Nolan Gould

Gould was 10 when Modern Family cast him as Luke Dunphy, the family idiot. He was also, at the time, a Mensa member with an IQ of 150 who'd accelerated four grades. The show eventually wrote Luke a smarter arc, which tracked less like character growth and more like the writers figuring out what they actually had. He stayed for all 11 seasons, from 2009 to 2020, growing up entirely on screen.

Modern Family ended in 2020 and Gould sold most of his belongings and drove a van across the country. No franchise pivot, no replacement series. He appeared in Miranda's Victim in 2023 and picked up a short film in 2024, modest credits by any measure. He's said openly that he finds it hard to connect with people, a side effect of growing up on a working set instead of in a school. The low profile might be deliberate. Or it might just be what follows 11 years of one role.

He's never attended a traditional school. Gould was home-tutored through the entire Modern Family run, was accepted to film school after the show ended, deferred his enrollment twice, and never went. On Growing Up with Devon Werkheiser in 2023, he talked about missing typical childhood experiences. Selling everything to drive a van around the country is either a very healthy way to process that, or just postponing the question.