Josh Radnor on why the How I Met Your Mother Cast drifted apart: 'We didn't choose each other, we were cast'

Turns out the gang from How I Met Your Mother doesn't hang out at MacLaren's anymore, at least not in real life. Josh Radnor, who spent nine seasons as Ted Mosby, recently opened up about where things actually stand with his former co-stars: Alyson Hannigan, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, and Cobie Smulders.

Asked on the Half the Picture podcast whether the cast remains as tight-knit as fans imagine, Radnor didn't sugarcoat it: "No, no, not even a little bit."

But he was quick to clarify that distance doesn't mean drama. In fact, Radnor pointed to a recent conversation with Harris on his own podcast, How We Made Your Mother, as proof there's no ill will. "I don't mean that in any dramatic way," he explained. "We had Neil 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."

As for the rest of the cast, Radnor says contact is sporadic but warm. He and Segel occasionally trade texts triggered by random on-set memories, though he admitted it's been ages since they've actually crossed paths in person. His connection with Smulders has mostly played out over video calls, thanks to two podcast appearances. "I have love for all these people," he added.

Hannigan, meanwhile, holds a special place, she attended Radnor's 2024 wedding to Jordana Jacobs. Even so, he says they haven't reconnected since. He likened the experience to the aftermath of college friendships: an intense, everyday closeness that fades once life pulls everyone in different directions.

Radnor also pushed back gently on fan expectations, noting that shows built around friendship tend to create a kind of wishful thinking in audiences. "People really want to believe that me and Neil and Jason are hitting bars in New York City together," he said. "They really want to believe that."

Instead, he compared the cast's bond to something closer to family than friendship, a connection formed by circumstance rather than choice. "You don't get to choose your family. We were cast. We didn't choose each other," he said, noting that the deep affection remains even if it isn't something actively maintained day to day. As he put it, acting often means forming intense bonds that eventually run their course: "Acting is a lot of little love affairs that you have, and then you move on."

Two members of the friend group have found their way back to each other professionally. Smulders recently joined Segel on his Apple TV+ series Shrinking, and Segel revealed the casting came together almost effortlessly.

Smulders echoed that sentiment in her own conversation with EW, describing the reunion as effortless given their existing rapport. "I already have an intimacy with Jason…so it was just playing with a different color when on camera," she said. "But Jason is just so damn likable that it's very easy to be charmed by him."