The actress formerly known as Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who spent nearly a decade on Modern Family, has publicly announced a change to her name as she steps into a new career as a musician. Now going by Frances Anderson, the eighteen-year-old has released her debut E.P., Drown, and is speaking openly about her decision to pivot from acting.
The name, she told E! News, is a part of her legal name. “Frances is actually part of my legal name—it’s my middle name, and it’s after my mom’s old family friend,” she explained.
Finding a Voice
The career change, she said, was a deliberate choice. After Modern Family ended when she was twelve, she initially decided she would “not gonna act anymore.” The onset of the pandemic gave her a space to discover a new passion. “I learned how to play guitar during COVID,” she said.
Anderson had been in singing lessons for most of her life. But it was in a high-school music class that she learned to write songs, a development that she credits with reshaping her professional ambitions. The new name, she added, was a way to “switch it up” and to “create a space specifically for music.”
Her debut E.P., Drown, focuses on a season of change in her life. This year, she graduated from high school early and ended a long-term relationship. She describes the E.P. as a “coming of age” and a move toward being “truthful for who I am and not who I played on TV.”
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Anderson also said that the name change reflects her coming to terms with a part of herself she once rejected. “I didn’t really like my middle name when I was younger,” she said, adding that she thought it sounded like “an old man name.” Now, she sees the change as a way of “accepting parts of me that I didn’t like as a kid or not being afraid to pull those things forward.”
The Future of an Artist
Anderson, who was homeschooled during her time on Modern Family, took time after the show ended to attend a mainstream high school. This, she said, allowed her to “really find myself.” While music is her focus, she is not abandoning acting. “And I do now, I plan on acting again—100 percent,” she said. She also dreams of performing on Broadway one day.
Anderson’s on-screen family has remained supportive of her new venture. She keeps in touch with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who played her on-screen father. “He’s commented every now and then, and pulled up on my Story and been like, ‘Wow, you sound so great.’ Which is awesome. He’s always been so supportive,” she said.
For now, she is enjoying making music and a life that includes horseback riding, hiking, and hot yoga classes. She has goals for her music, hoping to go on a tour one day and bring her songs to a broader audience.
