Sue From The Middle Is So Stunning In Real Life

ABC's "The Middle" is a show that some feel never quite got the love it deserved. But despite often living in the shadow of fellow ABC sitcom "Modern Family," which premiered the same year (the same month, in fact), "The Middle" managed to last almost as long, running for nine seasons from 2009 to 2018. If you've watched the show yourself, you're definitely familiar with Sue Heck, the middle child and only daughter of Mike (played by Neil Flynn) and Frankie Heck (played by "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Patricia Heaton). But what you may not know about Sue is that the actress who plays her, Eden Sher, is quite different from the character, in addition to being absolutely gorgeous.

For starters, Sher is actually quite a bit older than Sue in real life. While the character is depicted as being 13 years old at the start of the show, and in her early 20s by the final season, the actress was 17 going on 18 when "The Middle" premiered in September 2009 and nearing her late 20s when it went off the air just shy of nine years later. Furthermore, whereas Sue is often defined by her awkward behavior and demeanor, Sher is a bit more put-together and has a more effortless charisma about her. But you don't have to take our word for it. Just take a look at this snapshot of the actress at the 2019 Critics' Choice Awards.

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Granted, there are some similarities between Sher and Sue, as well. For example, Sher's love for TV brother Charlie McDermott, who played Axl Heck, is very real. "I have two brothers in real life, and he's like my third brother," she told Teen Vogue in 2013. But what if Sue's story got the chance to continue?

The reason "The Middle" came to an end in May 2018 is because the creators simply felt that the show had run its course. At that time, though , there were also plans for a spinoff series focusing on Sue Heck, which would have seen Eden Sher reprise her role as a slightly older version of the character, making her closer to the actress' real-life age. Unfortunately, by November 2018, it came to light that ABC had decided not to move forward on the project.

However, Sher did speak in a 2024 interview with G. Charles Wright about how the new-and-improved Sue would have hewed closer to her real-life self, as well as how she had grown as an actress. "It takes place in the future, so it was also a little bit closer to, like, me, Eden, at that time," she said. "And I really got to be a little bit more, you know, grown up. I got to be a little more like me. ... It was the first time I was like, 'You know what? I'm– I'm funny.' I was funny, and I did a good job."

As for what else Sher has been up to since "The Middle" ended, she wrapped up her other famous role, Star Butterfly, in the Disney Channel animated series "Star vs. the Forces of Evil," in 2019 after four years in the voice-over booth. That same year, she had a recurring role in Season 5 of "Jane the Virgin." More recently, she's appeared in episodes of "Lopez vs Lopez," "How I Met Your Father," and "Night Court." And in 2025, she made her Hallmark movie debut in "A Keller Christmas Vacation."