Casting How I Met Your Mother led the show in some unexpected directions before it even aired.
On the March 18 episode of the How We Made Your Mother podcast, hosts Josh Radnor (who starred as Ted Mosby) and co-creator Craig Thomas were joined by the series’ other creator, Carter Bays. The trio talked about how the two producers got the series from pitch to air, and what it was like going through the casting process.
Bays, 49, noted that the series had five main characters and “four of them were absolutely drawn from real life.” Ted was based off Bays, while Jason Segel’s Marshall was based on Thomas, 49. Alyson Hannigan’s Lily was based on Thomas’ wife, Rebecca.
Then there was Barney Stinson, the philandering lothario ultimately brought to life by Neil Patrick Harris. “Barney was very much inspired by a couple guys that sort of [had a] Falstaffian presence in our lives when we lived in New York,” Bays said, meaning they were bigger, jolly and big partiers.
“Neil got cast as Barney despite the fact that he was physically nothing like the people that Barney was based on,” Bays said.
Radnor, 50, said he remembered the writers saying they were looking at someone like Jack Black to play the part, noting they thought the person would be “bigger.”
Thomas added that they also had the idea of someone like Vince Vaughn. “And then Neil came in and it was like, ‘S—, that’s too good.’ ”
The pair also reflected on how they cast Robin, played by Cobie Smulders. She was “the only character who was completely made up,” Bays said, so they used the casting process to figure out what kind of character she would ultimately be.
The producers said that at first, they felt pressure to pick someone already “famous,” because it could help the series get picked up. But, Bays said, “I remember thinking so much of Robin is built into this moment where Ted looks across the crowded room and sees this person, and we see her for the first time as Ted’s seeing her for the first time. And if it’s someone that you already have this built-in expectation of … you’re already outside of the moment.” If viewers were thinking about if they “loved” or “hated” the actress, they wouldn’t get invested in the “mystery,” he added.
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Radnor said, “Me and Cobie’s relative obscurity or anonymity at that point really served.” The series ultimately premiered on CBS in 2005 and became a favorite during its run.
As for Radnor, the producers shared that before they’d auditioned anyone, their casting director, Megan Branman, told them right away, “I’ve got your Ted.” They weren’t sure they believed her, but the very first audition they saw was Radnor’s, and they knew she was completely right.
Back in February, Radnor and Thomas told PEOPLE that part of the reason they decided to start the How I Met Your Mother rewatch podcast was because Radnor’s wife, clinical psychologist Jordana Jacobs, had never seen the series.
Radnor said of the show, “I’m a little bit mystified by the fervor it inspires in its fans, and I think I just wanted to revisit it with Craig all these years later and walk through it again with some older, wiser eyes with my friend and talk to other people and hear from fans.”
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