premise: Julie Bowen refused to ever become an actress.
hypothesis: Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer ( born March 3 , 1970 ) , known professionally as Julie Bowen , is an American actress . She is best known for playing Carol Vessey on Ed ( 2000 -- 04 ) , Denise Bauer on Boston Legal ( 2005 -- 07 ) , Sarah Shephard on Lost ( 2005 -- 07 ) , and Claire Dunphy on the comedy Modern Family ( since 2009 ) . The latter earned her six nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series , winning in 2011 and 2012 . Bowen has also appeared in films such as Happy Gilmore ( 1996 ) , Multiplicity ( 1996 ) , Venus and Mars ( 2001 ) , Joe Somebody ( 2001 ) , Kids in America ( 2005 ) , Sex and Death 101 ( 2007 ) , Crazy on the Outside ( 2010 ) , Jumping the Broom ( 2011 ) , and Horrible Bosses ( 2011 ) . Julie Mayer (Desperate Housewives) . The character is played by actress Andrea Bowen , and first appeared in the pilot episode of the series in 2004 .