Now 21, Rodriguez got his big break with Modern Family and didn’t branch out a whole lot during the run of the series.
He did some voice work on TV projects like Mad and The Lion Guard, played himself in The Muppets in 2011, and landed some one-off TV roles including on R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour and Austin & Ally.
At 11-years-old when Modern Family Season 1 premiered, Rico Rodriguez was pretty young to be playing Claire and Mitchell’s step-sibling and the Dunphy kids’ step-uncle, but Manny with his sensitivity, love of the arts, and surprisingly grown-up tendencies (played for laughs) always delivered.