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Getting typecast in similar roles and characters painted in pretty much the same colors is something a lot of actors have faced over the years – especially those who chose to make a name for themselves through sitcoms. Turns out, the fan-favorite Josh Radnor was no exception to this unfortunate turn of events either.
This came in light of his career getting launched to extraordinary heights of success withHow I Met Your Mother, where he played the fan-beloved Ted Mosby. But instead of settling for similar roles, the actor actively tried to get away from getting typecast in parallel roles after the show ended – even going to extremes for the same.
Josh Radnor confesses to running away fromHIMYM-like roles
From 2005 to 2014, for nearly a decade,Josh Radnordid nothing short of an epic job as he brought to life the love-struck protagonist ofHow I Met Your Mother. In fact, he did such a good job that even years after leaving his respective character behind when the show ended its run, the actor continued to be associated with him.
This is why, “for a long time,” Radnor was willing to do whatever it took to actively stay away from being typecast in like roles. As he recently confessed toPEOPLE,
In some ways, I always ran things through a bit of a How I Met Your Mother algorithm in terms of, is this far enough away from the tone of the show. I was really looking for roles that just felt really different.
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To say the least, the now-50-year-old actor was so willing to run away from those roles that felt too close to Ted Mosby that, even now, he pulls off similar moves. “I still, sometimes roles will come to me that I can feel in the DNA, that it’s a little too close, and I don’t play those roles. I almost always say no to those roles,”Radnor came clean.
While this might make many question just why Radnor wanted to avoid roles similar to hisHIMYMcharacter who continues to rule a lot of fans’ hearts worldwide, there was probably a pretty simple reason why: it made people see him in a different light, and they couldn’t witness his versatility as an actor. Thus, he was even willing to go to extremes to get away from characters like Ted after the show ended.
Josh Radnor said yes to just any role as long as it wasn’t similar to Ted
During the same interview, Josh Radnor went on to candidly confess how much he wanted to step away from his character of Ted and similar roles – enough to make him take on just any other role as long as it wasn’t similar to hisHIMYMcharacter. Talking about the roles he took afterthe show got offair, he went on to say:
My first job, my first gig outside of How I Met Your Mother was this Broadway play called Disgraced, and it was about Islamophobia. And I played this pretty ethically shady character. And then, I was on this PBS Civil War show called Mercy Street, where I was a morphine-addicted Civil War surgeon. So I was really looking for roles that were not lovesick guys in New York City looking for wives. That was something I didn’t want to do.
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Needless to say, all of this is more than enough to emphasize just how much Radnor was willing to do to avoid being viewed as any character similar to Ted, getting so very cautious with the roles he agreed to take post-show. But, after all these years, he now appears to beready to embrace hisHIMYMrootsas he prepares to launch a rewatch podcast produced by Alek Lev –How We Made Your Mother– so that’s that too.
How I Met Your Mothercan currently be streamed on Hulu and Netflix.How We Made Your Motherwill debut on podcast platforms on July 09, 2025.
Mahin Sultan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2478
Mahin Sultan is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, where she brings a fresh perspective to entertainment news. Having been in the field for over 3 years now, she has already written more than 2,000 articles across a variety of niches, from entertainment to health and fashion. This diverse experience has allowed her to quickly build a solid foundation and a deep understanding of the industry.
