Hilary Duff opened up about the incredible first table read of Hulu's How I Met Your Father. Created by writing duo Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (This Is Us), the highly-anticipated show is a spinoff of the widely successful How I Met Your Mother. The latter aired on CBS for a whopping nine seasons between 2005 and 2014, racking up a dedicated fanbase along the way. Josh Radnor led the series as Ted Mosby, telling his children the detailed story of how exactly he met their mother. It was a career-launching project for the entire cast, which also included Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, and Jason Segel as Ted's colorful friend group.
Though How I Met Your Mother ended on a controversial note, viewers were left wanting more. Fans rejoiced in 2021, when How I Met Your Father was confirmed for a straight-to-series order. TV royalty Hilary Duff signed on to lead the show as Sophie, who tells the story of how she met her son's father in a similar vein to Mosby in the original series. The timeline starts in 2021, following Sophie and her tight circle of friends as they attempt to navigate their lives and relationships.
Hilary Duff took to her Instagram Story to giddily announce that the cast had their first table read together on Thursday, August 5. After letting out a scream of excitement, the star spilled details directly into the camera, saying:
"We just had our pre-table read for How I Met Your Father with the whole cast and everyone is so good. I feel so lucky. The writing is hysterical. The cast is amazing. I was like shaking the whole time."
Duff ended the statement with more squeals, clearly thrilled to be a part of the upcoming series. She wasn't the only creative involved to tease the table read on social media. Co-creator Aptaker posted a photo of the pilot script, which he wrote with Berger and is set to be directed by Pamela Fryman, who famously directed all but twelve episodes of How I Met Your Mother. "Almost showtime," he wrote in the caption.
The recent teases boast some major takeaways for fans of the HIMYM universe. First and foremost, having a Hollywood veteran like Duff publicly proclaim her love for the cast and writing speaks volumes. After being a part of pop culture phenomenons like Lizzie McGuire and Younger, she knows how to assess a winning project. Also notable is that Aptaker's photo of the pilot script reveals the possible show logo. It's nothing innovative, but a callback to the original series once again. How I Met Your Father hasn't shot a scene and yet it's already teed up to deliver something, as Barney would say, legen- wait for it -dary.
Source: Hilary Duff