Despite its controversial ending, How I Met Your Mother is one of the best sitcoms of all time. And that's definitely partially because of the cast. It’s hard to imagine the characters being played by anyone else, as the chemistry and comedic timing really tie it all together, as well as the emotions when needed. Surprisingly, though, there was apparently some tension on set, according to Neil Patrick Harris and Josh Radnor.
With an ensemble cast like the one for HIMYM, where everyone works so closely together, and these friendships are forming on-screen, friendships are bound to form off-screen as well. While it seems like they are all close to this day, things might have been a bit different back then. While appearing on Radnor and co-creator Craig Thomas’ podcast How We Made Your Mother, Harris revealed to his former co-star that he thought he wasn’t too well-liked:
- Neil Patrick Harris: I always kind of felt that my performance annoyed you, Josh.
- Josh Radnor: What? Tell me more. Tell me more.
Radnor seemed shocked by the admission, which Harris said came to him as they were having that conversation. It’s a bit hard to believe, since Ted and Barney had a pretty entertaining friendship throughout HIMYM’s run.
Harris went on to explain why he thought Radnor was annoyed by his performance, and it was really because Barney was written differently from everyone else:
I was rarely, at work, as laser focused as I was of like the comedy turns and like doing that stuff. I was very indifferent to the heart and the pathos of it because [Barney] wasn't written that way. And I know that that was your job, right? And so 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, ‘Motherfucker, I'm doing spit takes.' [Laughs]
Barney did have a different way of looking at things and doing things on HIMYM, and it’s not just with the suits he would always wear. Of course, Barney is legen – wait for it – dary, but at the time, it sounds like Harris was worried that his character’s personality would drive a wedge between him and his castmates. He said it was like they were on different sitcoms, but that's also why it was so great. While now he can look back and really see that, back then it wasn’t easy:
I'm not airing dirty laundry or anything. I'm just saying, I think it required multiple perspectives of all of us to create it. But, as it was happening, I was sort of like, ‘I think that Josh is just kind of annoyed by the gnat flying around all the time, just doing bits.’
It’s unfortunate that Harris felt that way, but it’s also understandable why he would think all this. Barney wasn’t the best character at times and didn’t always say the right thing at the right time, but it’s what made him lovable. And not surprisingly, Radnor understands where the confusion comes from.
Luckily, there are no hard feelings, and Radnor even looks back at that time with happiness, especially since Ted was annoying at times, too. To that point, the Ted actor said:
I think it might have been a little bit of confusion between actor and character. Like Barney was often incredibly almost dismissive of Ted, and you were so good at playing that. I think sometimes I felt dismissed by Neil, but I was being dismissed by Barney. Do you know what I'm saying? You know, when your body can't tell the difference, even though your mind knows the difference. But when I look back on it, I'm so delighted by our weird chemistry.
Radnor went on to explain that there was something in the tension that Harris described that would come out sideways, which was the “secret sauce.”
Overall, there’s a reason How I Met Your Mother went on for so long, and fans are still streaming with a Hulu subscription. Had there been just straight tension between Harris and Radnor, it’s likely things would have gone differently. But the fact that they both felt the way they felt just means that they were doing their jobs right. And it makes me so happy that they’re still friends today.
