Modern Family arrives in Australia

The cast from the top rated American comedy series Modern Family have arrived in Australia courtesy of Qantas, ahead of filming for the show’s highly-anticipated “Australia” vacation episode.

It’s the first time the show has filmed an episode outside of the US in its five seasons of production.

A Qantas A380, renamed the ‘Modern Family Flyer’, touched down at Sydney International Airport this week with the celebrity cast, the majority of whom are visiting Australia for the first time.

Actor Nolan Gould took a break from filming this week to SCUBA dive with Australia’s most iconic undersea animals at Manly SEA LIFE Sanctuary.

Dive Manager for Manly SEA LIFE Sanctuary’s Shark Dive Xtreme, said: “Nolan Gould is by far one of the nicest visitors we’ve had at Shark Dive Xtreme. He was an absolute pleasure to take diving in our shark tank and he seemed to love every minute of it!”

While Nolan was braving the sharks, fellow Modern Family cast members Rico Rodriguez (Manny Delgado), Sarah Hyland (Hayley Dunphy), Ariel Winter (Alex Dunphy) and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons (Lily Tucker-Pritchett) stayed on the other side of the glass and got up-close with sharks at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium in Darling Harbour.

Qantas Airways and Twentieth Century Fox Television announced the partnership to bring the award-winning show to Australia last month, with the show’s writers spending the past few weeks putting the finishing touches on the script, which will highlight all things Australian. Filming is set to take place across a range of iconic locations.

Over 25 million Americans will watch the “Australia” episode when it airs later this year and more than 100 million people will view it globally when it screens in other countries (including Spain, India, the Philippines and the United Kingdom).