Nathan Lane to Play Pepper on Modern Family

Nathan Lane will guest-star on Modern Family as Pepper, Cameron and Mitchell's flamboyant and oft-mentioned friend, TVGuide.com has confirmed.

Lane approached co-creators and executive producers Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd about appearing on the sitcom and was a perfect fit for the part, Levitan told USA Today, who first reported the casting. His appearance is slated for early fall.

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Lane may be one of the last casting coups for a while. Though many big-name stars have expressed interest in doing the show, Levitan said they're "toning down on stunt casting.""We don't want to turn into a guest of the week," he said. "The audience loves our characters and we have enough of them."Modern Family returns Sept. 22 at 9/8c.