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It wasn’t easy being Haley.
Sarah Hyland, who played teen Haley Dunphy on the hit sitcom “Modern Family” for 11 seasons, has some not-so-fun memories of her time on the show — thanks to a string of serious health issues.
The 32-year-old recently revealed on co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s “Dinner’s On Me” podcast that her battle with kidney dysplasia had a significant impact on her experience playing the eldest Dunphy daughter.
“I was always focused on essentially just surviving and knowing my lines and being there 100% when they yelled ‘action,’ and then immediately collapsing when they yelled ‘cut,’ ” Hyland told Ferguson, 47.
The “Vampire Academy” actress has received two kidney transplants over the years.
Hyland recalled a particular episode that featured the cast pushing a car — the actress was not only on dialysis at the time, she was on crutches, too, while suffering from gout.
“They put me in high heels. They had not established my outfit yet, and they insisted that I was wearing heels,” Hyland said.
The “Geek Charming” alum was forced to power through and managed to stay in the zone while filming, putting her energy into her work rather than on her chronic pain.
She thanked Ferguson for his support on the show as she was dealing with her illness.
“I just want to let you know how appreciative I am for that,” she told the “Ugly Betty” actor.
Back in 2019, Hyland admitted that her poor health caused her to have thoughts of suicide.
She said at the time on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” that she “would write letters in my head to loved ones of why I [committed suicide] and my reasoning behind it, how it was nobody’s fault.”
“I didn’t want to write it down on paper because I didn’t want anybody to find it. That’s how serious I was,” she said.
But she crawled out of the dark place after sharing her thoughts with a friend.
“It ended up being myself that got me out of that,” she explained. “I had to do it on my own. I told myself I had to do it on my own.”
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