How I Met Your Mother star Cristin Milioti reveals she had never seen the show before starring in it

How I Met Your Mother, the sitcom which aired on CBS from 2005 to 2014, was a successful show, but it met significant backlash for its ending. As evident from the title, the show is about the narrator's story of how he met the mother of his children.

The show follows Ted Mosby's recount of the events that led to him meeting the mother of his children, Luke and Penny. The story he tells narrates the experiences he shared with his friends Marshall, Lily, Robin, and Barney.

At the end of the show, in the episode Last Forever Part II, it is revealed that Tracy McConnell, played by Cristin Milioti, is the mother of Ted's children. It is also revealed that she died six years before Ted tells his children about how he met their mother. In an episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Cristin Milioti revealed that she had never seen the show before starring in it and had no idea how monumental her role or the show's ending was.

Cristin Milioti hadn't watched How I Met Your Mother before starring in it

It is common for actors to not have watched a show before they star in it. The same was the case for Cristin Milioti when she joined the cast of How I Met Your Mother to play Tracy McConnell. Whether she watched the show or not doesn't change how the show ended; it could've helped her understand the weight of the ending.

How I Met Your Mother hadn't officially confirmed anyone to be the mother of Mosby's children until the very last episode. Given the show's story and character developments, all signs pointed towards Robin being the potential mother. However, that wasn't the case.

Ted Mosby does end up with Robin Scherbatsky at the very end of the show, but it is after his children understand his love for Robin and give him their blessings to pursue her. Robin is still not the mother to Ted's children, and while that does not make her and Ted's love less valid, it was a disappointing revelation for the fans in 2014.

The whole story of How I Met Your Mother had made viewers think that Robin would either end up with Barney or Ted, with the possibility of her ending up with Ted more. Thus, finally, when Tracy McConnell, a character viewers did not even know very well, was revealed as the mother to Ted's children, the audience's response wasn't the best.

Now, a decade after the show ended, Cristin Milioti talked about her role in How I Met Your Mother in an episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard. There she said,

''I didn't understand the weight... I'm in it for like six episodes... People had strong reactions to that... I also was pretty good at sheltering myself from [the fan response] as well. But I definitely didn't understand the weight.''

Shepard's co-host, Monica Padman, agrees, saying,

''Yeah, because people are like, what? We don't even know her... We've been here for eight seasons.''

Milioti finally says what has been the truth for a decade. She says,

''It's a very famously contested finale.''

How well Milioti knew the show's story couldn't change the ending of How I Met Your Mother. However, perhaps if she knew how monumental that revelation was going to be, she would've portrayed Tracy differently or brought something new to the character. Besides, that would also make her understand why the audience wasn't the biggest fans of the ending.

While most of the audience has moved on from the ending of How I Met Your Mother, it remains as one of the most surprising endings seen on television.

How I Met Your Mother is streaming on Hulu.

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