After 208 episodes over nine years of the run of How I Met Your Mother, the show is coming to an end. The actors have formed an undeniable bond.
Although life will never be the same for the cast members, they all have exciting career plans in the works. But they still admit, through laughter and tears, that it will be hard to say goodbye.
1. Josh Radnor
The 39-year-old actor has already directed and acted in two movies. Although he will have many future opportunities, nothing will be quite like his time on the series.
In the above interview with Ellen DeGeneres, he talked about saying goodbye:
It’s kind of disorienting. I’m happy to be done, but I was also really sad to be done. It’s confusing. It felt like it’s supposed to be over. But at the same time, you were sad to say goodbye to everyone.
On Valentine’s Day, the 39-year-old took to Twitter to express his feelings on the final script.
Read the HIMYM series finale script on the treadmill at the gym this morning. People probably thought that was sweat in my eyes. Suckers.
— Josh Radnor (@JoshRadnor) February 14, 2014
He also told Thought Catalog what he’ll miss most:
Well, the people obviously. And not just the cast, there are a hundred people that make that show and you get to know them all pretty well if your show runs as long as ours did. I’m already missing everyone a lot.
2. Alyson Hannigan
The actress cried on The Talk after being asked about what she’ll miss about her on-screen husband, Jason Segel.
He’s just such a wonderful guy . . . I’m getting all . . .I’m not gonna miss him. I’m not good at answering this question at all.
In an interview with Us Weekly, the 40-year-old also discussed the powerful final script:
I would have been worried about it before I actually knew how the show was going to end. The script was just amazing and wonderful and happy and sad and all of the above.
3. Neil Patrick Harris
At Paley Fest 2014, Harris, 40, in the clip above, said:
We have really deeply cared about the content of nine seasons of our show and it means a lot to us that you’ve stayed with us for this whole time. We adore you.
A few weeks after the finale, Harris will be on Broadway in Hedwig and the Angry Inch as Hedwig.
However, he told Out magazine that there will never be another Barney Stinson:
I won’t ever be able to play someone like Barney again because he’s so unique, but we had over 200 episodes.
He also teased about his future plans:
And my exclusivity deal is done with CBS. So finally I’ll be able to do more porn.
Like the other actors, the final taping also brought a tear to Harris’ eye.
He told Us Weekly, “We never talked about the end. Josh Radnor has never been funnier and Cristin Milioti made me cry.”
4. Jason Segel
The 34-year-old actor also told The Talk about his deep connection to his on-screen wife:
Aly taught me a lot about how to be a man, I gotta say. I was 25 when I took the show. I think we’ve all been through a lot personally. Aly and I have a lot of scenes together, spend a lot of time together, and she’s always been there to listen to me and give me advice. [She] saw me through hard times and good times.
He added this touching sentiment, which made Hannigan cry even more, “I learned a lot from being around Alyson by the kind of person that I wanted to be.”
5. Cobie Smulders
On March 30, she talked about the show’s end on CBS Sunday Morning, shown above.
When host Anthony Mason asked her it’s hit her that the show’s nearing the end, she said,
“It’s still airing and I wonder if when it stops airing, I will feel like it’s over.”
They talked about the fact that as an actor, she was lucky to have a job for nine seasons.
She said:
I’ve landed in this place of just sublime gratitude. Anytime I start to get sad about our show, I think about how long we have been on the air. And now I’m just walking out there into the unknown. And then I just start weeping. I don’t know when I’m going to work next.
The 31-year-old actress has a role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which premieres the same week HIMYM ends.