'Modern Family' star Nolan Gould reveals what fans can expect from the last episode ever

“Modern Family” is coming to an end this week after an 11-season run.

The beloved ABC sitcom, which first premiered in September 2009, has taken viewers through the lives of the entire Dunphy family, chronicling both everyday foibles and more extraordinary life events that everyone could relate to at one point or another.

Ahead of the “Modern Family” series finale on April 8, In The Know’s Gibson Johns caught up with Nolan Gould, who plays lovable Luke Dunphy on the show, to hear about the final days of filming, look back at the last decade of his career and find out what viewers can expect from the show’s final moments.

“It was actually, I’m really happy with the way they ended it. There’s not really, like, a perfect way to end a show and make everyone happy,” Gould told ITK. “I [had been] saying that I want to get the sense that life continues for these people afterward. I feel like a lot of shows end, like, on a big final moment in these people’s lives, like ‘This is, you know, the last time this happens,’ or something like that. And it wasn’t that. We want to get the sense that the family continues onwards. We’re just unfortunately not there to watch them.”

Of the finale, Gould added that viewers can expect “almost like a compilation of a lot of little special moments between all of the different character groupings” to round things out.

When it came to that last day on set, the actor said that the vibe among the cast and crew was “definitely celebratory,” noting that nobody was really ready to leave.

“It was one of the most fun days I’ve ever had on set,” Gould gushed. “It was like, you know, on one hand, you’re like, ‘This is awesome. It’s an amazing celebration of our show. What a good sendoff!’ But on the other hand, I’m like, ‘Why couldn’t it have been, like, the worst day on set ever?’ So then, I’d just be like, ‘OK. I’m done.'”

“It was one of those days when it’s like, if every single day was like this, I would want this show to go on forever. Everyone was so grateful to be there,” he went on. “But everybody was just, like I mean, even on the production side of it, the producers were like, ‘You know what? Do a few more takes, we’ve got all the time in the world!'”

In addition to letting things drag on a bit more than usual, the cast and crew of the Emmy-winning show allowed for their final celebrations on set to have a sentimental tinge, with Gould telling us that he got countless gifts and letters from his longtime coworkers as they wrapped up filming.

“Every time I’d go back to my trailer, somebody had left a little present or a handwritten note saying how amazing it’s been spending the last 11 years with me, you know, thanking the cast and the crew and all that,” he revealed. “And then there were actual parties going on. Like, you’d walk into, like, the makeup trailer and, like, you know, we were playing music, and people were dancing.”

Listen to our full, 20-minute interview with Nolan Gould below, and don’t forget to tune into the “Modern Family” series finale on Wednesday, at 9 p.m. EST only on ABC.

For reference, see below for a timecode breakdown of In The Know’s interview with Nolan Gould:

0:47 – 2:56: Nolan talks about life in quarantine and how upheaval of public life has affected the final promotional push around “Modern Family.”

2:57 – 6:52: Nolan talks about “Modern Family” ending, his reaction to the finale and what viewers can expect from the show’s final moments.

6:53: – 9:35: Nolan talks about the last day on set filming “Modern Family” and the unexpected prop that he stole before heading home.

9:36 – 16:05: Nolan talks about growing up with the character of Luke Dunphy and how they grew to become more similar over the years, as well as becoming like “family” with the rest of his cast.

16:06 – 17:12: Nolan talks about what’s next for him in his career.

17:13 – 21:18: Nolan talks about the lasting impact of “Modern Family” and having relatives who initially didn’t want to watch the show because it had gay characters.

If you liked this story, check out In The Know’s recent interview with Bravo star Ramona Singer here.

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