Celebrity5 min(s) read
Josh Radnor has opened up about why the stars of How I Met Your Mother are no longer close.
The 52-year-old actor is best known for playing single New Yorker Ted Mosby in the Emmy Award-winning CBS sitcom, which followed his life alongside his tight-knit group of best friends.
The series, which ran for nine seasons from 2005 to 2014, also starred Jason Segel as law student Marshall Eriksen, Alyson Hannigan as kindergarten teacher Lily Aldrin, Neil Patrick Harris as playboy Barney Stinson, and Cobie Smulders as Canadian news reporter Robin Scherbatsky.
Given how much time the cast spent together for almost a decade, fans assumed the actors were inseparable once the cameras stopped rolling. But according to Radnor, that's not the case.
Radnor was asked about his current relationship with his former co-stars during an appearance on the Half the Picture podcast with host Billy Barnell.
When the question turned to whether the main cast remained close after nine years working together, he didn't hesitate: "No. Not even a little bit."
Despite the candid admission, Radnor immediately clarified that there wasn't a "dramatic" feud responsible for the distance between them.
Instead, he suggested that their lives simply went in different directions after the show concluded.
The Liberal Arts actor explained that the cast's relationship reminds him of the bonds people can develop at college before eventually moving on with their separate lives.
"I have love for all these people," he said. "It’s like college where you have this very intense time together, and you think you’re going to be - you can’t imagine not seeing each other every day because you’ve seen each other every day for so long. And then it just disperses, and you just go out and live your life."
"People really want to believe that, like, me and Neil and Jason are like hitting bars in New York City together," he continued. "They really want to believe that. Acting is like a lot of love affairs you have, and then you move on."
Still, Radnor hasn't completely lost contact with his former castmates.
He revealed that he and Segel "send each other texts every once in a while," although the pair haven't seen each other in "a really long time".
Meanwhile, Smulders has appeared on Radnor's How We Made Your Mother rewatch podcast, which he hosts with series co-creator Craig Thomas. Radnor said he's "seen her mostly on Zoom".
As for Hannigan, Radnor last saw her when she attended his wedding to Jordana Jacobs in 2024.
The filmmaker's relationship with Harris has also come back into focus through the rewatch podcast.
When the 53-year-old appeared on the show earlier in 2026, the former co-stars discussed some of the tension they experienced while working together on the sitcom.
"We had Neil [Patrick Harris] on the podcast, and he and I had a really interesting conversation about some of the tension we had on set that was fascinating and kind of healing," Radnor said.
Harris confessed that while playing Barney Stinson, he sometimes sensed Radnor becoming annoyed with his performance choices.
"I remember often when we were filming, and I sensed frustration from you because you wanted the scene to be like a good scene, and I was looking at you like, 'Motherf***er, I’m doing spit takes,'" Harris told him.
Radnor acknowledged the friction, although he suggested it "might have been a little bit of confusion between actor and character".
He also admitted that insecurity had affected him during the show's run, as several of his castmates, including Harris, were more famous than him when they started filming.
"I think that I was just trying to manage a lot of different things and emotions, and they came out sideways sometimes," he said.
Even though the actors don't share the kind of active friendship fans might expect, Radnor made it clear that he still has love for his former co-stars and believes the bond they developed is more comparable to family.
"I think it’s a little more like family than friends in that you don’t get to choose your family. 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," he said.
"But you also have love that is quite deep and rich and probably everlasting, but it’s not an active love. Acting is like love affairs that you have, and then you move on," he added.
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