“I started flirting with her as much as I could on camera”: Neil Patrick Harris Was the Real Mastermind Behind Barney and Robin’s Love-story on ‘How I Met Your Mother’
- Neil Patrick Harris reveals how Barney-Robin's love-story was brought into the storyline for HIMYM.
- Harris admits to having a talent crush on Cobie Smulders.
- Co-creator of the sitcom defends Barney Stinson after a think piece was published.
Created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays, How I Met Your Mother is one of the most popular and beloved sitcoms. The sitcom starred Neil Patrick Harris, Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, and Alyson Hannigan. It recounts Ted Mosby narrating the events from 2005 to 2013, which led to how he met the mother of his kids. The series is loosely inspired by Bays’ and Thomas’ friendship.
Well known for its humor, dramatic elements, and incredible performances of the actors, the show received a positive response upon premiere, but the following seasons received mixed responses from the audience as well as the critics. Actor Neil Patrick Harris recalled how he was behind one of the most beloved storylines making its way into the series.
Neil Patrick Harris reveals the truth behind Barney-Robin storyline in How I Met Your Mother
Actor Neil Patrick Harris played Barney Stinson; a man known to use his wealth and array of outrageous strategies to seduce women with no intention of actually being in a relationship. After years of fooling around, Barney marries Robin Scherbatsky, played by Marvel actress Cobie Smulders, but they eventually go their separate ways after three years. However, their love story remains one of the most memorable ones for the fans.
Harris, in his interview with GQ, revealed how Barney and Robin’s love story got into play. He explained that according to him, his character’s evolution came after Harris realized that he had a ‘talent crush’ on Cobie Smulders. The actor shared,
I was like, Wait a second. She’s so talented and hot and funny and Canadian already. That’s four stars. She’s just amazing. So I started flirting with her as much as I could on camera, and Barney could do all of that.
The actor who is remembered for his iconic lines like Suit Up or Legen-wait-for-it-Dary, further explained that his flirting on-screen with Smulders helped bring in a new storyline on the show. Barney Stinson falls in love with Robin Scherbatsky. Harris said,
They [creators of the show] sort of saw our chemistry change. And then that shifted Barney into being more single-minded and honoring the notion of changing who he is and changing his ways as much as he was able.
The two of them got married in season nine, but was revealed in the finale that they had separated after three years, and Robin was with Ted, played by Josh Radnor. Harris recalled during the interview that he met a lot of straight frat guys who were super stoked that he’s the one who played Barney Stinson, and some of them fooled around with him despite not being gay. The actor added that he was flattered by the idea of it.
The actor also mentioned that he has respect for the creators of the show because, while they wanted the show to be ridiculous, they liked the heart of Ted and the pathos of reality. He noted that where Barney was an extreme part of the ensemble, Ted was the serious truth part. Neil Patrick Harris noted that he played the character for nine years and he has loved every single day of it.
How I Met Your Mother co-creator defends Neil Patrick Harris’ character
Collider published an article criticizing the portrayal of Harris’ character Barney Stinson along with his actions to seduce women using outrageous strategies in early 2024. The article titled ‘Why is it so hard to watch How I Met Your Mother now?’ mentions Barney as one of the most problematic characters on television sitcoms, adding that the group seems to forgive his blatant sexism, misogyny, and borderline s**ual assault.
The article goes on to note the tricks and strategies the character used on the show to seduce women. However, it did acknowledge that the character does demonstrate growth and change but keeps constantly backsliding into sociopathic behavior. But the article’s claims did not sit right with the co-creator, Craig Thomas, who took to his social media to write,
Every so often, somebody writes a think piece about how Barney from HIMYM is problematic. This confuses me because Barney was always written as a parody of toxic masculinity, not an endorsement of it. I feel sad for all the time the think-piece writer wasted not thinking about that.
The co-creator mentioned that they spent 9 seasons showing Barney’s slow but measurable evolution into being a better man, a better human being, than the broken womanizer everyone met in the pilot. He pointed out that these things rarely make their way into the thought pieces. Thomas also added that Neil Patrick Harris played the satirical tone of Barney and his fundamentally wounded humanity so damn well, and it’s hard for him to understand how people miss out on that.
The HIMYM co-creator also mentioned that he is just going to go ahead and say that the other characters on the show shat on Barney for his ‘absurd toxic masculinity’ 83% of the time. He is very proud of the show as well as Harris for portraying the character so well.
How I Met Your Mother is streaming on Hulu.
