'Modern Family' Star Ariel Winter Grapples With Childhood Fame: 'I Am Familiar With Male Predators'

The actor, who was only 11 when she was cast in the hit ABC sitcom, shares that she’s gone to therapy to deal with the trauma.

“Modern Family” alum Ariel Winter is opening up about her traumatic childhood stardom.

The actor was only 11 years old when she was cast in 2009 in the ABC sitcom as teenage introvert Alex Dunphy. While she found fame and recognition for her performance throughout the show’s 11-year run, Winter recalled Hollywood being “a dark place” in a wide-ranging interview Thursday with the Daily Mail.

“I am familiar with male predators because I worked in Hollywood at a young age,” Winter told the outlet. “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.”

“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,” the actor, now 27, continued. “The movie and TV industry is a dark place.”

Winter, who left Los Angeles after “Modern Family” ended in 2020, recently told People that the city “holds some not-great memories” for her. She said she was “pushed into the industry” at 4 years old by her “stage mom,” Chrisoula “Crystal” Workman, who wanted her to be famous.