Ariel Winter | |
Birth Name: | Ariel Winter Workman |
Birth Date: | 28 January 1998 |
Birth Place: | Fairfax, Virginia, U.S. |
Occupation: | Actress |
Years Active: | 2002–present |
Known For: | Alex Dunphy in Modern Family |
Ariel Winter (born Ariel Winter Workman; January 28, 1998) is an American actress. She is known for playing Alex Dunphy in the ABC sitcom Modern Family, for which she and her several co-stars won four consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
Ariel Winter Workman was born on January 28, 1998, in Fairfax, Virginia.[1] She is the daughter of Chrisoula (née Batistas) and Glenn Workman. Through her mother, she is of Greek descent, and through her father, of German descent.[2] She is the younger sister of actors Shanelle Workman and Jimmy Workman.[3] [4] [5]
Winter obtained her first entertainment industry job in a Cool Whip commercial advertisement in 2002 when she was four years old.[6] She had her first television role in an episode of Listen Up, and followed it with appearances in a variety of television shows such as Freddie, Monk, Bones, and ER.
In the animated children's show Phineas and Ferb, she voiced the character of Gretchen before winning the regular role of Alex Dunphy in the series Modern Family, which premiered in 2009 and ended in 2020. She has continued to work in TV animation, including providing the voice of Marina the Mermaid on Disney Junior's Jake and the Never Land Pirates. In 2012, Winter was cast as Sofia, the lead character in a then-new Disney animated franchise Sofia the First.[7] The series premiered in January 2013 on Disney Junior. In 2014, she voiced Penny Peterson, Sherman's adversary turned friend in the DreamWorks Animation film Mr. Peabody and Sherman. She also lent her voice to characters in the animated films, Disney's Bambi II and Blue Sky's .
Winter has appeared in feature films, most notably in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Speed Racer, Duress, and Opposite Day. She also appeared on the Halloween-themed TV film . For her leading role in the film The Chaperone, she was nominated at the Young Artist Awards 2012 as "Best Actress in a Motion Picture".[8]
In 2012, Winter's sister Shanelle Workman filed to become her guardian, alleging that their mother had been physically and emotionally abusive.[9] In 2014, the court awarded guardianship to Workman and permanently removed Winter from her mother's guardianship.[10] Their mother later released a statement saying that "the family has moved beyond the conflict". In 2015, when she was 17 years old, Winter declared on Twitter that she was officially emancipated.[11] [12]
In 2015, Winter underwent breast reduction surgery.[13] [14] In a 2016 interview with ABC News Nightline, Winter explained the awkwardness of developing at 12 years old in the public eye, combined with the back pain that rendered her unable to stand up straight at times, was "really ostracizing and excruciatingly painful."[15] [16] Describing the improvement that the surgery had on her both physically and psychologically, she told Glamour magazine that it was "amazing to finally feel right. This is how I was supposed to be." At the 2016 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Winter gained media attention for wearing a Romona Kaveza gown[17] that revealed her surgical scars. She was shocked after walking down the red carpet to see the photos the next day and "every headline be about my cleavage and -- not about my talent." Winter later tweeted: "Guys there is a reason I didn't make an effort to cover up my scars! They are part of me and I'm not ashamed of them at all."
Winter attended Campbell Hall School in Los Angeles, graduating in June 2016.[18] She was accepted to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and scheduled to begin there in the fall quarter of 2016.[19] However, she later confirmed that she planned to attend UCLA in fall 2017. On her decision to attend college, she explained, "You gotta have something else you can do. I've always been interested in law, so I think it'll definitely be something that I'll love to do and also go to school for."[20] In 2018, Winter took an indefinite hiatus from UCLA to focus on her work.
Winter is a member of the Greek Orthodox Church.[21]
She dated Canadian actor Levi Meaden for three years; they split in 2019.[22] The couple lived together in Winter’s 3,200-square-foot home in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles.[23] Since 2020, she has been in a relationship with actor Luke Benward.[24] In 2022, Winter moved from Southern California to Nashville, Tennessee.[25] [26]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Kiss Kiss Bang Bang | Young Harmony Faith Lane | |
2006 | Curious George | Kid (voice)[27] | |
Bambi II | Thumper's Sister (voice) | ||
Various characters (voice) | |||
2008 | One Missed Call | Ellie Layton | |
Speed Racer | Young Trixie | ||
Horton Hears a Who! | Various characters | Voice | |
2009 | Tales from the Catholic Church of Elvis! | Little girl | |
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete | Marlene Wallace (voice) | ||
Life Is Hot in Cracktown | Suzie | ||
Duress | Sarah Barnett | ||
Opposite Day | Carla Benson | ||
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs | Various characters (voice) | ||
Young Sio (voice) | |||
2010 | Killers | Sadie | |
Nic & Tristan Go Mega Dega | Lisa | ||
Princess Perdita (voice) | |||
2011 | Sally | ||
Gretchen (voice) | |||
Talia | |||
2012 | Excision | Grace | |
Tad, The Lost Explorer | Sarah Lavrof (voice) | ||
ParaNorman | Blithe Hollow Kid (voice) | ||
Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess | Sofia | Voice, television film | |
2012–2013 | Batman: The Dark Knight Returns | Carrie Kelley / Robin (voice) | Direct-to-video |
2013 | Dora the Explorer and the Destiny Medallion | Dora | Short film |
Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright | Chrissy Damon (voice) | Direct-to-video | |
Sofia the First: The Floating Palace | Sofia | Voice, television film | |
Tad, The Lost Explorer | Sara Lavrof | ||
2014 | Mr. Peabody & Sherman | Penny Peterson (voice) | |
2015 | Safelight | Kate | |
2016 | Elena and the Secret of Avalor | Sofia | Voice, television film |
2017 | Smurf Lily (voice) | ||
The Last Movie Star | Lil |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Listen Up | Little Girl | Episode: "Last Vegas" |
Tickle-U | Pipoca | Voice | |
Freddie | Hobo | Episode: "Halloween" | |
2006 | Monk | Donna Cain | Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Astronaut" |
So Notorious | Little Tori | 5 episodes | |
Jericho | Julie | Episode: "Pilot" | |
Bones | Liza | Episode: "The Girl with the Curl" | |
Nip/Tuck | Kid | Episode: "Reefer" | |
2007 | Crossing Jordan | Gwen | Episode: "Faith" |
Shorty McShorts' Shorts | Taffy | Voice, episode: "Flip-Flopped" | |
Criminal Minds | Katie Jacobs | Episode: "Seven Seconds" | |
2007–2015 | Phineas and Ferb | Gretchen, additional voices | Voice, recurring role |
2008 | Ghost Whisperer | Natalie | Episode: "Imaginary Friends and Enemies" |
2009 | ER | Lucy Moore | 5 episodes |
Little Girl | Voice, episode: "What Goes Around / Mask of the Raccoon" | ||
2009–2020 | Modern Family | Alex Dunphy | Main role; 216 episodes |
2011 | Jake and the Never Land Pirates | Marina the Mermaid | Voice, 15 episodes |
Minnie's Bow-Toons | Roxie Squirrel | Voice, episode: "Pom Pom Problem; Pet Adoption" | |
WWE Raw | Herself | Guest star (airdate: February 14) | |
Jenny | Episode: "Fear Never Knocks" | ||
2012 | The Haunting Hour: The Series | Gracie | Episode: "Headshot" |
Young Justice | Queen Perdita | Voice, episode: "Coldhearted" | |
2013–2018 | Sofia the First | Sofia | Voice, main role |
2016 | Milo Murphy's Law | Jackie | Voice, episode: "The Wilder West" |
2019 | Raegan James | Episode: "The Darkest Journey Home"[28] | |
Robot Chicken | Various characters | Voice, episode: "Ginger Hill in: Bursting Pipes" | |
2020 | Elena of Avalor | Sofia | Voice, episode: "Coronation Day" |
2023 | D'Erika Tendi | Voice, recurring role | |
Stars on Mars | Herself | Contestant |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep | Young Kairi | ||
2012 | Final Fantasy XIII-2 | Mog | ||
Guild Wars 2 | Cassie | |||
2014 | Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix | Young Kairi | Archival footage | |
2015 | Final Fantasy Type-0 HD | Moogle | ||
2020 | Young Kairi | Archival footage | ||
2022 | The Quarry | Abigail "Abi" Blyg | Voice, motion-capture and likeness |
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Modern Family (shared with Ed O'Neill, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Sarah Hyland, Rico Rodriguez, and Nolan Gould) | |
2010 | |||
2011 | |||
2012 | |||
2013 | |||
2014 | |||
2015 | |||
2016 |
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Outstanding Young Ensemble in a TV Series | Modern Family | [29] | ||
2011 | [30] | ||||
2012 | Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film | The Chaperone |