When you think of the “Modern Family” stars, it might be easy to picture the stellar group that included Ed O’Neill and Sofía Vergara, as well as Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet, along with the equally talented younger cast members.
However, it turns out that the stars don’t all look the way that they used to on the popular show. For instance, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, a.k.a Lily, recently underwent a major transformation that’s made her pretty much unrecognizable.
That’s not to mention Ferguson, who fans will remember as Mitchell Pritchett. Now, he’s turned himself into someone very different.
See Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Truman Capote
GettyGet ready to put Mitchell out of your mind for a moment, because Ferguson is prepping to play a character who’s not at all like the “Modern Family” figure.
“Ferguson will make his Menier Chocolate Factory debut playing Truman Capote in Jay Presson Allen’s ‘Tru,'” according to Variety. “Rob Ashford directs the production, which opens Sept. 27 following previews from Sept. 19, and runs through Nov. 14.”
To become Capote — the American novelist, screenwriter and playwright who passed away in 1984 — Ferguson has had to crop his hair quite short, shave off all of his signature facial hair and pop on a pair of glasses.
“‘Tru’ arrives at the Menier on the back of a well-received New York staging earlier this year,” Variety notes. “Ferguson reprises the role he originated earlier this year in the play’s first New York revival, staged at House of the Redeemer. The piece, built entirely from Capote’s own writing, first reached the stage in 1989.”
If you’re unfamiliar with the story, it’s “[s]et in December 1975,” per Variety, and “finds Capote isolated in his New York residence, grappling with the fallout of a scandal that stripped him of standing among the wealthy social set he once cherished.”
GettyVariety adds that Ferguson, who has tackled other acclaimed performances and earned a Tony Award for his role in the Broadway revival of “Take Me Out,” opened up about his upcoming reprisal, saying, “I’m thrilled to bring this intimate production of ‘Tru’ to the Menier following its successful New York run.”
“The audience response to this unique theatrical experience, and the chance to encounter Truman Capote up close, was incredibly rewarding,” he continued. “I’m delighted that … I now have the opportunity to share what we’ve created with London audiences.”
Other Stars Have Transformed Into Truman Capote
GettyFerguson isn’t the first actor to turn himself into Capote.
For instance, Toby Jones, “the British actor, previously best known to American moviegoers as the voice of Dobby the House Elf in the Harry Potter flicks,” who also appeared as Red Skull scientist Arnim Zola in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “enjoy[ed] greater acclaim than ever for his performance as Truman Capote in Infamous, a drama costarring Daniel Craig and Sandra Bullock,” Entertainment Weekly (EW) reported in October 2006.
“On the other hand, the praise comes coupled with comparisons to Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Oscar-winning portrayal of the very same writer in [2005]’s Capote,” EW noted. “The two movies cover almost exactly the same ground — how Truman Capote researched and wrote his groundbreaking true-crime classic In Cold Blood — so the comparisons are hardly surprising.”
Years later, Tom Hollander also stepped into Capote’s shoes, although it turns out that he could have portrayed the author much earlier.
Vanity Fair explains that the English actor “first put himself in the mix to play Truman Capote in the mid-2000s, when two biopics were in simultaneous development: the eponymous Philip Seymour Hoffman vehicle that won Hoffman an Oscar, and the relatively unsung Infamous starring Toby Jones. After auditioning for the latter, Hollander felt defeated when he didn’t get the role.”
Fast forward to around 20 years later, and Hollander finally got the chance to become Capote.
In January 2024, Vanity Fair told its readers that the actor “physically transforms into the literary icon in FX’s … Feud: Capote vs. the Swans, a performance that ranges from playful to profound as it slowly swerves toward tragedy.”
