Fans of Modern Family are astounded at how much Aubrey Anderson-Emmons has grown up since the show ended in 2020.
Modern Family was everyone’s favorite TV show, including Michelle Obama, and Anderson Emmerson’s character, Lily, was truly iconic.
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons is known for her role as Lily Tucker-Pritchett on ABC’s Modern Family (Credit: ABC)
She stole the show with her sarcastic lines and spunky attitude and has now gone viral as a TikTok star.
Her Modern Family Character
The 16-year-old uses she/they pronouns and first appeared on Modern Family as a four-year-old. Lily Turner-Pritchett’s character is the adopted Asian daughter of gay dads Mitchell Pritchett and Cameron Turner.
She began portraying the character in 2011 as a four-year-old. The ABC states that her character “increased cultural diversity awareness as an Asian American playing a trans-racial adoptee of gay parents.”
At age 4, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons became the youngest person ever to receive the Screen Actors Guild Award (Credit: ABC)
At the age of four years, Anderson-Emmons was the youngest nominee and recipient of a Screen Actors Guild award for her portrayal of Lily on Modern Family. She spent eight years as a regular on the series.
“Lily” All Grown Up
Anderson-Emmons went viral in Jan 2021 when she posted a moody video of herself lip-syncing to “Bound 2 (Slowed + Reverb)” by Kanye West.
The video showed off her trendy curtain bangs and startled fans with how much she has grown up since Modern Family ended in 2020.
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons turned 14 on June 6, 2021, and attended The DiscOasis VIP Night at South Coast Botanic Garden on July 21, 2021, in Palos Verdes Estates, California (Credit: DFree / Shutterstock)
She went viral overnight, and her followers and views have only increased since then. Anderson-Emmons can’t understand the sudden fascination with her social media, jokingly stating, “Why is everybody suddenly realizing that I’m on TikTok? I’ve been on TikTok since 2019!”
When the iconic series ended, she was 12, and fans had a lot to say about her grown-up appearance.
In the final season, she is said to have made $70,000 per episode and now has an estimated net worth of $6 million as of June 2024. Aubrey’s salary per episode for the first few seasons was $35,000.
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons attended the premiere of Cirque Du Soleil’s “Volta” at Dodger Stadium on January 21, 2020, in Los Angeles, California (Credit: DFree / Shutterstock)
One fan stated that “She’s turning into Hayley,” referencing Sarah Hyland’s teenage character in the series. Another fan commented, “I was about to say that you look like Lily from Modern Family,… then I realized.”
A Viral Social Media Star
As of June 2024, she has amassed over 1 million followers on Instagram and over 2.1 million followers on TikTok, where she shares lip-sync videos and TikToks of her making mac and cheese.
She has posted several videos featuring lip-syncing and dancing to “How you feel is not my problem” from Willow Smith’s “Female Energy.”
In another video, she gives fans a tour of her room. A video of her mouthing the words “you’re a one in a million/ There ain’t no man like you” from Doja Cat’s “Streets” while heating Mac and cheese earned her hundreds of thousands of views on a single video. Other TikToks and reels have reached over a million views.
Her social media continues to captivate people, just as her acting skills did in Modern Family. Although she had not taken an acting role before her casting as Lily, performing is in her blood. Her mom is a stand-up comedian, actress, and manager.
The mother-daughter pair spends a lot of time together and created a YouTube channel called “FoodMania Review” in 2015.
What Is She Doing Now?
Her TikTok profile states, “I once played Lily. I’ve always been Aubrey.” She certainly is being Aubrey, and fans are loving it. She uses her platform to fight for justice, and equal rights, including the Black Lives Matter movement.
Another important cause that is closest to her heart is immigrant rights. Her mom is an immigrant, born in Korea, so she knows how difficult it can be to be an immigrant in America.
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons and her Korean-American mother, Amy Anderson, at the Disney Channel’s Premiere Party For “Sofia The First: Once Upon A Princess” at Walt Disney Studios on November 10, 2012, in Burbank, California (Credit: Tinseltown / Shutterstock)
When she’s not busy being Gen Z’s latest social media star, she spends her time being a teenager, capturing selfies, playing with her dogs, and taking trips with friends.
Who Did Anderson-Emmerson Replace on Modern Family?
If you didn’t already know, Anderson-Emmerson was not the original actor who played Lily.
Lily was initially portrayed by twins Ella and Jaden Hiller. In an interview, their father, Doug Heller, shared, “We saw an ad on Craigslist looking for identical Asian girl twins. We sent in a picture, and they were cast. It was crazy.”
Anderson-Emmerson replaced the twins in 2011, whose parents noticed they were not enjoying the filming. Although the parents were offered a significant increase per episode, they decided to withdraw the adorable twins.
Modern Family cast members Ed O’Neill, Sarah Hyland, Eric Stonestreet, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, Rico Rodriguez, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ariel Winter, and Nolan Gould attend the “Modern Family” Fan Appreciation Day hosted by USA Network at Westwood Village on October 28, 2013, in Los Angeles, California (Credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock)
Seeing their baby girls interacting with their onscreen dads, Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, was exciting.
However, Michelle Heller explains in an interview with Woman’s Day why the girls couldn’t remain on the show: “Halfway through Season 2 their personalities had started to develop, and it was really clear to us that they weren’t enjoying their time on set.”
They pulled the pair, putting the money the kids had earned into college funds, and Aubrey Anderson-Emmerson portrayed Lily for the remainder of the show.
A Modern Family That Remains Family
Modern Family is an Emmy award-winning series that created a decade’s worth of favorite TV viewing for fans. The cast was incredibly close while filming the series and remained so after the show had ended.
Modern Family’s Aubrey Anderson-Emmons arrives for the opening night performance of “Jersey Boys” at the Ahmanson Theatre on January 21, 2022, in Los Angeles, California (Credit: BauerGriffin / INSTARimages)
During the early seasons, the cast even made a pact to only submit themselves for supporting roles for awards, as the cast is an ensemble.
Sarah Hyland even revealed during the farewell featurette that her fiancé, Wells Adams, not only asked her parents for a blessing on their marriage, but also her TV parents, Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell.
The offscreen bond is tight in the Pritchett household, as Anderson-Emberson and her onscreen dad, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, showed with a “daddy-daughter” date night at the Los Angeles Theater.
Julie Bowen, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, and Sarah Hyland of “Modern Family” pose in the press room at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at The Shrine Auditorium on January 29, 2012, in Los Angeles, California (Credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock)
The pair took in a performance of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, preceded by a viewing of A Christmas Carol a month before. Ferguson captioned an Instagram post titled “Father-daughter date night #theygrowupsofast” to commemorate the occasion.
Aubrey Anderson-Emmon had a great start to her acting career with the award-winning role of Lily.
While she is currently enjoying her teenage years, the talented actress will likely continue to wow audiences with her acting skills in the years to come.
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons in a pretty ruffled dress at the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on January 27, 2013 (Credit: FayesVision / WENN)
In January 2013, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, the little girl who played Lily Tucker-Pritchett, Mitchell and Cameron’s adopted Vietnamese daughter in the hit comedy Modern Family, attended the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards.
The little actress looked adorable in her ruffled dress.
Aubrey Frances Anderson-Emmons is best known for her role as Lily Tucker-Pritchett on ABC’s Modern Family (Credit: FayesVision / WENN)