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From 2005 all the way to 2014, How I Met Your Mother was the show everyone just had to watch. Even the highly rated show The Big Bang Theory struggled to keep up at times regarding viewership and critical ratings.
While the core cast of Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, and Alyson Hannigan was extraordinarily well-liked and led to the show's success, Neil Patrick Harris was the motor that kept the show running.
Many fans of shows often wonder how the cast members feel about each other. At the end of the day, acting is a job. Most wouldn't admit to the importance of a paycheck, but there aren't many of them that would do their work for free. If certain cast members don't get along, they can usually suck it up and move along toward the end of the project.
However, for a show like How I Met Your Mother, it's very hard to go on for nearly a decade if the actors don't get along. It was very important for the cast to get along with Neil in particular, as his role was beyond important. Nevertheless, the cast's true feelings are a bit blurrier than fans initially thought.
Everything To Know About Neil Patrick Harris's Time Playing Barney Stinson On How I Met Your Mother
Neil had his breakout role as Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother. His value to the show was so important that he even directed the "Jenkins" episode from season 5. Just what made his role so special?
Anyone who's seen the show knows that Neil played perhaps the most charming live-action character to ever grace television. He could be a bit manipulative and exploitative, but at the end of the day, every character on the show loved Barney for his charisma and swagger.
While the show ended back in 2014, Neil's time on the show has been far from over. Neil has returned to play Barney in Hulu's How I Met Your Father, helmed by Hillary Duff. Hillary has aimed to get the other HIMYM stars to cameo on the show.
Fans and critics have loved Barney since the beginning. Entertainment Weekly put Barney up on its list of 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years. Neil won numerous awards from nearly every television award show, including the Emmys. He was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor quite a few times.
Neil loves the character, of course. Neil once had to repeat a line 80 times when he was on HIMYM, proving his dedication to the series.
Neil's talked about Barney plenty of times, the most recent being back in 2021. A wave of cancel culture had taken over social media, and society has already been impacted by it by that point. Barney Stinson was put under the social spotlight.
Neil was asked by The Guardian how he felt about Barney's sleaziness. Neil outright told The Guardian that the show is "not real at all", therefore giving Barney a certain leeway real-life people don't get.
He didn't let Barney off the hook, though, claiming that Barney is an "anti-superhero". Wanting to always be the charismatic life of the party, he did some abhorrent things when he didn't get his way.
Neil isn't like Barney at all in real life. For starters, while Barney is a straight lady's man, Neil is a gay romantic type. He's been married to David Burtka since 2014, and their relationship has continued to be a great one.
Before Neil came out as gay, he was funnily enough rumored to have dated Blake Lively's sister.
Is Neil Patrick Harris Friends With The Cast Of How I Met Your Mother?
Neil has had fantastic relationships with the general HIMYM cast. However, some things have caused fans to raise eyebrows.
Beginning with the good, Neil has had a great friendship with Jason Segel.
Jason played Marshall Eriksen, a close friend to Barney and the rest of the HIMYM crew. Jason and Neil seem to be just as close in real life as their fictional characters. After the show wrapped up in 2014, Neil and Jason famously performed a duet together at a 2014 actors' event.
Jason told Yahoo! that he'd certainly be down for a How I Met Your Father cameo, as well as any formal How I Met Your Mother reunion. He brought up Neil's How I Met Your Father appearance as his inspiration for returning to the HIMYM world.
Neil and Cobie Smulders have had a bit of an odd relationship. Not necessarily in a bad way, either.
Neil told GQ that he had a non-romantic "crush" on Cobie and her amazing acting talents. Neil felt jealous of Cobie's talents, in a healthy way that made Neil step his game up. It also allowed for their characters to have better chemistry on-screen, as their relationship behind the scenes blossomed the way it did.
The two of them held several interviews together while they were on the show. Cobie revealed a lot of her thoughts and feelings about Neil. Cobie told The Fan Carpet that when the show ended, she cried because she was going to miss Neil and the rest of the cast.
Since the show ended, Cobie and Neil have posted about each other on social media. Cobie visited the famous HIMYM bar in 2022 and posted her visit to Instagram. She sent a shoutout to the entire cast in the post description, thanking them for the memories.
Some people believe there is beef between Ted Mosby's actor Josh Radnor and Neil. Josh follows a lot of celebrities on Instagram, but he doesn't follow Neil. However, considering how close the entire cast still is, it's unlikely there's any real animosity.
What Has Neil Patrick Harris Been Up To Since The End Of How I Met Your Mother?
As mentioned previously, Neil has returned to play Barney on How I Met Your Father. What else has he been up to, though?
Neil's had a decent amount of acting credits, but only a few roles have really stood out in major ways.
One of Neil's first acting gigs after How I Met Your Mother was an appearance in the 2014 movie Gone Girl. Neil didn't have a major role in the film, playing the deceased ex-boyfriend Desi Collings.
After that, Neil had a few roles in projects such as American Horror Story, The Penguins of Madagascar, and Mystery Science Theater 3000. However, his next big thing was playing Count Olaf in Netflix's adaptation of A Series Of Unfortunate Events. While the show has often been overlooked, its countless Emmy nominations speak volumes about its value.
Outside of that major starring role, Neil really hasn't done anything too big. He's appeared in a slew of smaller movies and shows, such as 8-bit Christmas, Star Wars: Visions, and The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent. He did appear on an episode of Doctor Who in 2023.
Of course, it can't be forgotten that Neil did appear in 2021's Matrix Resurrections. He played The Analyst, Neo's real-life therapist who turned out to be much more than meets the eye.
While Neil hasn't directly fallen off the map, it's clear he's only taking roles he thinks are fun. However,
Jason Segel has essentially gone off the grid since How I Met Your Mother ended.