How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor has revealed that he is no longer close with his former castmates, admitting they are “not even a little bit” as close as they once were.
The actor, who played Ted Mosby throughout all nine seasons of the hit sitcom, opened up about his relationship with Alyson Hannigan, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel and Cobie Smulders.
The full cast of 'How I Met Your Mother' Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders, Josh Radnor, Jason Segel. Photo credit: S Buckley, Shutterstock
Radnor was asked during an appearance on the Half the Picture podcast whether the cast was “still as close” as they had been during the show.
“No, no, not even a little bit,” he replied.
However, Radnor was keen to stress that there is no bad blood between the former co-stars and that their relationship has simply changed over time.
“I don’t mean that in any dramatic way,” he explained.
Radnor has remained in contact with some of his former castmates, including Harris, who appeared on his podcast How We Made Your Mother.
Neil Patrick Harris. Photo credit: Melvotaw, Shutterstock
The pair discussed some of the tensions they experienced while working on the sitcom, with Radnor describing the conversation as “fascinating and kind of healing.”
He also revealed that he still occasionally exchanges messages with Segel.
“Jason and I send each other texts every once in a while when something like that reminds us of something funny on set, but I haven’t seen him in a really long time,” he said.
Radnor has also spoken with Smulders, although most of their recent interactions have been over Zoom after she appeared on his podcast twice.
Meanwhile, Hannigan was among the former cast members to attend Radnor’s wedding to Jordana Jacobs in 2024.
Alyson Hannigan. Photo credit: Markus Wissmann, Shutterstock
“Aly was at my wedding, but I haven’t seen her, I don’t think, since,” he said.
Radnor compared the experience to leaving college after spending years surrounded by the same people.
“It’s like college, where you have this very intense time together and you think you’re gonna be — you can’t imagine not seeing each other every day ‘cause you’ve seen each other every day for so long, and then it just disperses and you go out and live your life,” he explained.
The actor believes fans sometimes have a hard time accepting that the cast are no longer inseparable.
“I think there’s a yearning, especially when a show is so centered around friendship — people really wanna believe that me and Neil and Jason are hitting bars in New York City together,” he said.
“They really wanna believe that.”
'How I Met Your Mother' co-stars Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan. Photo credit: S Buckley, Shutterstock
Radnor said the relationships between the cast are perhaps better described as being like family rather than friendship.
“You don’t get to choose your family. We were cast. We didn’t choose each other,” he said.
“And family dynamics come out to play when you’re in an environment like that for so long.”
Despite not remaining close friends, Radnor said he still has strong feelings for his former co-stars.
“But you also have love that is quite deep and rich and probably everlasting. But it’s not an active love,” he said.
“Acting is a lot of little love affairs that you have, and then you move on.”
Cobie Smulders. Photo credit: S Buckley, Shutterstock
The comments come after Smulders and Segel recently reunited on screen when the actress appeared in Segel’s Apple TV+ series Shrinking.
Segel said he was quick to suggest his former co-star for the role when the team was deciding who to cast.
“What about Cobie?” he recalled suggesting, with everyone agreeing.
Smulders also spoke positively about working with Segel again, saying she was “so happy” to reunite with him.
Jason Segel. Photo credit: MLM IMAGES Los Angeles, Shutterstock
“I already have an intimacy with Jason…so it was just playing with a different color when on camera,” she said.
She added that Segel is “just so damn likable” that it was easy to slip back into their on-screen dynamic.
While the How I Met Your Mother cast may not spend their days together like their characters did, Radnor’s comments suggest there is still plenty of affection between the former co-stars — even if their lives have simply taken them in different directions.
