During Modern Family’s side-splitting 11-year run, there were numerous episodes filled with high jinks and all-out dysfunction. But few moments on the show were as chaotic as the ones captured during the first season’s “Airport 2010” and “Hawaii” two-part story arc. Between forgotten wallets, obnoxious TSA agents, misbehaving teens and aching backs, just about everything that could go wrong for the vacationing family, did go awry.
So, if Ty Burrell, who played goofy but lovable dad Phil Dunphy to perfection on the show, wants to do everything in his power to ensure other travelers don’t have the same headaches when they’re on the go, it’s for good reason. To that end, Burrell, an Oregon native who now calls Salt Lake City home, is joining forces with Chase and United Airlines to help them promote the United MileagePlus credit cards’ new and enhanced travel benefits. Through a series of quick, fun ads surrounding various on-the-go scenarios, Burrell hilariously explains how the cards can ease stress to unassuming travelers.
But as the two-time Emmy winner explains in the following interview, he isn’t just keeping us laughing in the terminals these days. He’s also running restaurants in Utah, going fishing in South America and returning to the set for an exciting project with an infamous Breaking Bad TV dad.
If you could change something about airports, what would that be?
The old airports’ ceilings are low. This is such a weird thing. But I just find it really claustrophobic, especially if you’re sitting there for a long time. All the new airports are much bigger, grander. Salt Lake International Airport is brand new.
The ceilings?
It’s weird, but every time I go into an old airport, the ceilings are low. I’m always a little like, “Oh, man. Here we go.” But I think most [newer] airports have gotten so good with making the experience pretty comfortable.
Where did you travel last year that left the fondest memories with you?
I went to Patagonia last year. I like to fish a lot. A good friend and I went fishing on a river called the Caleufu in Patagonia. It was just one of those experiences that is burned into my brain forever. It pops into my brain pretty regularly. Just a really magical place.
Was it so magical that you’re already planning the next time to go there?
We’re trying. We’re trying to recruit some of our other fishing buddies to go down there, but it’s a commitment. We also have families. My wife and kids were kind enough to let me go for a few days, but I can’t push it.
Where are you and the family going together for fun this year?
My next trip is very short, very close to Utah. I’m taking my daughter to a volleyball tournament in Las Vegas. Not the most glamorous.
Those events can go all day, right?
Oh my gosh. Have you ever been to one? It’s all over three days. They’re like 14-hour days. She’s 13. It’s intense. They just go all day and into the night. Then, they wake up and start playing again the next day. But I still get a kick out of it. She’s really into it, so I’m into it.
We’re also going to Scotland, which I’ve never been to before. I’m bringing my fishing rod. I’ve been poring over pictures and stuff. I’m getting pretty excited. We travel with this [other] family regularly. It’s one of those active trips, so it’s going to be hiking and biking a lot. I gotta get into shape for that.
You’ve talked about volleyball, hiking and biking. So, the family’s pretty active?
Yeah, we are. It’s partly why we moved to Utah — the outdoors. And everybody seems to be [happy here]. But now that I have teenagers, I’m battling with the phones [for their attention].
If you were my Salt Lake City guide for a day, what would we do?
I don’t get to do this very often, actually. I would say, first, we’d drive up to Park City. I’m going to, of course, advertise my own restaurants here, so we’d get breakfast at The Eating Establishment. Then, we’d go fish on the Weber River for a little bit. I would take you hiking up in the mountains and then get lunch. What would be the best lunch in Salt Lake? I really like Finca. It’s a great restaurant.
[After that,] maybe a motorcycle ride up the canyon. Immigration Canyon is one of those classic, great motorcycle canyons. Then, we’d probably go to either a Real Salt Lake [soccer match], Utah Jazz [basketball game] or now we have a hockey team.
Have they figured out a name yet?
No, and I’m genuinely hoping we don’t. I like the Utah Hockey Club. I like the generic name.
Salt Lake kind of gets a bad rap a little bit, that there’s nothing to do here. But it’s really growing like crazy.
What excites you the most about your new partnership with Chase and United?
I travel a lot. I’ve flown United for a long time, and it felt like a good fit to partner with somebody who was trying to make travel a little bit simpler, easier and just plain better. The cards all seem really beneficial. When you’re partnering with somebody, you want to make sure that you mean what you say and that you believe in what you’re talking about. I really think that the cards are going to improve people’s travel experience, if you fly United. But, hopefully, some of the perks entice some people to fly more on United, too.
What upcoming acting roles can you talk about?
When we moved to Utah, I took a very long break. But just like six months ago, I started getting the itch again. So, I’ve been negotiating with my family about being gone. I think my teenagers wouldn’t mind if I was gone a little bit. I do have a couple of things in the works. I have a project with Bryan Cranston called Tightrope that we’re working on.
And I’m developing something [else] for ABC right now. We’re still in the early days, but I definitely have the itch again. That’s been kind of fun.
Is the project with you and Bryan a series or a movie?
It’s a series. He’d be producing and directing it. It’s kind of a bonkers idea. It’s based on [the idea of him] taking an old series that he has the [intellectual property rights] for called Tightrope and green-screening me into the old series, if that makes sense. So,I’m the only person who’s not in the original series from the ’50s. My dialogue is different. Yeah, it’s wild. But we did a proof of concept, and we had a really good time. It was fun.
