(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Ty Burrell is proud of his Emmy win as he thinks Modern Family is helping "change a lot of minds" about gay people.
The star won the best supporting actor prize at last night's ceremony for his role as Phil Dunphy in the American television show. Julie Bowen, who portrays Phil's wife Claire, won the female version of the prize.
The show follows families who interlink and has several gay characters. Ty is proud Modern Family is now getting such recognition.
"I don't know, in terms of America, it feels very, very good to be on a show that seems like it's slowly changing a lot of minds. Eric [Stonestreet] and Jesse [Tyler Ferguson] deserve all of the credit for that, and our amazing showrunners. It's a great thing to just peripherally go to events and just basically start to talk about those characters like any other characters, relating to their life - it's pretty cool," he said backstage at the event.
Julie laughingly added: "As a straight woman, and part of a straight couple on the show, I feel marginalised."
Modern Family was the big story of the 2011 Emmys, scooping five prizes including the coveted best comedy series prize.
Jim Parsons received the best comedy actor prize for his part in The Big Bang Theory. He was thrilled to win, but was more amazed about seeing Charlie Sheen at the event.
Charlie was famously sacked from Two and a Half Men earlier this year, but took to the stage in Los Angeles last night to wish the cast the best with the new series. Jim was delighted to get the chance to speak to him.
"My first glimpse of him was when he was putting on his make-up, and then I started to put two and two together in my head," Jim explained. "He just congratulated me and said, That's awesome.' It was that sweet and that banal, actually. I wish I had something lurid to say."
Jim was nominated in the same category as Steve Carell. Although he eventually triumphed, Jim was convinced that Steve would win.
"It would be a culmination of all my hopes and dreams," he joked on the red carpet. "It would be great, but I'm putting my expectations on the fairly low side and just trying to enjoy it and see my friends. I haven't seen my friends from The Office in a while, so that's going to be fun."
Another of the big winners was Mad Men, which was awarded the best drama prize for the fourth year in a row. Creator and executive producer Matthew Weiner was amazed his programme triumphed, especially as Mad Men has equalled a record set by Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and The West Wing.
"I'm a huge fan of television and watched all of those shows, and it's hard for me to comprehend being in that company," he said. "I haven't absorbed that yet." (C) Cover Media