‘HIMYF’ Creators Talk Bringing ‘TV Legend’ John Corbett in as Hilary Duff’s Love Interest (Exclusive)

Hilary Duff’s reunion with Raise Your Voice co-star John Corbett comes in an unexpected way this ongoing season of How I Met Your Father, which adds the Sex and the City alum to the running list of potential fathers. HIMYF creators Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger opened up to PopCulture.com about bringing the “TV legend” in as an older man for Duff’s Sophie to fall for in upcoming episodes. 

“He was so great,” Aptaker says of working with Corbett, whom he calls “just the most fun guy.” While Corbett portrayed the iconic character Aidan Shaw on Sex and the City, a multi-cam sitcom was new territory for the actor, which made for a great time on set. “I think he was really, really excited to try a totally new format after fronting however many seasons of TV he’s fronted,” Aptaker shares. “Just trying something new was really, really exciting to him.”

“To say he was the most excited person on set is an understatement,” he continues. “He was having the time of his life, just wanting to try out new bits and, ‘Got any new jokes for that?’ and, ‘What if I said this? What if I tried that?’ So it was really watching a kid in a candy store in the form of a TV star.”

Fans have yet to meet Corbett’s HIMYF character, but many have pegged him as the potential father after seeing his character debut in the Season 2 trailer and connecting him to older Sophie being voiced by fellow Sex and the City alum Kim Cattrall. “We love that people are invested,” Berger teases to PopCulture after hearing the theory. “We think it’s a really fun one. We just love hearing the theories roll in.”

“I know there was a recent one that perhaps Barney was the father of Sophie, and then How I Met Your
Mother fans did the math and thought, ‘Wait, actually, that could not be,’ because they know the history
so well,” she continues. “So just the fact that people are bothering to make theories is very exciting to us and we love keeping track of them.”

Barney Stinson’s return in the Season 2 premiere of HIMYF was another exciting cameo for the show, which previously brought in Cobie Smulders’ Robin Scherbatsky for a guest star role. “When we sat down to start breaking [down] the season, we were talking about who from the original and when would make the most sense to bring into our world,” Aptaker remembers of bringing Neil Patrick Harris’ womanizing character back for a guest role. “And we came up with this notion for how Sophie’s character would cross with Barney. And then it was just a matter of bringing it to Neil and seeing if he was interested in jumping back into the Barney suit.”

Harris was interested, at which point Aptaker jokes, “And then it was just a matter of finding a day in the schedule of the busiest, most interesting man in the world when he could come out and spend the day shooting some stuff.” Berger adds that she “can’t wait for [viewers] to see more Barney and see what his actual role is and the way he relates to our characters.” New episodes of HIMYF drop Tuesdays on Hulu.