Archive · 20 Aug 2026
Josh Radnor Says He Isn’t Close to HIMYM Co-Stars
Josh Radnor played Ted on the television show How I Met Your Mother.
He said he does not regularly spend time with most of his former co-stars anymore.
Radnor and Neil Patrick Harris recently talked about feeling disconnected while making the show.
Harris played Barney, whose character often acted dismissively toward Ted.
Radnor said he sometimes felt that attitude personally, even though Harris was acting.
Radnor also said he had trouble adjusting to losing his privacy after becoming famous.
He still has deep affection for his former co-stars.
He compares them to family or college classmates who shared an intense period and then went separate ways.
Josh Radnor said he is “not even a little bit close” to his former How I Met Your Mother co-stars.
Radnor and Neil Patrick Harris discussed past on-set tension and a perceived disconnect during the show.
Radnor said he sometimes confused Harris’s Barney Stinson behavior with Harris’s own attitude toward him.
Radnor exchanges occasional texts with Jason Segel and has interacted with Cobie Smulders mainly through Zoom.
How I Met Your Mother ran for nine seasons and 208 episodes from 2005 to 2014.
- Who
- Josh Radnor and his former How I Met Your Mother co-stars, particularly Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, and Alyson Hannigan.
- What
- Radnor discussed his current relationships with the cast and past tension with Harris during the sitcom’s production.
- When
- The show aired from 2005 to 2014; Radnor discussed the relationships on a podcast, with Harris appearing earlier this year. Radnor last met Alyson Hannigan at his 2024 wedding.
- Where
- The discussion took place on the Half the Picture podcast, following Harris’s appearance on How We Made Your Mother.
- Why
- Radnor said the cast’s intense shared experience eventually dispersed, while differences between their characters and performances contributed to tension during filming.
Josh Radnor’s Perspective
Neil Patrick Harris’s Perspective
Perceived on-set tension
Josh Radnor’s Perspective
Radnor said he sometimes felt dismissed by Harris because Barney frequently dismissed Ted, while acknowledging that this reflected the character and that their unusual chemistry benefited the show.
Neil Patrick Harris’s Perspective
Harris said he sensed that his comedy-focused performance annoyed Radnor and remembered wondering whether he was doing something to upset him.
Meaning of their relationship today
Josh Radnor’s Perspective
Radnor said the tension was not dramatic, described his conversation with Harris as healing, and said he has love for all his former co-stars even though they are no longer close.
Neil Patrick Harris’s Perspective
Harris said he was not describing an unresolved issue, but an observation about a disconnect he felt while the show was being filmed.
- Show
- How I Met Your Mother
- Original run
- 2005–2014
- Length
- Nine seasons and 208 episodes
- Radnor’s role
- Ted Mosby
- Harris’s role
- Barney Stinson
- Radnor and Segel
- They exchange texts occasionally but have not seen each other in a long time
- Radnor and Smulders
- They have mainly interacted through Zoom in recent podcast appearances