Biography
Date of Birth
24 December 1990, New York City, New York, USA
Birth Name
Sarah Jane Hyland
Nickname
SJ
Kitty
Raindrop
Height
5' 2" (1.57 m)
Mini Biography
Sarah Hyland was born in New York City to actors Melissa D. Canaday and Edward James Hyland. She began in the business at the age of 4 with commercial work and voice overs. Her first film was Private Parts (1997). She then moved on to The Object of My Affection (1998) and then spent time on Another World (1964) as "Rain Wolfe", a child found in the park, and fostered by Josie and Gary. Sarah would go on to work with Amy Carlson ("Josie" on AW) several more times: Falcone (2000), Law & Order (1990) and Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005). Sarah was cast as one of the young "Audrey Hepburns" in Jennifer Love Hewitt's The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000) the same year she was cast as "Molly" in ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney: Annie (1999) starring Kathy Bates, Audra McDonald, Alan Cumming, Victor Garber and Kristin Chenoweth, Joe Gould's Secret (2000) and Falcone (2000). Aside from all of her film and television work, Sarah studied voice, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, tap, Theatre Dance, and performed with her tap and Theatre dance class at "Reel to Real" at Lincoln Center as invited performers.
A New York-born and raised girl, Sarah spent much of her time working in film, television, and voicing many radio ads, as well as traveling with her father, Edward James Hyland, while he worked at many different theaters in the country. She was home schooled by her mother until 2nd grade and then attended Public School. In 6th Grade, she was accepted into PPAS (Professional Performing Arts School) where she stayed until she graduated in 2008. When Sarah turned 18, she moved to Los Angeles, CA and, within two weeks, had landed a pilot named "My American Family". Once picked up the name was changed to Modern Family (2009). To date, Sarah portrays "Haley Dunphy", the eldest Dunphy child. Modern Family (2009) has won multiple awards most notably the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series.
Before moving to L.A., Sarah did a multitude of film and television and, at the age of 11 1/2, she made her stage debut at Papermill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ in the title role of "Annie". From there, Sarah added many more stage productions to her resume including "Bad Girls", "Dark Part of the Forest" and both productions on and off Broadway of "Grey Gardens" in the role of "Jackie Bouvier". "Grey Gardens" was nominated for Best Musical at the Tony Awards, and Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress Tony's for their work. William Ivey Long won for his costume design. Sarah also did many development workshops including: "A Little Princess", "Bye Bye Birdie', and "Shrek, the Musical", to name a few. Sarah has worked with some of the top talent in the Industry: Tim Robbins, Stanley Tucci, Ian Holmes, Steve Martin, John Turturro, Hope Davis, Keir Dullea, Frances Fisher, Brooke Shields, Kim Raver, Lindsay Price, Timothy Busfield, among so many other incredible talents. She has guest starred on Touched by an Angel (1994), Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005) and twice on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999). Her second turn on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Hothouse (2009) gave her a breakthrough role where she portrayed "Jennifer Banks", a student at a school for the gifted who kills her roommate in a drug fueled rage.
Her work on Lipstick Jungle (2008) as Brooke Shields's daughter further showcased her talent and, because of LJ's cancellation, drew her to Los Angeles and the role of "Haley Dunphy" on Modern Family (2009).
Sarah has a maltipoo named Barkley, and is happily living in the Los Angeles Area. She is the Face of "Wallflower Jeans". Sarah's brother, Ian Donovan Hyland, is also an actor and, even though most think Ian is her older brother, he is really 4 years her junior. Her father is a stage and film actor based in New York, and her mother is an acting coach to young actors.
Trivia
Older sister of Ian Donovan Hyland.
Sarah is of English, German, Scottish, Irish, Dutch and Welsh descent.
Was in a relationship with Matt Prokop from 2009 until 2014.
Hyland was diagnosed with kidney dysplasia at the age 9 - which means her kidneys did not develop properly when she was in the womb and frequently form painful cysts. She required a kidney transplant in April 2012. Her father donated his kidney, but in October 2016, her body started to reject it. She did different tests and all of possible treatments to try and save the kidney but none of the treatments worked. Hyland started regularly undergoing dialysis which led her to severely drop weight. Doctors removed the transplanted kidney in May 2017, and her younger brother Ian offered his kidney, which was thankfully a match. But Hyland felt depressed about her health issues and contemplated suicide. In September 2017, she underwent the second kidney transplant. But her health problems didn't end there - Hyland also has endometriosis, and the pain was becoming unbearable. Plus, she had a previously undiagnosed abdominal hernia. That led to more surgeries - she's had six in 16 months, and 16 total over the course of her life - a laparoscopic surgery for the endometrosis and a hernia repair surgery.
Daughter of Edward James Hyland and Melissa Canaday.
During a NY TV interview, she confided she is a little worried she may not make it to college. She said she had promised her high school theater friends she was only delaying it temporarily, but following her successful Broadway debut, her television and film careers took off, and now she doesn't dare stop working or she might break her string of good luck.
One of only a handful of actors to have made guest appearances on 3 or more of the Law & Order franchise series.
Took out a temporary restraining order against ex-boyfriend Matt Prokop in September 19, 2014.
Was in a relationship with English actor Dominic Sherwood from 2015 to 2017.
Sarah attended acting school with Gossip Girl (2007)'s Taylor Momsen and Connor Paolo.
Extremely close to her Modern Family (2009) co-stars, especially Julie Bowen, Ariel Winter, and Adam Devine.
Is in a relationship with Wells Adams since fall 2017. He is a Radio DJ, former contestant of the American reality television "The Bachelorette".
(December 1, 2018) Hyland's cousin, Trevor Canadey, 14, was killed in a car accident in Omaha, Nebraska, caused by a drunk driver who crashed into the Canaday's car who were heading for a choir show. Trevor died on the spot, his father sustained serious injuries and underwent several surgeries, while his mother Becky and sisters Tessa and Zoee didn't got serious injuries.
(March 23, 2019) She had a viral respiratory infection after dealing with pink eye, which she got from using virtual reality goggles, and her chronic endometritis was acting up.
(June 25, 2019) She back home after spending four days in the hospital with health issues that doctors could not figure out. She went to ER because she was feeling like she was being choked from whatever's in the house adding that she couldn't breathe and had "chest pains. She said that the doctors had "no scientific explanation" for her breathing issues.
Trademarks:
Petite frame
Quotes
When I was a child, I was unable to go to any type of sleepaway summer camp because of health issues. Once I learned about the Lopez Foundation, I knew I wanted to get involved, send kids with kidney disease away to camp so they can still experience overnight camp with medical needs at hand.
I wish I was taller or curvier, but I'm happy with the way I look.
I would say at times I am a 'Glamoholic.' But I am definitely more laid back than glamorous.I think it takes a lot of effort and sometimes I just want to be in jeans.
I love living in L.A. It's quieter. It's much more relaxing. I'm living in a house for the first time ever. I have a backyard for the first time ever; a dog for the first time ever. So it's a lot of firsts, and I love it so much. It's just so different. It's a nice change of pace.
I think success right now is not about how famous you are or how much you're getting paid, but it's more about if you're steadily working and you're happy with what you're doing.
I've always been a fan of Nintendo. My first memories of playing games are on my Nintendo 64 with 'Mario Kart,' so when I found out that Nintendo 3DS made a fashion game, I was drawn to it. 'Style Savvy Trendsetters' is great because anyone can play it.
I gave myself two months to book a job. One month later I was cast on Modern Family (2009)).
You know that family is going to be there for you no matter what. My dad gave me a freakin' kidney!
Modern Family (2009) has definitely opened up a lot of doors and I will always be grateful.
I love Neutrogena's Makeup Remover Cleansing Wipes. They get all my makeup off and are really moisturizing.
I just filmed a movie with my boyfriend, an indie film called Conception (2011). And it's kind of like an R-rated version of Valentine's Day (2010). So it's like all about eight couples, and me and my boyfriend play one of them together. And that was a lot of fun.
Lately, I've been playing very fashion-forward, popular girls, which is great because it's led me to things like this Nintendo 3DS 'Style Savvy' campaign. It'd be fun to do something a bit dorkier - or quirkier!
My eyes are so big that, weirdly, I feel like an alien if my eyelashes don't match their intensity. I like to curl my lashes to the point where they're sticking straight up and then put on a ton of mascara!
I'm very competitive. When I was, like, four, I would see a Shake 'N Bake commercial and see a little girl on that and think, "I can do that. I might be better".
Twitter is awesome to share news with fans, but I would never choose to only have social media and put everything in my life on display. I never look at my personal Facebook page. I made an Instagram account for myself, but I only have one picture on it. I made it because someone was pretending to be me and having conversations with my fans and agreed to go on a date with a guy.
Don't sacrifice who you are for somebody else. Relationships are about compromise, but you should never compromise yourself for someone else.
You know, every woman has issues with her body. I'm sure Adriana Lima has something she doesn't like, which is ridiculous! But it's just how women are. It's one of those things where you have to love yourself for who you are; as long as you're healthy, that's all that matters. Girls deal with pressure differently. Some days I'm depressed, and other days I'm completely fine. The only advice I have for young women is to cherish the body you have now; when I was 18, I don't think I did.
