‘Modern Family’: Ariel Winter Details ‘Inappropriate Messages From Older Men’ as Child Actor
Modern Family star Ariel Winter recently detailed the impact of receiving “inappropriate messages from older men” as a child actor.
For an article published on July 10, the former child star, now 27, behind Alex Dunphy — the middle child of Claire (Julie Bown) and Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell) — opened up to the Daily Mail about the disturbing experience and how it still affects her today.
“I am familiar with male predators because I worked in Hollywood at a young age, I started at age 4,” Winter shared.
She added, “I don’t wanna say too much about it, but by the time I was on a laptop and cell phone, I was getting inappropriate messages from older men, and it caused trauma.”
Since then, Winter said she has sought professional help to process the unwanted behavior.
“The experiences I had in person and online as a child have affected me so deeply that I’ve had to go to therapy for it,” she revealed. “The movie and TV industry is a dark place.”
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In addition to the harassment from creeps, Winter discussed how growing up in the spotlight influenced her mental health and body image as she dealt with constant criticism of her looks.
“Having my figure written about was a major part of my teenage years,” she told the Daily Mail, noting that she was sometimes called fat. “It was just everywhere. It was every headline I read about myself. I mean, I was 14.”
At the time, Winter explained she was taking an antidepressant that resulted in a 30-pound weight gain. But when her prescription was changed and she lost weight, she received backlash for that as well.
“It was hard to be torn down constantly,” she admitted.
In addition to Modern Family, Winter is known for voicing the titular character in the Disney Jr. animated series Sofia The First and Gretchen in Disney Channel’s Phineas and Ferb.
Modern Family, streaming on Hulu and Peacock
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