Ariel Winter

Ariel Winter
Winter in March 2015
Born	Ariel Winter Workman (1998-01-28) January 28, 1998 (age 26) Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2002–present
Known for	Alex Dunphy in Modern Family
Relatives	Shanelle Workman (sister) Jimmy Workman (brother)
Awards	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Modern Family 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

Ariel Winter Workman (born January 28, 1998) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Alex Dunphy in the ABC sitcom Modern Family, for which she and her several costars won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series four consecutive times from 2010 to 2013.

Early life

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]

Career

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.

She voiced the character of Gretchen in the animated Disney Channel series Phineas and Ferb before winning the regular role of Alex Dunphy in the ABC 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 on Disney Junior's Jake and the Never Land Pirates. In 2012, Winter was cast as the voice of Sofia, the lead character in a then-new Disney animated franchise Sofia the First.^[7] The series premiered in January 2013 on Disney Junior.

Winter at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2016

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 Ice Age: The Meltdown.

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 Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred. 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]

Personal life

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 Shanelle 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".^[10] 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."^[14][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."^[14] 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."^[16] 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."^[17]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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]

Filmography

Film

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)[27]
	Ice Age: The Meltdown	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)
	Afro Samurai: Resurrection	Young Sio (voice)
2010	Killers	Sadie
	Nic & Tristan Go Mega Dega	Lisa
	DC Showcase: Green Arrow	Princess Perdita (voice)
2011	The Chaperone	Sally
	Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension	Gretchen (voice)
	Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred	Talia
2012	Excision	Grace
	Tad, The Lost Explorer	Sarah Lavrof (voice)
	ParaNorman	Blithe Hollow Kid (voice)	[27]
	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[27]
2013	Dora the Explorer and the Destiny Medallion	Dora	Short film
	Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright	Chrissy Damon (voice)	Direct-to-video[27]
	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	Smurfs: The Lost Village	Smurf Lily (voice)
	The Last Movie Star	Lil McDougal
2025	Like Father Like Son	TBA	[28]

Television

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"
2008	Ghost Whisperer	Natalie	Episode: "Imaginary Friends and Enemies"
2008–2015	Phineas and Ferb	Gretchen	Voice, recurring role[27]
2009	ER	Lucy Moore	5 episodes
	The Penguins of Madagascar	Little Girl	Voice, episode: "What Goes Around / Mask of the Raccoon"
2009–2020	Modern Family	Alex Dunphy	Main role; 216 episodes
2011	WWE Raw	Herself	Guest star (airdate: February 14)
	The Haunting Hour: The Series	Jenny	Episode: "Fear Never Knocks"
2011–2015	Jake and the Never Land Pirates	Marina	Voice, 22 episodes
2011, 2013	Minnie's Bow-Toons	Roxie Squirrel	Voice, 2 episodes
2012	The Haunting Hour: The Series	Gracie	Episode: "Headshot"
	Young Justice	Queen Perdita	Voice, episode: "Coldhearted"[27]
2013–2018	Sofia the First	Sofia	Voice, lead role[27]
2016	Milo Murphy's Law	Jackie	Voice, episode: "The Wilder West"[27]
2019	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Raegan James	Episode: "The Darkest Journey Home"[29]
	Robot Chicken	Various characters	Voice, episode: "Ginger Hill in: Bursting Pipes"
2020	Elena of Avalor	Sofia	Voice, episode: "Coronation Day"
2023	Stars on Mars	Herself	Contestant
	Firebuds	Calamity Train	Voice, episode: "Annie Spokely"
2023–2024	Star Trek: Lower Decks	D'Erika Tendi	Voice, recurring role
2026	Sofia the First: Royal Magic	Sofia	Voice, lead role[30]

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep	Young Kairi	[27]
2012	Final Fantasy XIII-2	Mog	[27]
	Guild Wars 2	Cassie
2014	Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix	Young Kairi	Archival footage
2015	Final Fantasy Type-0 HD	Moogle	[27]
2020	Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory	Young Kairi	Archival footage[27]
2022	The Quarry	Abigail "Abi" Blyg	Voice, motion-capture and likeness[27]

Awards and nominations

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result
2009	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Modern Family	Nominated[a]
2010			Won[a]
2011			Won[b]
2012			Won[b]
2013			Won[b]
2014			Nominated[b]
2015			Nominated[b]
2016			Nominated[c]

1. Shared with Ed O'Neill, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Sarah Hyland, Nolan Gould and Rico Rodriguez.
2. Shared with O'Neill, Vergara, Bowen, Burrell, Ferguson, Stonestreet, Hyland, Gould, Rodriguez and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons.
3. Shared with O'Neill, Vergara, Bowen, Burrell, Ferguson, Stonestreet, Hyland, Gould, Rodriguez, Anderson-Emmons and Jeremy Maguire.

Young Artist Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2010	Outstanding Young Ensemble in a TV Series	Modern Family	Won	[31]
2011			Nominated	[32]
2012	Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film	The Chaperone	Nominated	[8]

References

1. Bacardi, Francesca (28 January 2015). "Ariel Winter Celebrates Her Birthday With Friends, a Cake and a Wish!". E!. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
2. Winter, Ariel [@arielwinter1] (8 April 2018). "It's not. My dad is German and my mom is Greek" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 June 2019 – via Twitter.
3. Rowley, Alison (10 November 2012). "Ariel Winter's grandfather: 'I never witnessed any abuse'". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012.
4. Lee, Ken (12 December 2012). "Ariel Winter to Stay with Sister, Dad to Oversee Estate". People. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015.
5. "Helen G. Batistas Obituary". The Washington Post via Legacy.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
6. "It's Evening in America". Vanity Fair, May 2012, p. 159.
7. Hill, Jim. "Ariel Winter Looks Ahead, Prepares for Life After Modern Family and Sofia the First". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
8. "33rd Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
9. "Modern Family star Ariel Winter in custody battle". BBC News. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
10. McCartney, Anthony (5 May 2014). "Family settles guardianship dispute over 'Modern Family' teen actress Ariel Winter". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015.
11. Corriston, Michele (15 May 2015). "Modern Family's Ariel Winter Is Emancipated, Thanks 'Amazing Support System'". People. Archived from the original on 16 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
12. "Ariel Winter Wins Legal Emancipation From Mother". HuffPost. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
13. Yagoda, Maria (12 August 2015). "Ariel Winter Explains Decision to Undergo Breast Reduction Surgery". People. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
14. Radloff, Jessica (12 August 2015). "Ariel Winter Breast Reduction Surgery Exclusive Interview". Glamour. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
15. Van De Wall, Virginia (24 September 2021). "Celebs Who Had Breast Reductions". Life&Style. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
16. Singh, Natasha (1 March 2016). "'Modern Family' Star Ariel Winter Opens Up on Breast Reduction Surgery". ABC Nightline. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
17. Saad, Nardine (2 February 2016). "Ariel Winter 'not ashamed' to show her breast-reduction scars on SAG red carpet". LA Times. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
18. "Ariel Winter and Elle Fanning graduate high school". HELLO!. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
19. "Famous Celebrity Ariel Winter has committed to UCLA". University Prime Time. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
20. Martin, Annie (28 April 2016). "'Modern Family' star Ariel Winter headed for UCLA". UPI.com. United Press International. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
21. Donnelly, Erin (9 April 2018). "People are trying to shame Ariel Winter for wearing a short dress to church". Yahoo! Lifestyle. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
22. "Ariel Winter and Levi Meaden Have Reportedly Broken Up". Teen Vogue. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
23. Chen, Joyce (11 May 2017). "Ariel Winter Is Not a Handy Homeowner". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
24. "Ariel Winter Calls Luke Benward Relationship 'Really Beautiful'". Entertainment Tonight. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
25. Whitaker, Sterling (7 December 2022). "PICTURES: 'Modern Family' Star Ariel Winter Buys Stunning $2.9 Million Nashville Mansion". Taste of Country. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
26. "Ariel Winter Says She Left Los Angeles Because She Hated Having Her 'Space Invaded' by Paparazzi". Peoplemag. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
27. "Ariel Winter (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 8 October 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
28. Nash, Anthony (10 December 2024). "Dermot Mulroney Is a Death Row Inmate in Like Father Like Son". ComingSoon. Archived from the original on 12 December 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
29. Harnick, Chris (30 July 2019). "SVU Books Ariel Winter for Season 21". E! Online. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
30. "Disney Jr. Greenlights "Sofia the First: Royal Magic," Sequel to Emmy- and Humanitas-Winning Hit Series "Sofia the First"" (Press release). Disney Branded Television. 15 August 2024 – via The Futon Critic.
31. "31st Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
32. "32nd Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Retrieved 31 March 2012.

External links

• Ariel Winter on Instagram
• Ariel Winter on Twitter
• Ariel Winter on Facebook
• Ariel Winter at IMDb