AFTER seven seasons spent playing the frank and forthright Claire Dunphy on Modern Family, it’s natural that some might confuse Julie Bowen for her character.

But in real life — or during an interview, at least — Bowen and her no-nonsense mum-of-three character don’t seem all that removed from each other. Bowen talks at a mile a minute, barely pausing for breath while offering up refreshingly unfiltered opinions.

Chatting to Bowen in her capacity as global ambassador for Neutrogena’s new Rapid Wrinkle Repair range seemed the perfect opportunity for us to ask the 46-year-old star about the pressure to keep youthful in Hollywood — and what advice she’s given her young co-star Ariel Winter as she embraces her status as a poster girl for body positivity.

Modern Family is about to kick off its eighth season. Do you feel an expiry date for the show approaching?

We’re contracted through this season, and it’s up to the people who pay us if they would like to pay us past this season. I would love to do more, of course — I’m champing at the bit at the end of hiatus to get back every year, because it’s so fun. But: never stay too long at the party. It all starts and ends with our writers, and if they feel that they’re out of ideas, I can’t tell them to think up some new ones. It’s better to go out on top.

In the past year or so we’ve watched your young co-star Ariel Winter blossoming into a very confident advocate for body positivity. Have you offered her any advice on how to navigate fame at a young age?

All my advice for her would have been wrong. She is so sure about who she is and her body and how she lives in this world. I was the opposite of her when I was 18, I was a boyish little no hips, no boobs. Very lacking in confidence. I wish I’d had somebody around like her who is so confident in saying ‘Hey, I don’t fit this perfect ideal, but I still think I’m pretty damn perfect.’ She knows exactly what she looks like, she doesn’t labour under false illusions that she’s seven feet tall and with an athletic build. She’s this amazingly curvy dynamo … I have learned to get out of her way, because she knows what she’s doing and she’s very confident in herself. She has people telling her ‘You should wear this, you should wear that’. She just tells them: thanks for your opinion, and moves on.

She seems remarkably self-possessed.

She’s very self-possessed. She doesn’t think she’s a supermodel, but she posts pictures of herself in swimsuits … I’ll tell you, in real life she’s actually tiny. I think people would be shocked if they saw her on set. I’m only 5’6, and she’s, what, 5’1? She’s a tiny little thing, even in the range of curvy she’s still tiny. She’s very confident and I applaud her.

You’re a 46-year-old woman working in an industry that prizes youth. Do you feel the pressure to look younger?

Well, there’s younger and then there’s healthier. People look silly if they’re 60 years old and they don’t have a single line on their face — you think, ‘What have you done?’ But there’s no need to look sun-damaged or to have more wrinkles than are absolutely necessary. There are laugh lines and then there’s just wrinkles. I’ll accept my laugh lines, but I’ll keep the rest of it at bay.

You’ve got access to the best in the business when it comes to hair and make-up. What’s the best beauty advice you’ve ever been given?

Sunscreen, without a doubt. It’s the only thing I’ve known that you have consistent control over, every day — it’s like exercise. Just do it, and you will save yourself so much pain and suffering. The Wrinkle Repair Day Cream has it in there, so it’s a two-in-one which is awful nice.

When people are trying to play catch up or erase time or try to look like everyone else, they look a little silly.

You’ve had a dream run at the Emmys — six nominations in a row — but you’re not nominated this year. Does that change the night for you?

It’s bittersweet, but at the same time it’s definitely a relief. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so grateful for all the nominations I’ve gotten, but I can’t sleep and I get anxious … you have to think of something to say, there are so many crazy mind games. It’s usually the first or second award of the show, and the minute that it’s done, I feel so happy that it’s over. I don’t care whether I won or didn’t win, I’m just thrilled that I get to enjoy the rest of the night.

You recently appeared in a DNC video, publicly putting your support behind Hillary Clinton. Has it felt important, in this election, to show people exactly where you stand?

I was anxious, because I’ve never announced my politics anywhere. I was nervous about doing the video, because I know you open yourself up to a world of vitriol, especially on the internet. So I just don’t look. I’ve been told there are people saying ‘I’ll never watch the show again, you’re an idiot’ … Our show has very forward-thinking, liberal ideas. We have a gay couple, and adopted kid — I sincerely doubt that any hard-core right-wing conservatives are the ones we’d be losing from our viewing audience.

But I mean really, this is a matter of national security — I’m not joking. Not only do I think it’s important to stand up because Hillary Clinton is capable, it’s that she’s … MORE capable, how’s that? I don’t want to give too much airtime to the competition.

I also secretly have a plan: I’m really gunning for Chelsea. I think about 2024. I think Chelsea is the secret weapon in the Clinton family, and I can’t wait for the third President Clinton.

Neutrogena‘s Rapid Wrinkle Repair range is on sale from September 1.