Why The Actors From Taco Bell's Nacho Fries Commercial Look So Familiar
If you're only halfway paying attention as the TV commercial starts, it looks like an ad for an upcoming horror flick. An actor you know you've seen before leaves his girlfriend because he needs to make peace with something, alone. He stops to fill up his tank at his destination: a godforsaken town called Bella Vista, "Where it's always golden hour."
"Sounds cheesy, but you'll see for yourself," the old man pumping gas tells him. Then, as the actor ceremonially burns an empty container of Taco Bell's Nacho Fries in the fireplace at this creepy inn where he's staying, you start to realize this isn't a movie trailer – it's a Taco Bell commercial. By now, you almost certainly recognize the actor, too – that is, if you're in one of the 26 million or so U.S. households that watched Stranger Things (via CNBC). That's Steve Harrington, real name Joe Keery, the season 1 high school jock/jerk who evolves into one of the show's most beloved characters (via Vanity Fair).
While Keery, 28, gets most of the limelight in the Taco Bell commercial, fans of Modern Family will most definitely recognize the girlfriend who tries desperately to save him from the haunted inn. She confides to a friend, "He can't escape the craving."
Stranger Things, Modern Family stars crave Nacho Fries
The familiar-looking woman playing opposite Keery in the Taco Bell Nacho Fries commercial is Sarah Hyland, best known for her role as Haley Dunphy, the oldest sibling in Modern Family. Hyland's character also saw some serious development during the many seasons of Modern Family – from shallow, popular, not-too-bright "it girl" to confident and successful young adult (via PopSugar).
In the Taco Bell commercial, it dawns on Hyland that the "whole town" Keery went to "is built on old seasoning." At the same time, Keery discovers 100-pound bags of Taco Bell Mexican spices hidden in the basement. Shortly after, Keery delivers perhaps the best line in the commercial: "You don't consume me, I consume you!" Will Keery and Hyland escape "The Craving" – the name of the movie Taco Bell's mock trailer is about? We're not supposed to worry about that. We're supposed to head over to Taco Bell and order some Nacho Fries.
Now that Modern Family has concluded, we'll need to wait and see what's next for Hyland. We're confident a role in a Taco Bell ad is not the end of the line for the 30-year-old actress, who got her first work at age 4 (via IMDb). Keery will return as Steve Harrington in season four of Stranger Things, maybe later in 2021 (via Radio Times). COVID-19 had delayed production, but filming resumed late last year.