For the life of any struggling young actor, patience isn’t just a virtue, it’s a necessity.
Or at least that’s the number one piece of advice that tonight’s MODERN FAMILY guest star Josh Gad has for anyone wishing to follow in his illustrious footsteps magic foot.
“A few years out I was ready to give up and told my mom that I was going to go to law school because I was sick of being rejected,” said Gad. “And just as I’m thinking to myself — what Jewish mother doesn’t love the fact that their son wants to go to law school — she actually started crying and said to me that I’ve put in too much time and effort and she was right. A month later I booked Spelling Bee.”
What followed was a roller coaster of ups and downs including a featured role in the Kevin Spacey produced hit poker flick 21, a regular series gig on the short-lived Fox comedy BACK TO YOU and tonight’s guest starring role on MODERN FAMILY that sees the multi-talented actor make use of a recent Monday off from his current gig that has him performing eight sold-out shows a week in Broadway’s Book of Mormon to reunite with his former BACK TO YOU creators (Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd) and co-star (Ty Burrell).
“It’s pretty fascinating isn’t it? There basically would be no MODERN FAMILY without the cancelation of that show interestingly enough,” reflected Gad. “BACK TO YOU is something that we all kind of look back at very fondly, but at the same time we’re all so very well aware that it is something that launched a thousand ships for all of us.”
Indeed, it’s that very fondness for their failed Fox comedy that served as the impetus for this little BACK TO YOU reunion. Well, that and his fondness for Phil Dunphy.
“Steve Levitan and Chris Lloyd and I have been tossing around collaborating ever since BACK TO YOU and finally the stars and scheduling aligned for the right character so that I could come in and play with the MODERN FAMILY crew. Which to me is so rewarding not only because of Steve and Chris, but I get to play with Ty Burrell and Jesse Tyler Ferguson who I did Spelling Be with.” explained Gad, who tonight will step in to the shoes of a kid from Phil’s old neighborhood who returns to town as a hugely successful internet billionaire. “My character basically services this existential question in Phil. He always looked up to and idolized Phil, using him to achieve his success and Phil finds himself asking the question why didn’t I ever ask myself, ‘What Would Phil Dunphy Do’?”
Of course, one thing Gad won’t be doing is joining former Spelling Bee co-star Ferguson and singing in the episode. That said the current toast of Broadway was quick to assure fans that there will be a nice shout out to the role that put him, and his magic foot, on Hollywood’s map.
“No singing, but there is dancing. We do a little dancing and I think it’s going to be a very fun moment.” 
New episodes of MODERN FAMILY air Wednesdays at 9PM on ABC (CityTV in Canada) and stars Ed O’Neill, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Rico Rodriguez, Nolan Gould, Sarah Hyland and Ariel Winter. Catch up with past episodes you may have missed for free online at clicktowatch.tv.