We loved tuning in every week to see the bored kids’ faces, and they managed to drag out How I Met Your Mother for nine seasons, while fans of the show devoured them year after year, in hopes of finally finding out how Ted met their mother – and her identity.
While some found the conclusion of the series unsatisfying, we’re not here to debate it. We loved the show, the characters, the comedy, and the camaraderie. But what happened to the actors who played those roles?
Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby
Perpetual bachelor Ted Mosby had many poignant moments on the search for love, and Josh Radnor played the part with superior comedic timing and heart, even though some people still think Ted should’ve ended up with Robin.
Radnor was already making a name for himself before and during HIMYM on Broadway – in a production of The Graduate, and off-Broadway, in The Paris Letter – based on the book by Jon Robin Baitz. He’s also flexed his director and writing muscles in 2010’s Happythankyoumoreplease and Liberal Arts with Elizabeth Olsen in 2012.
Since the show wrapped, he formed a band — Radnor and Lee — with Ben Lee. The duo has released two albums, and he was most recently seen in Prime Video’s Hunters.
Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson
Wait for it…
Sorry, couldn’t help myself. The irreverent ladies’ man Barney Stinson was portrayed by Doogie Howser himself (or Dr. Horrible, to close the generation gap) – Neil Patrick Harris.
As stated above, what else you know Harris from most largely depends on what age group you’re in. But in addition to playing Doogie Howser, M.D. from 1989-1993 and Dr. Horrible in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog in 2008, Harris played Count Olaf in Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, and multiple other roles. Since HIMYM, he hosted the Academy Awards in 2015 and starred as Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway in 2014.
Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky
No-nonsense career girl and sometimes-girlfriend to Ted, Robin “Sparkles” Scherbatsky was portrayed by Cobie Smulders.
Pre-HIMYM, Smulders starred in Nora Ephron’s Love, Loss, and What I Wore in 2010. Since then, she has appeared in The Lego Movie in 2014, Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events in 2017, and perhaps most notably (and most recently) Marvel’s much-maligned Secret Invasion as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill in 2023.
Alyson Hannigan as Lily Aldrin
Girlfriend-then-wife to Marshall Eriksen, feisty schoolteacher Lily Aldrin is played by Alyson Hannigan.
Primarily known as Michelle Flaherty in the American Pie film series pre-HIMYM — the “one time at band camp” girl — Hannigan also played Willow Rosenberg in the Joss Whedon breakout-hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and post-HIMYM hosts Penn & Teller: Fool Us and voices Claire Clancy in the animated series Fancy Nancy. Hannigan is also slated to join the competition for season 32 of Dancing with the Stars, if she does not bow out amid pressure due to the ongoing WGA strike.
Jason Segel as Marshall Eriksen
By the time HIMYM came out, fans already knew Segel as Nick Andopolis on Judd Apatow’s Freaks and Geeks. Segel was absolutely brilliant and lovable as guileless Marshall Eriksen, an image he maintained through multiple Apatow films like Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and The Five-Year Engagement.
In 2015, he tried out his drama chops as David Foster Wallace in The End of the Tour. Currently, he can be seen on the Apple TV Plus comedy-drama Shrinking.
Cristin Milioti as Tracy McConnell (the mother)
Quick-witted ring winner Tracy McConnell was played by Cristin Milioti.
Prior to her short stint on HIMYM, Milioti was probably most well-known for her turn as “girl” in the musical Once, or perhaps as Teresa Petrillo Belfort in the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street. But since HIMYM, Milioti has played Sarah Wilder in the 2020 comedy Palm Springs, Betsy Solverson in the series Fargo, and Hazel Green on the Max comedy series Made for Love.
Anticipation is high for her upcoming DC role as Sofia Falcone, daughter of Gotham’s crime boss Carmine Falcone, played by John Turturro in Matt Reeves‘ The Batman.
Bob Saget as the voice of old dad Ted Mosby
Bob Saget’s voice introduced each episode and narrated all of the important scenes throughout. The late, great Saget certainly doesn’t need his resumé provided here, we all know that American comedy would not be what it is today without his contribution to the genre in hit shows like Full House. The ultimate dad-figure, there’s simply no one else who would have been suitable to provide the voice of the older, wiser Ted Mosby, and Saget is greatly missed.
