You Won't Believe What The Modern Family Women Look Like With Their Natural Hair Colors

Could you imagine Alex Dunphy (Ariel Winter) without her glasses, or Gloria Delgado Pritchett (Sofía Vergara) without her 5-inch pumps? If you're a "Modern Family" fan, then you know that those are some of the staple features among the cast of the hit ABC sitcom — in company with Cam's (Eric Stonestreet) flamboyant button-downs and Manny's (Rico Rodriguez) fedora. We're so familiar with their on-screen looks that it's hard to imagine what they look like in real life. Even something as simple as hair color can completely change an actor's appearance, which can certainly be said about the "Modern Family" women.

Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen) rocks that signature blond 'do that only changed to brunette in a flashback in Season 4 before her father, Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill), said it made her "[Look] old" (via TikTok). But Bowen's own hue isn't so far off from that darker shade. Haley Dunphy's (Sarah Hyland) teenage rebellion seemingly came with blond highlights, but Hyland's real color is not what you would expect. All this to say, these "Modern" women all seem to have their colorists on speed dial.

She may be the fiery, albeit fun-loving brunette who balanced Claire's blond hair and neuroticism, but in reality, Sofía Vergara is a natural blond. The "Hot Pursuit" actor has rarely shown off her light locks; one could catch a glimpse of Vergara's natural color in a 1989 Pepsi commercial that she starred in when she was 17 years old, around the time she was first discovered. The native Colombian opened up to People about her decision to dye her hair darker earlier in her career, which was fueled by the dark features expected of Latina women in the industry. As difficult an identity switch as it was, she doesn't regret it, saying: "At the end of the day, it was hair. It was not like I was cutting my fingers off."

While the transformation of Julie Bowen's hair wasn't as dramatic as her co-star's brunette dye job, the "Hubie Halloween" actor doesn't sport the same tresses that she did as a child. In a throwback photo on her Instagram, it's evident that Bowen is more of a dirty blond than her "Modern Family" character's bright blond shade — she probably dyed her roots for the show. And though the sepia tones of another Instagram throwback throw a wrench in our sleuthing skills, it looks like Bowen's hair was nearly as dark as the tresses of actor Ethan Hawke, standing to the left of her.

Haley Dunphy was the master of bohemian chic, all the way down to her long, wavy locks, complete with that trademark ombré highlight that you might find at Coachella in 2015. Actor Sarah Hyland, on the other hand, is naturally about as far on the other side of the hair spectrum as you can be. In a throwback photo on Instagram, Hyland revealed her untreated hair, which is chocolate brown and corkscrew curly. She has shared her natural, dark coils on other occasions, including whenever she is at the beach with her husband, Wells Adams. 

Her hair transformation on "Modern Family" reportedly stemmed from her own hair issues. She told Refinery29 that she wore extensions on the show to cover up hair loss that she was experiencing due to her problems with kidney dysplasia and endometriosis (and she's one of the celebrities who are nearly unrecognizable without extensions).

At the start of her career, Ariel Winter learned quickly that the TV and film industry can be cruel. She told People that too many rejections led her 7-year-old self to dye her hair jet black, after being told it could help her stand out in auditions (via Seventeen). She also told People that because of her dark eyes and brows, most wouldn't expect her natural hair color. "People never guess, but my natural hair color is dirty blonde," she said. "I've always had dark eyebrows, so I was that person." She has seemingly enjoyed a variety of hair colors since being in "Modern Family," occasionally going back to black, but sometimes rocking lighter shades. In an episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" that Winter guest-starred in, she had red hair, and one fan commented, "Red hair really is yours."