Jesse Tyler Ferguson landed role in Cocaine Bear without even knowing
Justin Mikita (L) helped Jesse Tyler Ferguson (R) land the cocaine bear role. (Getty/Universal)
Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson landed a role in new comedy-horror film Cocaine Bear without even knowing it. And it’s all down to his husband.
The film – directed by fellow Modern Family actor and long-time friend, Elizabeth Banks – follows a 500lb black bear on a ravenous rampage in a Georgia forest after it eats a huge haul of cocaine.
Ferguson plays one of the terrified locals trying to escape the drug-induced wild animal, bringing chaos and bloodshed in its wake. And, if the trailer is anything to go by, he may meet a grisly end.
Incredibly, the story is loosely based on actual events, that happened in 1985, although this is a darker timeline as locals, tourists and criminals band together to survive the threat.
As for how he landed such a prestigious role, the story behind it fun too.
Apparently, it was Ferguson’s husband, Justin Mikita, who help land him the job, as Ferguson told ET.
“Liz [Banks] put on Instagram or Twitter: ‘I’m directing this movie called Cocaine Bear, who should be in it?'”
And since Mikita has access to Ferguson’s social media account, he decided it would be the perfect role for his husband of almost 10 years.
“He sometimes posts for me, and he posted on my behalf, like, ‘I’ll do it!’ She called me five minutes later and I didn’t know anything about it,” added Ferguson, who notched up five consecutive prime-time Emmy nominations for his role as Mitchell in Modern Family.
“She was like, ‘You said you wanted to [do the movie], let’s talk about it.’ I was like, ‘Justin must have gotten into my social media!’ So, basically, Justin got me the job.”
Catfishing aside, once Ferguson got involved in the project, it only got more chaotic. As he told The Today Show, Banks could “barely get through” the film pitch because she was laughing too much.
“I haven’t done a lot of film, so to do one and to have it be this thing that people are talking about and having reaction videos and watching the trailer, I’m like, ‘What is happening?'” he joked.
Cocaine Bear is released in the UK on 24 Friday.
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