Making it in Hollywood isn’t an easy task. The land of dreams can be very appealing when seen from one side of our screens, but it’s actually a goal very few manage to reach. Even successful actors have had it hard to make a name in the industry, and one great example of that is the legendary Ed O’Neill, whom you might remember as Jay Pritchet from Modern Family.
Before becoming the television legend he is now, Ed O’Neill had to endure so many rejections and harsh economic moments to see his dream come true. As he has now recently revealed with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, his Modern Family screen son, he was even pushed to consider joining the mafia during one of these crises.
On Ferguson’s podcast, Dinner on Me, O’Neill explained that acting professionally wasn’t happening when he was in his 20s, and he found himself broke. He had just been laid off from the Pittsburgh Steelers and had no job opportunities or money left. As it happens, his desperation attracted a tempting yet dangerous prospect.
It was 1969 when one of his friends, who was “in organized crime,” approached him and invited him for dinner at a very fancy restaurant, one of those places Ed would’ve never dreamed of even getting into. His friend Jimmy, rapidly started a strange conversation with the bartender; Ed could only see them making a money transaction. It was soon over, and the dinner went on smoothly.
Once it was over, they left, and Jimmy told him “You can do this kind of stuff for me, you know, I’ll protect you, I’ll give you easy stuff. Just you collect here. You do that. You run, you drop something off here and there. You know, you may have to lean on a guy. You’re good at that. You can make some good money.”
Tempted but unsure this was what he wanted to do, Ed O’Neill told Kim he would think about it since he was considering “leaving town to pursue this acting thing.” Ed went home and greeted his father, who had seen him getting out of Jim’s car. Just like that, his father just told him: “I just want to ask you a question. Can you do time?”
“You couldn’t do time. You’d have a hard time being in jail, right?” These blunt words made Ed consider the option and sincerely told his father he didn’t want to go to jail. This conversation was everything for the Married… with Children star, who soon after left Ohio and settled in New York to pursue his acting dream.
Just a few months later, he was already landing theater roles and making a name for himself. In 1987, his career really took off when he was cast as Al Bundy in the series Married… with Children, which aired for a decade! Of course, his biggest gig would become Modern Family, and we are all grateful for that father-and-son conversation!
