TV & Movies
Hilary Duff Talks Neil Patrick Harris' Disastrous HIMYF Cameo
“Everything that could go wrong went wrong.”
Fans of the sitcom spin-off How I Met Your Father were likely thrilled to learn that Neil Patrick Harris would be reprising the character of Barney Stinson in the new series — the role he portrayed on How I Met Your Mother during its nine-season run. However, in a recent interview, lead star Hilary Duff (aka Sophie) revealed that “everything that could go wrong went wrong” during Harris’ How I Met Your Father cameo.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about the actor’s appearance in the Season 2 episode “I'm His Swish,” Duff shared that Harris had “so much to do” while shooting his HIMYF guest appearance, before listing off some of the unfortunate on-set incidents that occurred during filming.
“Some crew guy got hurt and there was an ambulance, it was pouring down rain, of course on the only night that we had him, and we’re outside, and we’d already shot stuff leading up to this night where it wasn’t raining,” she revealed. “Thankfully it didn’t even look like it was raining, but my makeup artist would come in and she’s like, ‘You’re covered in rain, your face is so wet. I don’t know how we can’t tell on camera.’” In spite of the many mishaps, the former Lizzie McGuire star said the overall experience of working with Harris was “so funny,” adding: “He’s just the best sport, and it was a dream to have him on.”
Meanwhile, speaking of his return to the HIMYM universe, Harris told Entertainment Weekly that he “didn't want to appear on the show simply for nostalgia's sake,” revealing that he did have “slight reservations” about reprising his character. “What they had come up with was a smart call,” he explained. “And I was also excited to work with Hilary, so all of that seemed like it was a fait accompli in its own way.”
As mentioned, How I Met Your Father is a spin-off of the hit CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, which enjoyed a successful TV run between 2005 and 2014. Set in New York City, the series centres on the character of Sophie (Duff), who is telling her son the story of how she met his father using the original series’ structure of flashbacks and narrative voiceovers.
