Where is Manny from Modern Family now? Rico Rodriguez was the cherubic child star who played Sofía Vergara’s son – now he sports a beard, just finished a podcast, and is WWE and NFL-obsessed

“OMG, that is not Manny,” one commenter wrote on actor Rico Rodriguez’s Instagram post recently. “OK so u r exactly opposite to Manny,” someone else commented in disbelief on another photo.

And it’s true. Gone is cute tween Manny Delgado, whose grown up coffee-drinking habit and earnest quips bemused and delighted his on-screen mum Gloria and stepdad Jay in equal measure. Now Rodriguez is 25 and doing very different things with his time. So what exactly has the star been up to?

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Rico Rodriguez has transformed his look

These days, Rico Rodriguez doesn’t look much like his Modern Family character Manny. Photo: @starringrico/Instagram

Unlike clean cut and serious little Manny, whose ensembles rarely stretched beyond a muted dress shirt and chinos (not forgetting the occasional hat, of course), Rodriguez favours an altogether more punk aesthetic.

Rico Rodriguez sporting a T-shirt featuring horror character Jason Voorhees, from the Friday the 13th series. Photo: @starringrico/Instagram

These days, the star can mostly be seen in black T-shirts emblazoned with WWE stars or characters from Hollywood horror films. Oh, and he’s let the corkscrew curls fly and grown a beard.

He’s taken on just two projects since Modern Family

Rico Rodriguez posing with his on-screen mum, Sofía Vergara, back in the day. Photo: @mofyxlove/Instagram

While it’s almost been four years since Modern Family left our screens, Rodriguez can be forgiven for wanting to take an extended break. The Texan child actor first appeared on the sitcom when he was just 11 years old, and went on to star in the show for the next 11 years.

Rico Rodriguez has only taken two projects since Modern Family wrapped. Photo: @starringrico/Instagram

Since Modern Family wrapped, he’s lent his voice to a character in the upcoming animation Sneaks, per IMDB, and recently announced his part in comedy-thriller podcast series How to Win Friends and Disappear People.

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He’s a huge sports fan

Rico Rodriguez is a big American football fan. Photo: @starringrico/Instagram

If there’s one thing Rodriguez has been up to, however, it’s supporting his beloved sports teams. Not only is he a regular at Houston Rockets basketball games, but he’s so obsessed with the Texas Houstons American football team that it even made him homefield advantage captain for one of its games back in 2016. In fact, barely a day goes by without him posting about the team on X (formerly Twitter). He also loves going to watch WWE.

Rico Rodriguez posing with a WWE belt. Photo: @starringrico/Instagram

He’s spending loads of time with his IRL family

Rico Rodriguez and his IRL sister, Raini. Photo: @starringrico/Instagram

One thing that is Manny Delgado-esque about Rodriguez is the fact that he’s always tight with his entire family when he heads to sports games, premieres or events. His older sister Raini, who is also an actress, features the most on his Instagram.

Rico Rodriguez is tight with his family. Photo: @starringrico/Instagram

Last January, the pair could be seen hanging out backstage at WWE in San Antonio happily snapping pics with wrestlers Drew McIntyre, Finn Bálor and Omos. He also posted several heartwarming photos of his extended family on Thanksgiving 2021, with his father, Roy Rodriguez, notably absent after dying at the age of just 52 in 2017, per TMZ.

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He’s been keeping in touch with the Modern Family cast

Rico Rodriguez posing with his Modern Family mum and stepdad: Sofía Vergara and Ed O’Neill. Photo: @starringrico/Instagram

Rodriguez had previously said that Sofía Vergara “treats me like one of her kids” and “she’s definitely like my second mother” after the pair were reunited on a 2020 episode of America’s Got Talent. Vergara’s obvious delight at being surprised by her former on-screen son shows just how close they are.

Then, last November, the entire cast – save for Ty Burrell (aka Phil Dunphy) – reunited for the first time since the pandemic, including Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Rodriguez’s on-screen dad Ed O’Neill, Vergara and a very grown-up looking Aubrey Anderson-Emmons who played Lily in the show.

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