Adam DeVine Says ‘Modern Family’ Costar Sarah Hyland Is Still a ‘Good Friend’ (Exclusive)

Modern Family may have ended in 2020, but Adam DeVine is still keeping up with the Pritchetts, Tuckers and Dunphys — particularly his former costar Sarah Hyland.

The actor, 40 — who partnered with TurboTax to advocate for the company’s new ‘Beat Your Price’ campaign, which encourages tax filers to switch to TurboTax Full Service and receive at least a 10% reduction in the fees they paid their licensed tax preparer last tax season — tells PEOPLE that despite his busy schedule with current projects and collaborations, he makes time to keep up with Hyland, 33, who played Haley Dunphy, DeVine’s character Andy Bailey’s on-and-off love interest on the show.

“I talk with Sarah quite a bit,” he shares. “And I’ll throw a party every 4th of July, and she comes to those, and we go to each other’s birthday parties when we’re in town, and she’s a good friend.”

DeVine also notes, “We did the Pitch Perfect spinoff show Bumper in Berlin together, and I’m always looking for ways [to connect]. I call Rebel [Wilson], my work wife, but Sarah’s also my work wife.”

The actor reflects on the learning experiences he had working on the hit sitcom up until his 2018 departure, saying, “On Modern Family. It was such a tightly scripted show. The dialogue was super fast paced,” a facet of the acting experience that he wasn’t fully accustomed to at the time.

“I remember when they hired me, Steve Levitan, who’s one of the creators and producers, he was like, ‘We want you to be the breath of fresh air. You’re coming in season 5. Maybe you can improv a little and keep people on their toes,’ ” he shares.

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The Workaholics star recalls responding, “And I’m like, ‘All right.’ It was the first scene, I go in and I improv a little something with Sofia Vergara. I remember she just had a blank [expression] and looked over to the producer village where all the producers sit, and she just goes, ‘What?’ She was so confused by what the hell I was doing because it wasn’t part of the script.”

“Steve comes over to me and was like, ‘Hey, remember when we said you could improv? Let’s not do that anymore. Let’s stick to the script,’ ” DeVine further notes with a laugh. “So I think it taught me just the fast pace of sitcom acting and how it’s kind of a different beast and super fun to do.”

All-in-all, despite moving on to other laugh-out-loud projects such as The Righteous Gemstones, DeVine says that he would “love to do something” like Modern Family again. “I’m not opposed to it.”