Sarah Hyland endeared herself to a generation of viewers as Haley Dunphy on ABCs Modern Family, but she says the shows creative team wasnt convinced she was right for the role at first.

In an interview with BuzzFeed published Tuesday, the actor said that network executives initially felt she was too old to play Haley, who was 15 at the start of the first season in 2009.

Originally, they didnt want to see me for Modern Family because I was 18 and Haleys character was 15, Hyland recalled. They were like, Shes too old. And at the time, my agents assistant fought for me to get in the room. She was like, She doesnt look 18 years old, I promise you! She looks very, very young!

Though many actors will record their audition on video, Hyland opted instead to be pre-read for the shows cast, at which point casting director Jeff Greenberg was brought in.