How I Met Your Father, Hulu’s spinoff of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, is quickly winning over viewers, and two key casting choices are definitely helping. Two HIMYF stars — Hilary Duff and Josh Peck — are beloved stars for a whole generation of TV watchers thanks to their roles and child and teen stars. Duff and Peck, who play love interests on the series, are winning over millennials who have been watching the pair for decades.
Duff plays lead character Sophie on HIMYF, but her resume goes way back. Her most beloved role was the titular character in Disney Channel’s Lizzie McGuire, which ran for 65 episodes and spawned a theatrical movie. She also appeared in late ’90s/early 2000s family hits like Cheaper by the Dozen, Agent Cody Banks, Casper Meets Wendy and Cadet Kelly. She also went on to star in Younger, the recent TV Land/Paramount+ dramedy that lasted seven seasons. Peck shared a similar trajectory, with his role as Josh Nichols on the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh serving as a fan-favorite for years. He also starred in movies like Max Keeble’s Big Move, Snow Day and Drillbit Taylor, as well as Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show. He later starred in the FOX sitcom Grandfathered, Disney+’s Turner & Hooch revamp and the 2012 Red Dawn remake. (He also voiced Eddie in the Ice Age franchise and Casey Jones on Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.)
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With all this goodwill behind them, the pair’s pairing is getting amazing responses from Hulu subscribers. Many HIMYF fans grew up with both stars, and they love that their careers properly collided. Scroll through to see some of the reactions to Duff and Peck’s new roles.
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“Seeing Josh Peck and Hillary Duff in How I Met Your Father is pretty cool,” another fan wrote. “Seeing them go from kids shows to this; we really watched these people grow up and with us.”
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“Lizzie + Josh — keeping our Millennial minds feeling youthful; I see what you’re doing,” a proud millennial watcher tweeted.
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“Yo seeing Josh from Drake & Josh kiss Lizzie McGuire is a weird nostalgia play but I’ll allow it,” another person wrote. Yet another tweeted, “8 year old me never imagined a world where Lizzie McGuire and Josh Nichols would be dating and making out in 2022.”
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“Lizzie McGuire dating Josh from Drake and Josh is how you know #HowIMetYourFather is written for millennials by millennials,” a fourth fan wrote. A fifth tweeted, “Broke my brain seeing Josh Nichols from Nickelodeon and Lizzie McGuire from Disney Channel kiss #HIMYF what a crossover moment.”
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Josh Peck and Hilary Duff in #HIMYF is like the epitome of my childhood coming together,” a second fan wrote. A third added, “so im watching how i met your father and I’m getting major childhood flashbacks with josh peck and hilary duff in one scene.”
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Josh Peck is a seamless addition to the #HIMYF cast. He’s insanely charming and matches Hilary Duff’s charisma that shines in the multi-cam sitcom format,” one fan wrote.
