The new stars of How I Met Your Father are legen—wait for it—dary.
On Tuesday, Aug. 10, Hulu revealed the actors who will star opposite Hilary Duff and Chris Lowell in the How I Met Your Mother spinoff: grown-ish's Francia Raisa, The Royals' Tom Ainsley, Candyman's Tien Tran and God Friended Me's Suraj Sharma will round out the cast as the friends and family of Jesse (Lowell) and Sophie (Duff).
According to the streaming service, like its predecessor, HIMYF follows Sophie as she recounts to her son how she met his father, bringing viewers back to the year 2021, when Sophie and her friends are trying to figure life out.
So, what roles do the HIMYF newcomers play? Hulu offered up the following descriptions:
Raisa will play Valentina, "Sophie's roommate....She's impulsive and adventurous and Sophie relies on Valentina's ability to cheer her up when she gets down. Valentina has just come back from London Fashion Week with the gorgeous, British Charlie."
Ainsley is set to play the dashing Charlie, "the son of conservative aristocrats, Charlie's a great guy but he's been living in a rich person's bubble his whole life."
Tran adds to Jesse's friend group by playing his sister Ellen, "who just moved to New York from a small farming town after separating from her wife. Ellen's more comfortable on an organic lettuce field than in a Brooklyn dive bar."
As for Sharma, he's playing Sid, "a new bar owner [who] plays the optimist to Jesse's cynicism."
While there's no mention of ducky ties or yellow umbrellas, the new series sounds as promising as a night out with Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris). It certainly has better press than the first failed HIMYM spinoff.
We're, of course, talking about the 2014 pilot for How I Met Your Dad, which starred Greta Gerwig as Sally and Meg Ryan as the narrator (a.k.a. future Sally). The project ultimately never came to fruition, with CBS' Nina Tassler noting at the time, "I'm heartsick. We love this brand and we love this show, but it didn't work out."
In 2017, Gerwig revealed to Stephen Colbert that her character didn't resonate with test audiences, adding, "They turned the knob to the left every time I came on...so yeah, they didn't like it. At all."
That feedback is worse than losing a slap bet! While we wait to suit up and tune into HIMYF, find out which actors we hope cameo on the spinoff below.
This smoldering hottie had a "will they, won't they" relationship with Hilary Duff's character on Younger. Yet competitive Zane (Charles Michael Davis) couldn't handle Kelsey's (Duff) success at Millennial Imprint. Could Zane and Kelsey get their true happily ever after on How I Met Your Father? Even if he's not the father, we'd just be happy to see them together again.
Hilary Duff's real-life husband would make for the sweetest cameo in her new series. While Matthew Koma isn't an actor (yet) he is a famous musician known for collaborating with Shaina Twain, The Knocks, and Zedd.
McLovin' still has more love to give. Christopher Mintz-Plasse counts Hilary Duff as a real-life pal—he even officiated Duff's wedding to Matthew Koma! Koma and Plasse are BFFs, so why not have them both appear on Duff's new series?
Princeton can wait: we're still shipping Sam (Hilary Duff) and Austin (Chad Michael Murray) from 2004's A Cinderella Story. Let's just not have Murray reprise his Riverdale role as a cult leader and we'd love for him to win Sophie's heart on How I Met Your Father.
Just in case you needed a reminder of Lizzie McGuire's middle school crush Ethan (Clayton Snyder), it's clear they're still pals IRL. Snyder even took Hilary Duff to his middle school dance! "I can't say she had a great time, but she's a great sport for going," Snyder previously joked of inviting his teen A-list co-star to his school. Who wouldn't want to see that be recreated in How I Met Your Mother? Sign up Snyder for a role as a middle school teacher, and it's a full circle love story.
Fans need to Raise Your Voice to get Hilary Duff's 2004 onscreen love interest to return to Hollywood. While Oliver James—who also is beloved for his role in What A Girl Wants opposite Amanda Bynes—hasn't acted since 2012, but we have a feeling Duff might be able to convince him to come out of retirement.
Ok hear us out: Tom Welling is too hot to just play Hilary Duff's sibling in Cheaper By the Dozen. It's a throwback, but one we're definitely here for.
It hasn't not been proven that Regé-Jean Page left Bridgerton to be on How I Met Your Father. Seems legit, and we know Sophie (Hilary Duff) wouldn't be able to resist the Duke's burn for her.
The High School Musical hunk can return to his Disney Channel roots opposite Hilary Duff. And yes, we want Zac Efron to be in every show, movie, commercial...anything to see him onscreen.
Lizzie McGuire viewers remember Frankie Muniz playing himself on an episode of hit Disney Channel series. But die-hard Frankie fans know that Hilary Duff also starred alongside him in Agent Cody Banks. Their reunion would be a heavenly gift for any former 2000s tween!
The OG How I Met Your Mother star would be a great fit for Hilary Duff's spinoff. Plus we just want to see Ted Mosby again!
Paolo, is that you? Last time we checked, teen heartthrob Yani Gellman is still acting long after The Lizzie McGuire Movie. His last TV role was in Bosch in 2019, so we know he's just waiting for Hulu's call.
Reboot be damned, we still want to see Gordo (Adam Lamberg) and Lizzie McGuire (Hilary Duff) together as adults!