Los Angeles, Aug 8 (IANS): Hollywood actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who is fondly known by his character name Mitchell Pritchett, shared how the popular sitcom “Modern Family” helped to shield him from homophobia.

The 48-year-old actor explained how the show changed his life.

"I went to Las Vegas, and I had been in Las Vegas a few years earlier, and I sort of got gay bashed a little bit. It wasn't anything violent, but it was definitely like, there was negative energy coming at me from a couple that felt uncomfortable around me and my then-boyfriend,” Ferguson said on “Dinner's on Me” podcast.

"And then years later I went, after 'Modern Family', and I remember feeling that same negativity initially, but then they would see who it was, and they would recognise me from being, I am gay, but I'm also that gay one from TV."

He feels like his on-screen role offered him some form of protection, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

The actor said: "There was some weird superpower that I felt like I was being protected by this role that I was also playing. It kind of gave me this coat of armour, and I had this protection of being this character that people also loved. I don't know. It was really weird."

Ferguson had earlier shared that he was surprised by the success of “Modern Family”.

The actor told a magazine: "I think we were all prepared to just let it be what it was, and nobody knew that we had something special.

"We felt that there was a deep connection, and we know that the pilot was very well received, but you never know what’s going to happen next. You never know if the audience is going to stick around."

"I don’t think it was until the second season after we’ve been nominated for another round of Emmy Awards where it was like, okay, maybe we are here to stay for a while."