Nearly eight years after “How I Met Your Mother” ended its nine-season run on CBS, Hulu has debuted “How I Met Your Father,” a new sequel series set in the same universe but tackling more contemporary concerns — with a more diverse cast — in the age of dating apps and limitless options.
Created by Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker (“Love, Simon,” “Love, Victor,” “This Is Us”), “How I Met Your Father” centers on Sophie (played by Hilary Duff in the present and Kim Cattrall in the future), who is telling her son the story of how she met his father. Like the original sitcom, “How I Met Your Father” takes viewers back in time, to the year 2022, when Sophie and her close-knit group of friends are in the midst of figuring out who they are, what they want out of life and how to fall in love amid the hustle and bustle of New York City.
Tien Tran — a stand-up comedian and veteran member of The Second City in Chicago — plays Ellen, a young woman who has just moved from a small farming town after separating from her wife. Hoping to reconnect with her adoptive brother, Jesse (Chris Lowell), Ellen becomes swept up in his new friend group and begins a new chapter in the Big Apple, even if she is more comfortable on an organic lettuce field than in a Brooklyn dive bar.
“I feel very lucky and honored to be a part of the universe and also to grow the story in a way that better reflects what New York City looks like, better reflects what friend groups look like,” Tran told NBC News in a video interview. Ellen “comes into the friend group as someone who is incredibly optimistic and is trying to hold on to that as much as possible. But as with anyone, she’s going to get knocked down.”
Having most recently worked as a writer and actor on the Showtime comedy-drama series “Work in Progress,” Tran auditioned for “How I Met Your Father” in the early months of the pandemic and immediately connected with Ellen’s shared excitement and trepidation about re-entering the queer dating scene after moving to a new metropolis.
“I love that Ellen is a queer Asian character but just gets to be one of the friends,” Tran said. “She’s not defined by those things, and it’s so important that she is just experiencing the same trials and tribulations [as everyone else]. Everyone is trying to date, everyone is trying to survive in a city that is exciting but also can be unforgiving at times, and also trying to find a job. They’re all lost, but they’re all trying to do that together. They’re all supporting each other … without any judgment.”
And while “How I Met Your Mother” was beloved for its running gags, nostalgic appeal and intergenerational storylines, it was also later criticized for its lack of diversity — an oversight that Berger and Aptaker wanted to correct with this standalone sequel. In doing so, Tran noted that Ellen “isn’t being tokenized in the way that some shows in the past have done” and is, instead, “being added to a long list of queer characters that are on TV and film that aren’t defined by coming out trauma or any sort of homophobia. There is no homophobia, there is no teachable moment in the show.”
In her first series regular role, Tran has been able to work with the likes of Duff, whom she grew up watching on “Lizzie McGuire” in the early 2000s, and Pamela Fryman, who previously worked as a director and executive producer on “How I Met Your Mother” and has returned in those roles for the sequel. The experience of working with such seasoned professionals on both sides of the camera, Tran said, not only forced her to raise her own level but also made her realize that working on a multicamera sitcom is an extremely collaborative effort.
“These are people that are at the top of their game, so I have kind of come onto set like a sponge, and I’m just trying to soak in as much of their wisdom and knowledge as possible,” she said.
Growing up in Erie, Pennsylvania, Tran first took an interest in show business after watching her sister, Tram-Anh Tran, who played a main character on the PBS children’s mystery series “Ghostwriter,” and Molly Shannon on “Saturday Night Live.” But it wasn’t until Tran moved to Chicago that she was really able to hone her craft as a writer and comedian, finding a sense of community with members of other marginalized communities.
“I came up in the Chicago comedy scene, which was already so queer. I think I had a very lucky experience, and I think that’s starting to grow for people across all the cities,” she said. “It’s so exciting now that there are so many queer and queer POC comedians that are not only getting their moment but are also so funny, so talented. I think it’s so exciting now that it doesn’t feel like a new thing anymore.”
Tran is acutely aware of the slight but steady advances that Hollywood has recently seen in onscreen queer and Asian representation — something that she admittedly didn’t always experience growing up. Representation is “important to me because it’s just my life, and I hope that people can see themselves reflected in storylines like [Ellen’s],” she said. “I think it’s just so exciting now that there are so many more different characters.”
She cited Hulu’s “Dollface” — about a young woman (played by Kat Dennings) who, after being dumped by her longtime boyfriend, must deal with her own imagination in order to rekindle the female friendships she left behind — as an example of a series with “wonderful Asian American representation.” The series also stars Brenda Song and Shay Mitchell.
“I like that now there are these characters that can be flawed, goofy and weird and can live their life without having to be the voice of one community,” she said. “There’s just more freedom and creativity, and it’s exciting to be in a time where there are now so many different characters that are queer and Asian that people can relate to.”
Tran hopes to become part of that growing wave of onscreen visibility, playing a character that, she quipped, “has a lot on her plate,” between her impending divorce and earnest desire to reconnect with her older brother, whom she hasn’t really seen since their parents’ separation.
“You’ll see parts of Ellen’s dating life; you’ll see her fall on her face in different ways but still try to be optimistic,” Tran previewed with a laugh. “You’ll see her navigate her relationship with her brother in a way that is, to me, very touching and very moving, and I haven’t gotten to see much of that in different TV shows of this kind. You’ll see how she handles trying to find a job, because just butter lettuce is the only thing that is supporting her life in New York City, and she definitely needs to have another source of income.”
And while “How I Met Your Father” might illustrate the trials and tribulations of dating in today’s world, Tran believes the show, at its core, is about the invaluable friendships that the characters form with one another — and that the cast has actually formed in the process of making the 10-episode first season.
“None of us have done multicam before, so we’re all coming into it with an open heart of learning and going through this process together, so being thrown into this new format that none of us have worked in really immediately bonded everyone,” Tran said.
“The biggest takeaway that I hope people take from this show — and especially in this time when it’s so hard to meet up with friends and family in the way that we used to — is that it’s really important to cultivate, and it’s also exciting to rely on, your chosen family,” she added. “I hope that people take away that your worth isn’t in who you date or who you end up with. It’s about all of the relationships that you cultivate with friends and family and loved ones along the way.”
The first three episodes of “How I Met Your Father” are now streaming on Hulu, with a new episode premiering every Tuesday through March 15.