Posts Tagged ‘Interviews’
Sarah Hyland is young, beautiful and on a hit TV show – but the Modern Family actress has been quietly battling a serious illness.
Hyland, 21, has had a lifelong battle with kidney dysplasia and underwent a kidney transplant on April 13, 2012, she reveals in the new issue of Seventeen, on newsstands May 22.
The actress, who got the kidney from her father and gave the interview while recovering from surgery, says the whole experience taught her who she can really lean on in times of need.
”You know that family is always going to be there for you – no matter what. My dad gave me a freakin’ kidney!” she tells the magazine. “But it’s also the families that you create outside of your family. And you really find out what kind of people you’re friends with.”
Continues the actress: “It was just amazing, and it really opened my eyes to see who’s there for me and who’s not.”
One person who proved he’s there for her is Hyland’s boyfriend, actor Matt Prokop.
“He helps me with my medication and takes me to doctor appointments and all the stuff that I need to do to take care of myself,” Hyland says. “Any other 21-year-old guy would not be there, I guarantee it. I am one of the luckiest people in the world to have him be there for me.”
As for what she’s thankful for, Hyland says, “I have a second chance at life – not a lot of people get that.”
Haley Dunphy, the big sister on “Modern Family,” appears carefree, spending hours on her cell phone and giving her parents a rough time on the show like any other teenager.
But Sarah Hyland, the 21-year-old actress who plays Haley on the show, has had anything but a carefree life. Hyland’s been struggling with kidney disease since childhood, when she was diagnosed with abnormal kidney development at the age of nine.
“I would be in a lot of pain a lot of the time. If I didn’t get, like, 12 hours of sleep, It felt, like — It felt, like, none at all,” said the Manhattan-born actress.
A secret to the millions of “Modern Family” fans, Hyland would often sit down or text on her phone during a scene to hide her exhaustion.
“You know, if you’re sick, you still go to work. And in between takes, you sit down, or you lay your head down or something,” she said.
As the pain got worse, the actress began looking for an organ donor to avoid spending her life on dialysis. Luckily her father, actor Edward James Hyland, was a perfect match.
Last month, she underwent the transplant surgery and will recover this summer while the show takes a break from filming.
Actress Julie Bowen, who plays Claire Dunphy on the show, has been stopping by to help her clean. Her real-life and on-screen boyfriend, Matt Prokop, has been helping her recover as well.
Hyland offers hope and advice for those struggling with kidney disease: “Know that you’re not alone. Even though it may seem like it a lot of the time. And that if you ask, ‘Why me?’ Well, why not you? You know? It makes you the person that you are today.”
Hyland is a youth ambassador for the Lopez Foundation, where she helps to promote community awareness for organ and kidney donation.
Modern Family star Sarah Hyland sits down with Life & Style and reveals some fun secrets!
My most decadent meal ever was…
I don’t know. I’m a fast food girl.
The most flights I’ve taken in a day is…
Two: to NYC for fashion week and back to LA less than 12 hours later.
The farthest place I’ve traveled is…
Canada, to film a few projects.
Before I was a celebrity, I never imagined I’d own…
An Audi.
When I was little, I wanted to grow up to be…
Shirley Temple.
My biggest guilty pleasure is…
The Bravo network.
One thing no one knows about me is…
I sleep like a bear in hibernation.
Something I find sexy in the opposite sex is…
A sense of humor.
My biggest fantasy is…
Working with Johnny Depp.
Something I never leave home without is…
My phone.
The fashion item I can’t live without is…
A maxiskirt or maxidress. It’s so comfy but still looks fancy.
The most I’ve ever spent on a clothing item or an accessory is…
$400 on a pair of Frye boots.
My favorite vacation spot is…
Anywhere with a beach and warm weather.
The person I’d most like to meet is…
Walt Disney.
My friends tease me about…
How frequently I pee.
My craziest interaction with fans was…
When they made me sit down at their table and take a picture pretending to eat with them.
The most fun thing I’ve done recently is…
Go to Disneyland.
A trend I wish would come back is…
Scrunchies.
The biggest risk I ever took was…
Driving in LA two weeks after I got my driver’s license and had had only a month of driving lessons.
Actress Sarah Hyland stopped by The Grove to talk with “Extra” host Mario Lopez about working on the hit TV show “Modern Family,” and about her first acting job, Howard Stern, and her skills in the kitchen!
The world knows her as the vacuous Dunphy daughter Haley in Modern Family (in which real-life boyfriend Matt Prokop has been cast) but 21-year-old Sarah Hyland has worked with everyone from Jennifer Aniston to Adam Sandler.
Coming soon: a starring role in Struck by Lightning, a film written by Chris Colfer from Glee. But first, her Disney Channel movie Geek Charming.
>> You’ve been working since you were about zero years old.
Since about like five.
>> Your parents are in the industry so they wouldn’t have been upset that you wanted to become an actor and face the disappointments that come with that, would they?
When I first started they didn’t really like me doing it, because they knew the trials and tribulations and the rejection, and they didn’t want a child to go through that. But I kind of forced them into it. So it worked out.
>> Geek Charming is so cute, and how exciting to have been able to make it with your boyfriend.
I had such fun. Even though it’s a Disney Channel movie, I feel like it’s really different. I haven’t seen a Disney Channel movie like this since Tru Confessions with Shia LaBeouf . It’s a lot deeper (but) when you’re in a Disney Channel movie your dress has to be a certain length, it can’t go past your fingertips.
>> Are you joking?
No I’m not joking. So at all the fittings I had to put my arms down and if the dress was shorter than the end of my fingertips then I couldn’t wear it. So I feel like if the dresses were shortened a little bit … I feel like with the tiniest adjustments to the movie it could’ve been a movie released in theatres.
>> Who’s going to be upset by a short skirt?
It was weird because we were filming the movie and then in between scenes they were doing some behind-the-scenes of it to air on Disney Channel, but Disney representatives were like, “You can’t wear that in the interview”, because they were spaghetti straps. Like, on the dress.
They were really tiny straps. And I was like, “What do you mean I can’t wear it?” And they were like, “They’re the same width as bra straps, so you have to put a jacket over it.”
>> Aren’t people funny.
I get it, with certain things, because it’s a kids’ channel and a kids’ movie, but I don’t understand spaghetti straps.
>> Have you had different offers since the success of Modern Family?
Modern Family has definitely opened up a lot of doors and I will always be grateful. And it’s funny, the roles I’m playing more often now and that people are thinking of me for, it’s more like the stupid party girl, bitchy roles and stuff.
So it’s kind of funny what one role can do for you. It opens so many doors but those doors are all leading to that character you’re already playing.
>> How much more of Modern Family do you want to do?
I’m willing to ride it out until the end… for as long as it goes.
Excellent news for all fans of Glee and Modern Family (and really, who isn’t at this point?): Sarah Hyland (Haley Dunphy) has joined the cast of Chris Colfer’s (Kurt Hummel on Glee) first film: Struck by Lightning, which he also wrote and directed.
“I play Claire, the head cheerleader,” Sarah told E!. “She does not like Chris’ character very much…But I’m playing a cheerleader. What else are cheerleaders? They’re mean!”
It sounds like Sarah’s character in the movie isn’t all that different from her character on Modern Family — a little bitchy, the “hot girl” in high school, and dismissive of the unpopular kids.
But we’re sure filming Chris’ movie is way more fun: Sarah’s boyfriend,, Matt Prokop, plays a stoner who will “roll a joint or two,” he says, in the film. We can’t wait!
Watch an all-new Modern Family on Wednesday, February 8 at 9pm ET/PT on ABC.
The cast celebrates their big win for TV Comedy Series. Hear why their second win is even sweeter and why they just can’t get enough of each other.
Recipient of the Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical – Modern Family (ABC) @ the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, CA on Sunday, January 15, 2012.
The comical cast of “Modern Family” joins Giuliana post Globes to celebrate their big win, “Best Television Series.” Hear their partying plans!
The “Modern Family” star laughs off her red carpet wardrobe malfunction! Hear her joke with Giuliana about her zipper break.
