How I Met Your Mother was a phenomenal example of how to do a sitcom well. The core group of friends undoubtedly had a lot to do with this - it always seemed like they genuinely liked each other for all of their faults. However, it’s been well over a decade since the show premiered, and a lot has changed since then.
The show is still funny today, but it has quite a few problem parts that didn't really age well. Recasting the show with new leads and side characters would give it a chance to redo a few things and update the whole thing to make it fit in a little better in today’s world.
Ted- Dev Patel
Patel is a great actor, and it’s a shame we don’t see more from him. He’s proven over and over again that he can fit into a whole lot of different roles. One he’s proven great at playing as he’s gotten older is the kind of nerdy guy, which would fit in perfectly for the uptight Ted. If he falls short somewhere, it’s that he’s turned out to be a little too authentically cool for the constantly posing as awesome Ted. I’m sure someone with his skills could make it work anyway.
Marshall- Asa Butterfield
Goofy but lovable, Marshall is hard to replicate. He needs to be someone everyone finds lovable even when everyone around him isn’t the best person. That’s where Asa Butterfield comes in. He’s mostly known for more serious roles, but he’s proven recently (on Sex Education) that he can do funny, too. It doesn’t hurt that he gives off the impression of being a good guy, either. If he has a shortcoming, it’s that he doesn’t quite pack Jason Segal’s size- but at an even six foot, he’s close enough.
Lily- Rachel Brosnahan
Rachel Brosnahan has proven with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel that she can do funny. She’s also proven both in Maisel and other roles that she can play someone who is take-charge, something definitely needed for the frequently manipulative Lily. A nice change she would be able to bring to the role would be a more forward version of the character, where she plays less innocent and is more forthright about her desire to control everything around her, while still being someone the audience can connect with.
Robin- Zendaya
Robin needs to be played by someone who can play tough and sometimes aloof, but still be funny. She’s shown that she can do all of those things, and maybe having a chance to do it on a more adult-oriented show would let her try out some new things. Having a musical career adds to her perfectness to play an updated version of the character- we can find out what Robin Sparkles got up to in the 2000s.
Barney- John Boyega
John Boyega brings a lot to the role of Barney, but one important thing he brings that Neil Patrick Harris also brought is the cultural recognition he has- it’s almost impossible to have avoided knowing who is in any given Star Wars film. He brought a lot of humor to his role as Finn, and it’ll be put to good use here. He’s also charming and comes off as sweet, which would serve well to counteract Barney’s tendency to be a terrible person.
Tracy- Saoirse Ronan
Honestly, you could plop Saoirse Ronan down in any role and she’d knock it out of the park. She’s just the kind of person you’d want playing the Mother, too.
She’d excel at portraying just the sort of person you can’t help but love, while still being able to knock Ted down a few pegs whenever he needs it. The only downside to casting her as Tracy is that she’s missing from most of the show.
James- Taron Egerton
Maybe it’s a little bit of type casting, but Rocketman showed that Egerton can really pull off the showmanship that Wayne Brady brings to everything he’s in. He’s a funny guy, and it would be nice to see if he could pull it off outside of more action-oriented movies like the Kingsman films. He’d be a great complement and counterpoint to Boyega as Barney- James frequently acts as the straight man in the character’s relationships and it’s something that Egerton has shown he excels at.
Stella- Kiernan Shipka
Maybe Sarah Chalke wasn’t cast as Stella to bring in viewers who knew her from her roles on Roseanne and Scrubs, but her casting still probably brought in viewers recognizing her from those roles. Casting Shipka would add that bit of recognition for people who remember her from Mad Men and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
On top of that, she’s a great actress in her own right. She’s great at playing roles that are a little more serious, and Stella is one of the more serious characters in the whole show.
Victoria- Hailee Steinfeld
Anyone who was in Pitch Perfect has great comedic talents. She also showed them off in Dickenson, proving that she’s got the comedic chops to play more than one type. And like so many of Ted’s girlfriends, she needs that ability to play more of a straight man to the core group’s cut ups. We know that the second time Victoria comes around, she turns out to be both a funnier and less uptight person than she was in their first relationship, and it would be fun to see her play the character both ways.
Zoey- Chloe Grace Moretz
It feels like Moretz has been in everything and played every kind of character by this point- she has quite an impressive filmography for someone so young. This kind of ability to play whatever is needed would come in handy playing Zoey. When we first meet her, she’s driven and determined to take Ted and his plans down; soon enough, she starts to soften up and become quite a likable person- especially if Ted isn’t around.