The Cast Of How I Met Your Father Eventually Gave Up Guessing The Identity Of The Father

While launched as a spinoff to the hugely popular CBS series, "How I Met Your Mother," the 2022-released Hulu sitcom "How I Met Your Father" has established its own distinct identity. The show features Hilary Duff as Sophie, whose romantic life is the focus of the series this time around, with Sex And The City star Kim Cattrall playing the older version of the character recounting her life story to her son. "How I Met Your Father" co-stars Francia Raisa, Chris Lowell, Tom Ainsley, Tien Tran, and Suraj Sharma make up the rest of the ensemble.

One of the key differences between the original series and its spinoff is that, while "How I Met Your Mother" was leading up to the introduction of the mother, Sophie has already met her future partner on a specific night, narrowing the possibilities down significantly. The identity of the father, however, still remains a mystery, and the cast has given up on trying to guess who it is. This is what they had to say about the central mystery.

In a 2022 interview with Collider, Tien Tran, Hilary Duff, and Chris Lowell were asked if they knew the identity of the central mystery character. Duff, who also serves as a producer on the show, responded that she had lost the trust of the writers after they had revealed a major storyline to her, and she had immediately revealed that information to the rest of the cast. While the storyline didn't end up going forward, Duff felt like she had failed a test by revealing it.

Lowell conceded that Duff wasn't the only one guilty of this behavior, as the rest of the cast members similarly move quickly to ensure everyone's in the loop whenever one of them learns of a secret on the show. Duff concluded that they've "given up guessing" as it's unlikely any of them will learn who the titular father is at this point and said that the writers are simply toying with the cast with the details they claim to reveal. She did, however, add a second hypothesis — the writers themselves also don't know. Duff added that Tran has a joke about the father, who noted that he "has hair, a face, a body, and some style. We do know who he is."

When asked about the connection between "How I Met Your Father" and "How I Met Your Mother," Duff revealed that the cast and crew had been given the freedom to make their own show distinct from their predecessor. Duff noted that the characters in "How I Met Your Father" are not perfect analogs to the CBS sitcom, saying: "I'm not the girl version of Ted. Tom's not Barney. It's not like that."

Lowell echoed the sentiment, saying the fact that the show's characters are not trying to duplicate those in "How I Met Your Mother" helps the show feel more like a "continuation" rather than a direct sequel. He added that "How I Met Your Father" gets enough chances to go in directions the original show could not.

Duff went on to say that the producers don't add any pressure to make the two shows similar, noting that it's only when they ask the crew not to post any pictures from locations the two shows share in common that Duff realizes the importance of the connections. She concluded that the minimal references also help new viewers get into the successor more easily, as they don't need extensive knowledge of the "How I Met Your Mother" timeline to do so.