Josh Radnor Says How I Met Your Mother Cast Is No Longer Close: ‘Not Even a Little Bit’

Josh Radnor says the cast of How I Met Your Mother may always share a deep bond, but that does not mean they still spend much time together.

The 52-year-old actor, who played hopeless romantic Ted Mosby throughout the hit sitcom’s nine-season run, recently reflected on his present-day relationships with former costars Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Neil Patrick Harris and Cobie Smulders. Although the five actors portrayed one of television’s most recognizable groups of friends, Radnor acknowledged that their real-life relationships have become far less active in the years since the series ended.

Asked during the Aug. 16 episode of the Half the Picture podcast whether he remains as close to his former castmates as viewers might imagine, Radnor gave an immediate answer.

“No,” he said. “No. Not even a little bit.”

Radnor quickly clarified that his response was not intended to suggest any major feud or dramatic falling-out. Instead, he described something much more ordinary: after spending nearly a decade together almost every day, the actors finished the show and gradually moved into different phases of their lives.

The Cast Became Famous as One of TV’s Closest Friend Groups

How I Met Your Mother premiered in 2005 and followed Ted Mosby as he searched for love while navigating adulthood in New York City with four close friends.

Radnor played Ted, while Jason Segel portrayed his best friend Marshall Eriksen. Alyson Hannigan played Marshall’s longtime girlfriend and eventual wife, Lily Aldrin.

Neil Patrick Harris became one of the show’s breakout stars as the outrageous and womanizing Barney Stinson, while Cobie Smulders played Robin Scherbatsky, Ted’s recurring love interest who eventually became an essential member of the group.

The chemistry among the five actors became one of the central reasons for the show’s popularity.

Because friendship was at the heart of the series, many viewers naturally assumed the actors had developed similarly inseparable relationships behind the scenes.

Podcast host Billy Barnell raised exactly that point, noting that the cast appeared so “close-knit” that audiences could easily believe they remained close friends long after filming ended.

Radnor explained that reality is more complicated.

Radnor Compares the Experience to College

Rather than describing his relationships with the cast as broken, Radnor compared their experience to going through college with the same group of people.

“It’s like college where you have this very intense time together and you can’t imagine not seeing each other every day because you’ve seen each other every day for so long,” he explained.

Then, eventually, everyone moves on.

“And then it just disperses and you just go out and live your life,” he said.

That is essentially what happened to the HIMYM cast after the series finale aired in 2014.

For nine seasons, the actors spent enormous amounts of time together filming episodes, rehearsing scenes and promoting the show. Once that routine ended, their careers, families and geographic locations naturally pulled them in different directions.

Radnor also pointed out the practical issue of distance.

Harris lives in New York, while Segel, Smulders and Hannigan are based in California.

“I’m living my life,” Radnor said simply.

From left: Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Josh Radnor, Cobie Smulders and Neil Patrick Harris in 2013.

He Still Occasionally Texts Jason Segel

Radnor said he remains in occasional contact with Segel, who played Ted’s closest friend Marshall.

The two sometimes exchange texts when something reminds them of their years making How I Met Your Mother.

However, Radnor acknowledged that they have not actually spent time together in person recently.

“I haven’t seen him in a really long time,” he said.

Segel has remained busy with his own projects, most notably starring in and co-creating Apple TV’s Shrinking, which premiered in 2023.

Interestingly, that series has also created a reunion between Segel and another HIMYM alum.

Smulders joined Shrinking as Sofi, a romantic interest for Segel’s character, therapist Jimmy Laird, appearing in the show’s second and third seasons.

Cobie Smulders Says Her Bond with Segel Endured

Smulders previously told PEOPLE that reconnecting professionally with Segel felt remarkably natural despite the years that had passed.

Although playing romantic interests was very different from their relationship as Robin and Marshall on How I Met Your Mother, Smulders said the familiar chemistry quickly returned.

She described it as the old “magic sauce” coming back.

“We spent a lot of time growing up on that show,” she said.

Smulders was only 23 when HIMYM premiered, while Segel was 25.

She added that she and Segel had remained connected personally over the years.

“We’ve always been in each other’s lives,” Smulders said, explaining that she had always felt a strong friendship with him.

Radnor’s relationship with Smulders appears more intermittent. He said she has appeared twice on How We Made Your Mother, the podcast he hosts with series co-creator Craig Thomas, meaning much of their recent interaction has occurred over Zoom.

Alyson Hannigan Attended Radnor’s Wedding

Radnor also remains on good terms with Hannigan.

The actress attended his 2024 wedding to Jordana Jacobs, showing that the two still share an important personal connection.

However, Radnor said he does not believe he has seen Hannigan since the wedding.

That pattern — affection without frequent contact — seems to define much of his relationship with the entire cast.

Radnor believes their connection is perhaps better compared to family than conventional friendship.

‘A Little More Like Family Than Friends’

According to Radnor, fans understandably want to imagine the actors continuing to behave like Ted, Marshall, Lily, Barney and Robin after the cameras stopped rolling.

He said viewers have “a yearning” for the cast to remain close precisely because How I Met Your Mother was so focused on friendship.

“People really want to believe that like me and Neil and Jason are like hitting bars in New York City together,” Radnor said.

But that fantasy does not reflect their actual lives.

Instead, he views his former costars as “a little more like family than friends.”

The distinction matters because, as Radnor explained, people usually choose their friends but do not choose their families.

Likewise, the HIMYM actors did not initially select one another.

They were separately cast in a television show and then suddenly required to work closely together for years.

During those nine seasons, Radnor said, normal “family dynamics” inevitably emerged.

There could be affection, irritation, tension and disagreements — sometimes simultaneously.

Still, he emphasized that the underlying love between them remains meaningful.

“You also have love that is quite deep and rich and probably everlasting,” he said, while acknowledging that “it’s not an active love.”

Radnor and Neil Patrick Harris Recently Addressed Old Tension

One of the clearest examples of those complicated relationships involves Radnor and Harris.

The two reunited for a candid conversation on a March episode of How We Made Your Mother, where they openly discussed tension that had existed between them while filming the series.

Radnor later described that conversation as both “fascinating” and “kind of healing.”

During their discussion, Harris admitted that he had sometimes felt as though his acting style annoyed Radnor.

Harris explained that he was intensely focused on making the comedy work as Barney and could sometimes be relatively indifferent to the emotional heart of the show.

That created a contrast with Radnor, whose character carried much of the series’ romantic and emotional storyline.

Radnor suggested there may also have been some psychological overlap between the actors and their characters.

Because Barney frequently dismissed or mocked Ted, Radnor admitted that he occasionally felt personally dismissed by Harris as well.

He also acknowledged his own role in any friction.

“If I was like a little pissy or something, I’m sorry,” Radnor told Harris.

He explained that he had been dealing with many different pressures and emotions during production and that those feelings sometimes “came out sideways.”

The conversation allowed both actors to revisit the past without turning it into a larger feud.

A Bond That Changed Rather Than Disappeared

Radnor’s comments ultimately paint a more nuanced picture than the simple idea that the How I Met Your Mother cast stopped being friends.

The five actors spent nearly a decade experiencing an unusually intense professional relationship during formative periods of their lives. When the show ended in 2014, that daily proximity disappeared.

Today, some members remain closer than others. Some text occasionally. Some reconnect professionally. Others see one another mainly through podcasts, weddings or rare reunions.

But Radnor does not appear to regard that distance as evidence that their shared history has lost its importance.

Instead, he sees the cast as people connected by something permanent but no longer constantly active.

More than a decade after How I Met Your Mother ended, Radnor may not be meeting Harris and Segel at a New York bar every night like fans might imagine Ted, Barney and Marshall doing.

But the affection, memories and complicated family-like bond created during nine seasons together are apparently still there — even if the cast members are now living very separate lives.