Since the show was all about meeting the mother, what was it like to finally film that scene where you tap her and say hello and get under the umbrella?
That was actually Cristin [Milioti, who played the Mother]'s audition scene and they didn't really change a word from when we first read it together. It was also the last scene we filmed on the very last day of filming, so emotions were running high on both fictional and nonfictional tracks. All the writers, cast, network and studio execs — everyone who worked on the show in any capacity was there watching. There was a big delay while we waited for them to get the rain right, so everyone had a chance to really take in the moment.
I always found working with Cristin to be such a joy, so when it came time to shoot it, I just tried to will myself into the character's shoes and connect with Cristin and not think of it as this huge, iconic moment. I mean, Ted may be nervous approaching her but he doesn't know it's, like, the biggest moment of his life. So we did the scene a bunch of times and it felt good and real and effortless and then people made a few speeches and we all went to MacLaren's for a final drink.
How long did you know how it would end?
They had mentioned to me the twist about the mother in the first season, and I kind of put it out of my head. I didn’t know if they would actually want to come back to it and do that, especially after Cristin, because she was so wonderful and the fans seemed to really take to her. So I asked them “Are you guys still doing that?” And they said yeah.
Were you aware that people had essentially called exactly what happened?
Yeah, but I think that was intentional. It’s not that people cracked some code. They were laying that in, so that it would be discussed and slightly less jarring for people.
It wasn’t this big surprise ending. They wanted it to feel justified.
Yeah, I think so. It was going to be shocking no matter what and they wanted to soften it a little bit or at least get people talking about it. There were a couple of hints along the way: Ted’s big speech to the mother in "The Time Travelers." That was the first time I heard people talking about that possibility.
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You’ve lived in this character for so many years, do you think he thought about Robin when he was with “The Mother”?
They cut a scene that Cobie [Smulders] and I shot between Ted and Robin. I thought it was a really important scene and I talked to Carter and Craig [Bays and Thomas, HIMYM's co-creators and co-showrunners] about it. I understand why they cut it, but I thought it laid in that Robin had been thinking about Ted all these years more than Ted had been thinking about Robin. But who knows?
It’s weird to speculate on something that isn’t actually real. [Laughs.] It’s an imagined story, but you also have to wonder what happened in the six years after she died and what was that like for Ted. Obviously, he’s been mulling over his past and sifting through things. And there was that comment about Robin always coming over for dinner, so they’ve clearly reestablished a contact and a deep friendship.
Can you tell me a little bit more about what happened in the cut scene?
It was a scene after they ran into each other on the street. They had lunch the next day. I don’t want to go too much into it because they obviously cut it for a reason, but I thought it was a really sweet and sad and funny scene. It also talked about Robin having a run-in with a bull in Spain. They’re so densely packed, these episodes, and they’re always long. We shot more than could be in the episode, which we always do, so some stuff has to go.
That was actually Cristin [Milioti, who played the Mother]'s audition scene and they didn't really change a word from when we first read it together. It was also the last scene we filmed on the very last day of filming, so emotions were running high on both fictional and nonfictional tracks. All the writers, cast, network and studio execs — everyone who worked on the show in any capacity was there watching. There was a big delay while we waited for them to get the rain right, so everyone had a chance to really take in the moment.
I always found working with Cristin to be such a joy, so when it came time to shoot it, I just tried to will myself into the character's shoes and connect with Cristin and not think of it as this huge, iconic moment. I mean, Ted may be nervous approaching her but he doesn't know it's, like, the biggest moment of his life. So we did the scene a bunch of times and it felt good and real and effortless and then people made a few speeches and we all went to MacLaren's for a final drink.
How long did you know how it would end?
They had mentioned to me the twist about the mother in the first season, and I kind of put it out of my head. I didn’t know if they would actually want to come back to it and do that, especially after Cristin, because she was so wonderful and the fans seemed to really take to her. So I asked them “Are you guys still doing that?” And they said yeah.
Were you aware that people had essentially called exactly what happened?
Yeah, but I think that was intentional. It’s not that people cracked some code. They were laying that in, so that it would be discussed and slightly less jarring for people.
It wasn’t this big surprise ending. They wanted it to feel justified.
Yeah, I think so. It was going to be shocking no matter what and they wanted to soften it a little bit or at least get people talking about it. There were a couple of hints along the way: Ted’s big speech to the mother in "The Time Travelers." That was the first time I heard people talking about that possibility.
.
.
.
You’ve lived in this character for so many years, do you think he thought about Robin when he was with “The Mother”?
They cut a scene that Cobie [Smulders] and I shot between Ted and Robin. I thought it was a really important scene and I talked to Carter and Craig [Bays and Thomas, HIMYM's co-creators and co-showrunners] about it. I understand why they cut it, but I thought it laid in that Robin had been thinking about Ted all these years more than Ted had been thinking about Robin. But who knows?
It’s weird to speculate on something that isn’t actually real. [Laughs.] It’s an imagined story, but you also have to wonder what happened in the six years after she died and what was that like for Ted. Obviously, he’s been mulling over his past and sifting through things. And there was that comment about Robin always coming over for dinner, so they’ve clearly reestablished a contact and a deep friendship.
Can you tell me a little bit more about what happened in the cut scene?
It was a scene after they ran into each other on the street. They had lunch the next day. I don’t want to go too much into it because they obviously cut it for a reason, but I thought it was a really sweet and sad and funny scene. It also talked about Robin having a run-in with a bull in Spain. They’re so densely packed, these episodes, and they’re always long. We shot more than could be in the episode, which we always do, so some stuff has to go.
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