Josh Radnor Drops HIMYM Truth: “Not Close to Co-Stars… Not Even A Little Bit”
Josh Radnor Opens Up About Life After "How I Met Your Mother": The Cast Isn’t as Close as You Think
The Big News in Simple Terms
Imagine you spent 9 whole years working with the same group of people every single day. You laughed together, cried together, and pretended to be best friends on TV. But once the show ends… you barely talk anymore. That’s exactly what happened with Josh Radnor (who played Ted Mosby) and his co-stars from How I Met Your Mother.
Important Point: Just because actors play best friends on TV doesn’t mean they’re best friends in real life!
What Exactly Did Josh Say?
Josh went on a podcast called "Half the Picture" and gave a super honest answer when asked if he still hangs out with the cast:
"No. Not even a little bit."
But don’t worry — he wasn’t being mean! He explained it like this:
The "College Friends" Comparison
Josh compared the cast to college friends:
| College Life | How I Met Your Mother Life |
|---|---|
| See each other every day for 4 years | Worked together every day for 9 seasons |
| Think you’ll be friends forever | Thought they’d stay close after the show |
| Graduate and move to different cities | Show ends, everyone goes separate ways |
| Life gets busy, you drift apart | Life gets busy, they drifted apart |
His exact words: "It’s like college where you have this very intense time together… And then it just disperses, and you just go out and live your life."
Who Does He Actually Talk To?
Here’s the breakdown of his current relationship with each co-star:
Jason Segel (Marshall)
- Status: Occasional texts
- What they do: Send funny memories from set
- Last met: "A really long time ago"
Cobie Smulders (Robin)
- Status: Podcast buddies
- What they do: She’s been on his rewatch podcast several times
- Last met: Mostly on Zoom calls
Neil Patrick Harris (Barney)
- Status: Had a deep, healing conversation
- What happened: Neil was a guest on Josh’s rewatch podcast
- Special moment: They talked about on-set tension and it was "fascinating and kind of healing"
Alyson Hannigan (Lily)
- Status: Wedding guest!
- Last met: At Josh’s wedding in early 2024
The "Family, Not Friends" Truth
Josh dropped a major truth bomb about TV casts:
Important Point: "We were cast. We didn’t choose each other. And family dynamics come out to play when you’re in an environment like that for so long."
What this means in ELI5 terms:
- You choose your friends
- You don’t choose your family (or your coworkers!)
- TV casts are like work families — thrown together by circumstance
- There’s deep love but it’s not "active" (meaning: you don’t hang out every weekend)
Why Fans Want to Believe Otherwise
Josh totally gets why fans are disappointed:
"People really want to believe that me and Neil and Jason are hitting bars in New York City together. They really want to believe that."
Why? Because the show was ALL about friendship! When a show centers on a tight-knit friend group, our brains want the actors to be that close in real life too.
Josh’s Beautiful Final Thought
"Acting is like love affairs that you have, and then you move on."
Translation: You pour your heart into a project and the people, it’s intense and beautiful… and then it ends. You carry the memories, but you move forward with your life.
Summary: The Big Takeaways
- Josh Radnor isn’t close with most of the HIMYM cast — and that’s totally normal
- No drama, no fights — just life happening after a 9-year job ended
- He has love for all of them — it’s "deep and rich and probably everlasting"
- Different levels of contact with different co-stars (texts, Zoom, podcasts, weddings)
- TV families ≠ Real families — you’re cast together, not chosen
- Fans want the fantasy — but reality is messier and more human
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: Did the cast hate each other?
A: No! Josh specifically said there’s "love that is quite deep and rich." They just… grew apart. Like coworkers from a job you had 12 years ago.
Q2: What was the "tension" with Neil Patrick Harris?
A: Josh didn’t give details, but he said their podcast conversation about it was "healing." Probably just normal workplace friction after 9 years together!
Q3: Does Josh regret not staying closer?
A: Doesn’t sound like it. He compared it to college — you don’t regret drifting from college friends, it’s just how life works.
Q4: Will there be a reunion?
A: Nothing announced! But Cobie’s been on his rewatch podcast multiple times, and Alyson came to his wedding. Never say never!
Q5: What’s Josh doing now?
A: He co-hosts a How I Met Your Mother rewatch podcast with the show’s co-creator, Craig Thomas. They watch episodes and talk about them — sometimes with guests like Neil and Cobie!
Final Thought
The next time you watch How I Met Your Mother and see Ted, Marshall, Lily, Robin, and Barney at MacLaren’s… remember: those actors gave us 9 years of magic, then went off to live their own separate, beautiful lives. And that’s not sad — that’s just real life.
"We had this very intense time together… And then it just disperses, and you just go out and live your life." — Josh Radnor