchy but hilarious show, featuring the most dysfunctional family on television, lasted 11 seasons and made O’Neill a star. Since then, the likable actor has had a busy TV career, popping up on The West Wing, 8 Simple Rules, John From Cincinnati and as detective Joe Friday in a 2003 remake of Dragnet.

O’Neill, 63, has hit pay dirt again, playing Jay Pritchett, patriarch of the hit ABC series Modern Family. O’Neill was interviewed to dispach.com, here are some of the Q&A:
Q: Modern Family was a hit from the day it made its debut. What attracted you to the project?

A: I liked the fact that there were no jokes, that it was story-driven. I liked the interconnectedness, yet the separateness, of the three families; and I thought there was a lot of room for comedic situations. I liked that it was so ensemble. That’s my theater background.

Q: Your character is an older, successful guy married to Gloria, a Colombian hottie (Sofia Vergara) with a precocious 10-year-old son, Manny (Rico Rodriguez).

One of the things that makes Jay endearing is that he’s really trying to be a father to Manny, right?

A: The fact he wasn’t the greatest dad the first time around, I think a regret is there.

Now that he’s got another chance, even though I think Manny was not part of the bargain originally, now that he’s got him, he’s enjoying it. He’s basically a good guy, anyway.