Sofía Vergara Thinks It’s ‘Pretty Cool’ That the “Modern Family ”Cast Still Use Their Group Chat ‘a Lot’ (Exclusive)

“Ed [O’Neill] answers like five days later about something, and then we have no clue what he's answering about,” Vergara tells PEOPLE

NEED TO KNOW

• Sofía Vergara reflected on her close bond with Ed O’Neill, calling him a guiding force during Modern Family
• Vergara and her former Modern Family castmates stay connected through a group chat despite their busy schedules
• “We do and we use it a lot … it’s pretty cool,” she said

Sofía Vergara can't help but "miss everybody" from Modern Family.

During an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE about her partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim's Detect the SOS campaign, the actress spoke about missing her former costars, including Ed O'Neill.

"I miss Ed O'Neill so much," Vergara, 53, said of the actor who played her on-screen husband. "I mean, I miss everyone, but … most of my scenes were always with Ed O'Neill. I spent the most of the 11 years with him. I miss him so much. He was such a great friend, such a great pillar for me, because I had never really … That was like my first really acting job."

She continued, "So to have someone like Ed O'Neill guiding you and helping you through a show like Modern Family was a dream. I couldn't have done it without him and I miss him. It's been already six years that we stopped, but I miss everybody. I wish that we could all come to … We see each other but not as much as we should."

Vergara previously shared a birthday tribute for the actor on April 12. “Feliz cumpleaños to my favorite husband!❤️ I miss u Ed O'Neil!!!!🥳🥳🥳🥳,” Vergara captioned a throwback photo of them together on Instagram. 

Vergara also revealed that the Modern Family cast still keep in touch via their group chat, even if O'Neill, 80, answers late while trying to keep up with the messages.

"Yes, we do. We do and we use it a lot. It's very confusing. Ed answers like five days later about something, and then we have no clue what he's answering about. So it's pretty cool," she explained.

Vergara previously reunited the cast in 2023, including O'Neill, Julie Bowen, Sarah Hyland, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ariel Winter, Rico Rodriguez, Nolan Gould and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, as well as the showrunners Chris Lloyd and Steve Levitan.

"It was very special," Vergara told PEOPLE at the time, adding it was "the first time we had all seen each other in almost four years," making it "very exciting for all of us."

"It's amazing, because we're always connected," she said. "Even though we haven't seen each other in so long, it felt like we just left the set in 2020."

Modern Family ran for 11 seasons from 2009 to 2020.

Most recently, Vergara and Octavia Spencer teamed up with Boehringer Ingelheim — with support from advocacy organizations, including the American Diabetes Association (ADA) — for the public health campaign Detect the SOS earlier this year, and she is revisiting it in honor of the World Cup.

"And also because as a Latin woman, there are millions of Latin people, unfortunately, that they suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes. Which is one of the most important things, one of the most important causes that you can get chronic kidney disease, and problems like heart attack and stroke. And this mission lets me get to them and for something that is such an important thing, like take control of your health," she exclusively told PEOPLE.

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In Vergara's “Mission: SOS” ad, which aired on Feb. 8 during the Super Bowl, she hopes to empower the millions of Americans living with high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes to prioritize uACR screening, which can find early signs of kidney damage, as well as an increased risk for heart attacks or strokes.

“We have a mission! We're gonna save the world now,” Vergara said. “But no, it's beautiful because we're coming together in this empowering public health message that hopefully will reach millions of people in a fun, easy way for people to understand.”

“I don't have diabetes or high blood pressure, but my mom has had high blood pressure for many, many years and it's been very hard,” she added.

Vergara said that she felt it was an "amazing" moment to speak about the uACR test, especially for those in families with a history of diabetes and high blood pressure.

"Also, the Latin community loves soccer. That's what we're all about. And to be able to use that platform where millions of people are watching all over the world in the United States, a million of Latin people, people from every race they're watching," she said.

"I mean, we're so lucky that we're able to insert this mission right now in this stage of the world. And that is making us, Octavia and me, very excited. The commercial came out amazing," Vergara continued. "It did so well also during the Super Bowl. And now to make it part of the World Cup we're very proud of it. Because I think we're going to reach a lot of people."

As for who Vergara is rooting for in the World Cup, she shared she was attending the first Los Angeles match for the United States opening. "I am also going to a couple of games in New York," she said. "But I still don't know who's going to be playing at that point. And of course the final, that's the big ticket. I'm going to the final in New York on the 19th."

"It's food. It's drinking a little bit and dancing. That's a World Cup," Vergara said. "And the energy of the game of the people, it's going to be such an amazing month I think for everyone. I wish I could go to more games, but I have to work. But I can't wait because it brings people together, and that's why it's so special for us to be able … We got lucky to be able to be part of the World Cup with this mission, and be able to reach so much people. Because that was the whole point of it."

Modern Family can be streamed on Peacock and Hulu.

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