Los Angeles: ‘Modern Family’ star Ariel Winter struggled with rejection when she started in the acting industry at the tender age of four. She says it was ‘hard to cope with’.

Winter who is now 18, started in the business when she was just four years old, landing the lead in an advert for brand Cool Whip.

While she has found success in recent years thanks to her role in ‘Modern Family’, she says it wasn't always so easy.

‘I was put in the industry when I was four. I love what I do, but I don't know if it's a choice I would have made on my own.

‘People criticise you at an extremely young age. There's a lot of rejection. I heard no thousands of times. That was hard to cope with,’ she told people.com.

She has also suffered a difficult personal life, with her sister Shanelle Gray taking over her guardianship from their mother Christoula Workman in 2014.  

She then applied to become an emancipated minor in May last year.

While her application was successful, the 18-year-old still chooses to live with Shanelle, her husband David and their children - a situation the actress thoroughly enjoys.

She said: ‘I have a great support system now. They've been so amazing and supportive.

I love living with my sister.  

‘She's my best friend, and I love her husband and their babies. My nieces are my entire life. I've found a happy situation for me. So there is not really a reason for me to leave until they kick me out!’