Ready to see all your favorite “Then and Nows” from the How I Met Your Mother cast? “Challenge… accepted!” How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) is a Primetime Emmy award-winning comedy-drama sitcom created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.
It aired from 2005-2015, over 208 episodes, and received primarily positive critical reviews. HIMYM featured a 2030 Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor, voiced in the future by Bob Saget) telling a story to his kids about how he met their mother.
The cast members represent five best friends living in New York City. However, other long-time cast members include Ranjit, the Limo Driver (Marshall Manesh), Carl the Bartender (Joe Nieves), and Wendy the Waitress (Charlene Amoia).
During the nine-season run, we laughed and cried. The How I Met Your Mother cast had several guest star appearances, including William Zabka, Alan Thicke, George Clinton, Bob Barker, Enrique Iglesias, Maury Povich, Martin Short, Jane Seymour, Carrie Underwood, Katie Holmes, Katy Perry, Mandy Moore, Britney Spears, and Jennifer Lopez.
The cast and guest stars of HIMYM have all been up to other things, and we got the inside scoop. Ready to check them out? “It's going to be legen — wait for it, and I hope you're not lactose-intolerant 'cause the second half of that word is — dary!”
Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky: Then
Robin Scherbatsky is our favorite tomboyish Canadian hoser. She's a gun-wielding, scotch-drinking former pop star known as Robin Sparkles. Her hits include “Let's Go to the Mall” and “Sandcastles in the Sand.” Robin is introduced to the gang after a date with Ted and becomes Lily's best friend.
She began her New York journalism career at Metro News 1 before becoming the foreign correspondent for World Wide News. Ultimately, Sherbatsky settles in New York with an anchor position. Robin dated Ted and Barney in the series and divided fans on who she should love.
After dedicating an entire season to Barney and Robin's wedding, it was a shock to learn they got divorced after three years. But of course, they had to for the show to give us the Blue French Horn ending.
Cobie Smulders: Now
Cobie Smulders has been in several films, including Safe Haven (2013), Results (2015), and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016). However, she is best known for her role as S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Maria Hill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Her Marvel films include The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).
Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill is also in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the upcoming Disney+ series, Secret Invasion. Smulders also starred in the television series A Series of Unfortunate Events, Friends from College, Stumptown, and Impeachment: American Crime Story.
Jason Segel as Marshall Eriksen: Then
Marshall Eriksen is a small-town Minnesotan who moved to New York to change the world as an environmental lawyer. Because of his small-town upbringing, Marshall is well-mannered and honest. He's Ted's best friend, despite Barney's persistent dissent.
They met in college as roomies “Smoking Sandwiches” and remained roommates for much of the show. You might even say they'd “Walk 500 Miles” to be with each other if not for Marshall's 1985 Pontiac Fiero.
Marshall Eriksen is easily the most lovable character. He's caring, witty, and a loyal friend. He makes the best song and video montages, “cat funeral, meow, meow, meow, meow.”
In addition, Marshall is one-half of How I Met Your Mother's favorite couple, Marshmellow and Lilypad. Ultimately, Marshall becomes a Supreme Court Judge, faithful husband, and devoted father of three. “Lawyered!”
Jason Segel: Now
Jason Segel had experienced great television successes with the shows Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. In 2007, Segel approached Disney about writing The Muppets (2011), in which he also starred.
Additionally, Segel starred in several films, including This Is 40 (2012), The Discovery (2017), Our Friend (2019), and The End of the Tour (2015). The latter is his outstanding portrayal of the late author David Foster Wallace. It earned him a Film Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Male Lead for his performance.
Segel starred in AMC's Dispatched from Elsewhere. A show he also created and executive produced. More recently, he starred in Netflix's Windfall, the first season of HBO's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, and the 2023 Apple TV+ series Shrinking.
Alyson Hannigan as Lily Aldrin: Then
American Pie Alum Alyson Hannigan played Lily Aldrin. A kindergarten teacher turned art consultant to The Captain (Kyle MacLachlan). Lily is the mother that holds the group together for nine glorious seasons. She met Marshall on her first day in college. So they've been a trio from the start.
Lily is an amateur artist whose paintings decorate the walls of Veterinarian offices. They calm dogs and cats—in contrast, they cause birds to fly into windows. Lily Aldrin loves to shop and has substantial debt to prove it.
She may be the smallest in the group but is the feistiest and can be manipulative to get what she wants. Still, we love her, and her relationship with Marshall is necessary for digesting the other relationships in the show. “Pause!”
Alyson Hannigan: Now
Alyson Hannigan reprised her Michelle Flaherty role in American Reunion (2012). Since 2016, she's hosted Penn & Teller: Fool Us. In addition, Hannigan plays Kim Possible's mom, Ann Possible, in the Disney Channel original film Kim Possible.
She also voices Claire Clancy in the Disney animated series Fancy Nancy. Additionally, Hannigan did an incredible job portraying Mary Stauffer in the Lifetime original movie, Abducted: The Mary Stauffer Story (2019).
Hannigan co-hosted MTV's television series Adorableness. It's a comedy clip show and the third spin-off from Ridiculousness.
Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson: Then
Barney Stinson, a.k.a., Swarley, is an unrelenting womanizing blogger, full of magic tricks and always looking to “Suit Up!” In addition to obsessively playing laser tag, he runs elaborate scams on women at MacLaren's Pub.
Usually, resulting in going home with a different woman almost every night. Barney has canonized these scams in his book “The Playbook” and is a general jerk with commitment issues.
Nevertheless, to his friends, he is loyal. Well, mostly. Let's not forget he banged Robin after Ted. A total violation of “The Bro Code.” Eventually, Ted forgives him, understanding they're in love, and even supports them at their wedding. Barney is a good friend overall.
He helps Marshall and Ted get jobs at Goliath National Bank. He fakes his doppelganger sighting so that Lily and Marshall can go ahead and try to have a baby, per the doppelganger condition. In addition, Barney secured Robin's job so she could stay in America rather than facing Canadian deportation.
Neil Patrick Harris: Now
Neil Patrick Harris has guest starred in the Ghostwriter and American Horror Story television series. Additionally, he starred in several films, including, A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014), Gone Girl (2014), The Matrix: Resurrections (2021), and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022).
Harris starred in HBO Max's Downsizing (2017). Additionally, he played Count Olaf in Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events for three seasons. Harris plays a more sinister take on Count Olaf than Jim Carrey in the 2004 movie of the same name.
In addition, Neil Patrick Harris is starring in the Netflix series Uncoupled (2022) and will appear in Doctor Who's 60th-Anniversary Special (2023). Furthermore, he won a Tony Award in 2014 for starring in the title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway. Finally, he was the first openly gay man to host the Academy Awards (87th).
Cristin Milioti as Tracy McConnell: Then
Cristin Milioti plays the highly-anticipated titular Mother, Tracy McConnell. She first appeared in the season eight finale and became a regular in the show's ninth and final season.
Tracy was a lead vocalist and bass player in the economics-themed band, Superfreakonomic. She also was in the Econ 305 class that Ted accidentally lectures without realizing he's in the wrong class in season five's first episode, “Definitions.”
Fans were devastated after waiting for the entire series to meet “The Mother” to discover that she died from an undisclosed illness. It was gut-wrenching. It still is.
The tragedy occurred six years before Ted's nine-season story on How I Met Your Mother. Side note: Cristin Milioti's haunting rendition of “La Vie En Rose” delivers goosebumps.
Cristin Milioti: Now
Cristin Milioti portrayed Teresa Petrillo, Jordan Belfort's first wife, in The Wolf on Wall Street (2013). After that, Milioti played the female lead, Zelda, in NBC's one-season comedy, A to Z.
She appeared in the fourth season of Black Mirror and co-starred in FX's second season of Fargo. In 2020, she played a hilarious stereotypical “Karen” in the mockumentary Death to 2020 on Netflix.
Cristin Milioti also starred in Palm Springs (2020), a critically acclaimed film that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Recently, Milioti starred in Made for Love, a dark comedy series on HBO Max.
Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby: Then
Watching Theodore Evelyn Mosby with the stolen Blue French Horn outside Robin Scherbatsky's window for the first and last time was the perfect way to bring HIMYM full circle, despite fan backlash about the ending.
Theodore, or Ted Mosby from Mobius Designs, is a slightly pretentious, hopeless romantic who desperately searches for “The One.” He's an architect who successfully constructed two buildings, one in New York City and the other in Spokane, Washington.
Whether correcting someone's grammar or their pronunciation of the word “renaissance,” Ted is a dependable friend. Sure, he prematurely says he loves you, but he's willing to make it rain to prove it.
Although, maybe don't ask him to be your best man unless you like crying speeches. “Classic Schmosby.” His character is based loosely on the series co-creator, Carter Bays.
Image Credit: CBS Broadcasting Inc.
Josh Radnor: Now
Since starring in his most prominent television role in HIMYM, Josh Radnor has guest-starred on various shows, including The Seeker and Grey's Anatomy. He also starred in the only season of NBC's musical series Rise and Amazon Prime's Hunters.
Additionally, Josh Radnor voiced Durpleton on Netflix's animated show, Centaurworld. He is also one half of the musical duo Radnor and Lee with musician Ben Lee, who he met on the set of HIMYM.
Australia's Rolling Stone said of their debut album, “it's receiving widespread praise across the board, and cementing the duo as an accomplished pair of artists.”
Bob Saget Narrating as Future Ted Mosby
“America's Dad,” the late and great Bob Saget narrated the series from the perspective of future Ted. His familiar family-friendly voice recounted the story Ted tells his kids about meeting their mother. Nearly every episode of How I Met Your Mother features Bob Saget's voiceover.
R.I.P, Bob Saget
Full House alum Bob Saget simultaneously voiced future Ted while hosting America's Home Videos. Afterward, he continued his stand-up adult-oriented comedian work, including Bob Saget: Zero to Sixty. In addition, he reprised his Danny Tanner role for the Full House spinoff, Fuller House.
Saget had several guest roles on television series like Grandfathered and Shameless. Additionally, he competed as “Squiggly Monster” in season four of The Masked Singer while launching his podcast, Bob Saget's Here for You.
He directed and appeared in Benjamin and starred as himself in four episodes of Entourage. Sadly, Bob Saget died from blunt force trauma in his hotel room in January 2022. He was 65 years old.
David Henrie as Luke: Then
David Henrie played Luke, Ted, and Tracy Mosby's 13-year-old son. Unfortunately, Luke didn't have much dialogue in the series. However, we learn a little about him. For example, in the episode “Unpause,” we discover that Tracy goes into labor in the middle of the night with Luke while staying at the Farhampton Inn.
The place where they first met. It was the only time Ted could argue with the theory that “Nothing good happens after 2 AM.”
David Henrie: Now
David Henrie starred as Justin Russo in Disney's television series, Wizards of Waverly Place. He reprised the role in Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009). In addition, he starred in a couple of Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Production films, Grown Ups 2 (2013) and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015).
In 2014, he portrayed Cory Weissman in 1000 to 1: The Cory Weissman Story (2014). It's the true story of a Gettysburg College first-year basketball player who suffers a catastrophic stroke.
In addition, Henrie starred in a teen comedy, This Is the Year (2020). Recently, he stars as a young Ronald Reagan in the yet-to-be-released film Reagan (2023).
Lyndsy Fonseca as Penny: Then
Penny was Ted and Tracy Mosby's 15-year-old daughter. She doesn't have much dialogue in the series. But we learn a little about her in the episode “Lobster Crawl.” As payback for Ted taking Marvin to see Santa Claus for the first time, Lily and Marshall take Penny.
In the series finale, after Ted finally wraps up the story of How I Met Your Mother, Penny calls him out. She doesn't believe the story to be about how he met their mother as much as it was to demonstrate his love for their aunt Robin.
Lyndsy Fonseca: Now
Lyndsy Fonseca joined the fourth season cast of ABC's Desperate Housewives (2007) as Dylan Mayfair. In addition, she starred in several films, including Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) and a remake of the 1989 classic Turner & Hooch. She also starred in the Disney+ series of the same name (2021). Furthermore, she gives a compelling performance in the Lifetime movie You Can't Take My Daughter. Fonseca was also in some Hallmark Channel films: Next Stop, Christmas (2021), and North to Home (2022).
Frances Conroy as Loretta Stinson: Then
Loretta Stinson is Barney and James's mother. Growing up, she told them outrageous lies to shield them from bad news. Barney and James didn't know who their fathers were as kids.
So she allowed Barney to believe that Bob Barker on The Price Is Right was his dad. In addition, she lied to James on his 10th birthday about Michael Jackson sending him a white glove.
Frances Conroy: Now
Six Feet Under Alum Frances Conroy is a veteran face of the anthology TV series American Horror Story cast. She first starred in the series' best seasons Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Roanoke, Cult, Apocalypse, and Double Feature. Alright, the latter was terrible, but she still nailed her part.
In addition, she starred in Hulu's original series Casual. Conroy also has been in films, including The Mist (2017) and Joker (2019), where she played the titular character's mother. Finally, she starred in the critically acclaimed film The Power of the Dog. Conroy won her first Satellite Award for her exceptional performance.
Wayne Brady as James: Then
James Stinson is Barney's Black gay older brother who also runs a blog, enjoys a good suit, and has a charisma that attracts many potential partners. Like Barney, Loretta allowed James to believe his father was several Black celebrities, including Flip Wilson and James Earl Jones. Eventually, James discovers his father is Sam Gibbs (Ben Vereen).
Also, James marries Tom (Jai Rodriguez) but has an affair with who we later learn is Gary Blauman (Taran Killam). It causes separation, but ultimately, James realizes the error of his ways and reconciles with Tom.
Wayne Brady: Now
Wayne Brady has hosted several TV series, including Don't Forget the Lyrics, Let's Make a Deal, and Game of Talents. The latter he executively produced. Finally, he won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for Let's Make A Deal after seven previous nominations.
In addition, he competed in season two of The Masked Singer, where he won as “Fox.” Brady also served as a guest panelist on season four. In 2020, he began playing Tyson Sykes/Gravedigger, in The CW superhero drama Black Lightning. Brady still appears in the American version of Whose Line Is It, Anyway? also on The CW. Brady also voices King Dice in Netflix's The Cuphead Show!
Ashley Williams as Victoria: Then
Victoria is Ted's on-again, off-again relationship that begins blossoming in season one. She bakes the cake for his friend's wedding, where he meets her. Victoria calls herself Cupcake, concealing her identity and asking Ted to do the same. However, he tracks her down, and they begin dating.
Eventually, she moves to Germany, Ted cheats on her with Robin, and they break up. However, she resurfaces in seasons seven and eight, Ted calls her to hang out, and she shows up at MacLaren's in her wedding dress. So naturally, she leaves her fiancé at the altar and rides off into the sunset with Ted.
However, in “The Autumn of Break-Ups,” Victoria gives him an ultimatum about being friends with Robin, and he chooses not to unfriend her. So Victoria ends things by saying, “I really hope you get her someday.”
Ashley Williams: Now
Ashley Williams starred in a Lifetime movie Patricia Cornwell's The Front and At Risk (2010). She played Claire in Something Borrowed opposite Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin. In addition, Williams played law student Ellen Rourke in her Broadway debut of John Grisham's A Time To Kill (2013).
Williams starred in the Comedy Central sitcom The Jim Gaffigan Show, where she portrayed a fictionalized version of Jim Gaffigan's real-life wife. Finally, she's made several Hallmark Channel movies, including Love on a Limb (2016), Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa (2018), and Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater (2020).
