Celebrity3 min(s) read
Published 19:16 15 Aug 2026 GMT
The kid who played baby Joe in Modern Family just turned 15 and people online are refusing to accept it.
Jeremy Maguire joined the cast as Joe Pritchett, the youngest child of Jay and Gloria, in season seven.
He was four years old. He had chubby cheeks and barely knew what was happening. Sofia Vergara carried him around on screen for five straight seasons.
Modern Family ended in 2020 after 11 seasons and 250 episodes. Six years later, Maguire celebrated his 15th birthday on August 10 and the internet had a collective breakdown.
A Reddit thread on the Modern Family subreddit kicked it off. Someone posted a photo of Maguire now alongside one from the show and wrote: "Can't believe how much Joe from Modern Family has grown up! Happy 15th to Jeremy Maguire!!!!"
'Fifteen already?? I swear he was a toddler like two seasons ago,' one person replied.
'He will always be a toddler to me,' said another.
'Seeing the Modern Family kids grown up is making me feel ancient.'
'Well this just made me feel old af.'
The general theme was less about Maguire and more about everyone else realising how long ago 2020 was. Six years since the show ended.
Eleven years since Maguire first appeared on screen as a four-year-old being passed around by Vergara, Ed O'Neill, and the rest of the cast.
Not a lot publicly. He has 251,000 followers on Instagram but barely posts. His last update was in January, a New Year's photo from Disney World.
"It's been a while since I've been here," he wrote.
"I'm happy to herald in my new year here at Walt Disney World!! hoping 2026 is the best year of them all."
He has other credits outside Modern Family, including Turner and Hooch, The Last Ship, S.W.A.T, and General Hospital. But none of them carry the same weight as being the kid on one of the most-watched sitcoms of the last 20 years.
Not a proper one.
The closest was a 2024 WhatsApp ad that brought several cast members back together.
Cam gushed to Phil and Claire over photos of Hayley's twins, Mitchell found out he had been excluded from the family group chat because of his phone, and a handyman fixed the situation by suggesting they use WhatsApp.
It was an advert, not a reunion. But for a few seconds it felt close enough to make people want the real thing.
Whether a full reboot ever happens is anyone's guess. In the meantime, the baby who couldn't hold a conversation six years ago is now a teenager with a quarter of a million Instagram followers who can probably drive.
Time is doing its thing whether you like it or not.
