‘HIMYF’ Bosses: ‘Nothing Is Set In Stone’ As To Who The Father Is

The ‘How I Met Your Father’ journey has begun. HL spoke EXCLUSIVELY with the cast and creators about the identity of the father, getting Kim Cattrall on board, and what to expect.

How I Met Your Mother is one of TV’s most beloved comedies. The new spinoff, How I Met Your Father, premieres January 18 and revolves around a woman named Sophie telling her son the story of how she met his father. The identity of the mother on How I Met Your Mother was the ultimate mystery until the end, and the HIMYF showrunners, Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker, told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that the identity of the father isn’t a done deal just yet.

“We did not know exactly who the father was when we started writing,” Elizabeth told HollywoodLife. “Now we’ve had a season to live with these characters, and we are starting to get notions and starting to formulate a plan in our heads. Isaac [Aptaker] and I are finishing up our last year on This Is Us, and it’s a show where we were really schooled in having a plan and knowing where you’re going. We’re definitely sort of bringing those lessons to this one. But yeah, nothing is set in stone yet. But things are starting to take shape.”

Francia Raisa, who plays Sophie’s best friend Valentina, is “constantly” asking the writers about the identity of the father. “They haven’t told me but because I keep prying I don’t think they will, which is annoying. So I gotta find different avenues. I’m becoming friends with a lot of the writers so…” Francia said.

By the end of the season, Tom Ainsley, who plays Charlie, admitted that “there were definitely people I think we were rooting for. You’ll see throughout the season how Sophie’s story sort of develops, but there was a moment towards the end of the season, I remember we all sort of turned to each other and went, ‘Oh, she’s chosen the wrong one there. No, I wouldn’t have done that.’ So we’re definitely rooting for someone.”

Sophie’s son in the future is also being kept hidden for now. In the original series, which ran from 2005 to 2014, Lyndsy Fonseca and David Henrie played Ted Mosby’s kids. Isaac revealed that they haven’t decided who is playing Sophie’s son yet. “That’s part of why we wanted to do the flip of it and really focus on Kim [Cattrall],” Isaac said. “We have the son as an off-screen presence until very, very deep in the series. So hopefully, we have years before we have to think about what he looks like.”

Kim plays the older version of Sophie in the Hulu series. Isaac admitted that Hilary Duff and Elizabeth wanted the Sex and the City alum from the beginning but getting her felt “unrealistic and unattainable.” He added, “And then we were just so fortunate. She responded to the material, and she agreed to get on the Zoom with us. We kind of talked her through the plan for the show and the character. A few weeks later, she walked onto our soundstage and just exceeded all of our expectations. The entire cast came in that day. They weren’t working, but they came in just to hang out at the monitors and watch her work. It was very cool.”

How I Met Your Father takes place in the same universe as How I Met Your Mother, and the creative team isn’t ruling out cameos from the original series stars. “It’s absolutely possible,” Isaac told HollywoodLife. “I mean, I think that’s so cool. Aside from the storytelling device, the main connection between the two shows are that we’re set in the same version of New York City. So that means that the possibilities are endless for our characters to cross through locations from the original show or encounter totally random, deep, ancillary background characters or one of the series regulars. It’s all on the table.” New episodes of How I Met Your Father will drop Tuesdays on Hulu.