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"How I Met Your Mother's" Ted is Kind of a Douche

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Miscellaneous | Comments (26)

happythankyoumoreplease2.jpg

Yesterday, Vulture got a moment to talk with Josh Radnor at the Gotham Awards, and as you’d expect from a backstage kind of interview during an awards ceremony, it was short and kind of clipped. But while some actors are personable (and drunk) enough to inject some amiable personality into their answers (see their interview with Charlize Theron, from the same awards ceremony), Josh Radnor comes off as more of a dick. Maybe it was the venue; maybe he was in a rush; and maybe he just didn’t feel like talking to Vulture. And it’s not like he said anything unpleasant; it’s more of a prickiness Here’s an excerpt (you can read the entire exchange at Vulture).

You’re working on these projects, Jason Segel did The Muppets. How do you all fit these in along with HIMYM?

We’re so up-and-running on the show that we come in, we have a great time, and then we go home and, you know, do these other projects. And I think everyone’s feeling really fulfilled by both doing the show and getting the opportunity to do this other stuff.

Why didn’t you have a Muppets cameo?

I didn’t ask. Neil [Patrick Harris] begged; I didn’t.

Neil begged?

Yeah, he did. I don’t know if he begged, but he wanted to do it.

So you didn’t want to do one?

It just didn’t occur to me to ask. [Laughs.]

In a couple of recent episodes of the show, you had a good tan.

I don’t have a tan, and I’m not out in the sun, and everyone tells me I have a tan.

Had you been on vacation or something?

[To his publicist] Had I been on vacation?
Publicist: Not that I’m aware of.
No. Kill this story!

Is it just me, or was that Muppets exchange a little awkward? Is he suggesting that NPH had to beg, because really? NPH doesn’t have to beg. Josh Radnor has to beg. And how does it not occur to ask to be in The Muppet movie. If someone you know, and have been working with for seven years, is making a Muppet movie, I think it’d occur to me to at least ask, especially while apparently witnessing another fellow cast member groveling for a role.

And is it necessary to ask his publicist if he was on vacation?

Why does he have to be such a Ted?

Or maybe I’m reading this all wrong.









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Comments

Hmmm. I read it more as he's trying to play it cool, like he doesn't care that he wasn't in the Muppets but he really is upset about not being asked. But that might be me projecting on to him, because if I were him and Segel didn't ask me to cameo, I would've been upset.

Consulting his publicist about the tan, though, did seem a bit douchey.

Posted by: MelBivDevoe at November 30, 2011 12:20 PM

These kind of interviews always read as very clipped. Without seeing it who knows how it comse across. The unending need to fill the entertainment information void with lighting fast results usually results in loss of context.

Posted by: TylerDFC at November 30, 2011 12:23 PM

Is it just me or do words on a screen not convey inflection or facial expression?

Posted by: sal at November 30, 2011 12:24 PM

Maybe there's a reason no woman ever ends up with Ted Mosbey while NPH is about to lock Robin Sparkles.

Posted by: Fredo at November 30, 2011 12:37 PM

Dude. You're totally over-reaching. He wasn't implying that NPH HAS to beg to be in a Muppet movie, I think he just meant that NPH was really dying to be in it as you would expect the star of Dr. Horrible and father of two kids to want to be in it. Based on the kind of projects Radnor does outside of HIMYM I'm not surprised he wouldn't want to be in it, he seems to be going for the same Zach Braff/Garden State too cool and indie to care vibe.

Or maybe that muppet sidekick WAS the cameo?

Posted by: valerie at November 30, 2011 12:42 PM

i hate ted... but it just seems like he was entertaining himself, trying to be funny...

Posted by: Greg at November 30, 2011 12:49 PM

reeeaaaallly slooooooow news day huh?

Posted by: logan at November 30, 2011 1:04 PM

Yes, I also read it more like "I may have dropped a couple hints, but Jason didn't ask me, and I'm trying to be cool about it".

The tan thing was trying to be funny. He said he hadn't been outside, and the reporter was like "are you sure? maybe you went on vacation and forgot". How are you supposed to respond to that?

Although I have no problem if Josh Radnor is actually a douche.

Posted by: Three-nineteen at November 30, 2011 1:06 PM

Duh, only actual famous people get to have Muppets cameos. Radnor is more like the "oh, um, hey, it's that guy...from that thing?" And by the time you figure it out, you've missed like 6 great Muppets jokes.

Posted by: The Fatling at November 30, 2011 1:17 PM

Haha! How ironic that the lead actor of the show is the least famous! He seems like a douche. Anyway I will go on hating his repulsive on-screen self and now off-screen as well.

Posted by: severine at November 30, 2011 1:29 PM

If they were friends after seven years, he shouldn't have to ask. So either you're right, he's a total dick and the muppet guy didn't ask him because he didn't give a fuck, or the muppet guy is a dick and didn't ask his buddy to do a cameo. Or they're both professionals and don't have to inject their possible friendships/enemyships into every work decision. There are a myriad of possibilities (probably not that many).

"Enemyships" by the way, is not a word, but you're reading Pajiba and probably knew that already. I'm going to use that word on a Twilight message board somewhere and see if I can work it into the zeitgeist. "Edward and Jacob have a violent enemyship. They really don't care for one another at all." And then I'll amend it again while talking about my sister's friends and see it morphed into "frienemyships." Oh, a world of endless possibiliy opens up before me, like the ageless and infinite existence of Lovecraftian Gods!

So, I'm bored at work.

Posted by: superasente at November 30, 2011 1:34 PM

Radnor has other projects? The mind, she blows.

Posted by: admin at November 30, 2011 1:37 PM

Nah, you're reading too much into it. I'm gonna give Radnor the benefit of the doubt and presume he's just taking the piss with the interviewer.

Posted by: Nick at November 30, 2011 1:50 PM

Is there a video I'm not seeing somewhere? Don't we need to see the kind of tone he said this in before jumping to any kind of conclusions whatsoever? Reaching...

Posted by: aidan at November 30, 2011 2:29 PM

Its hard to get a reading on the tone. I can't say either way. Though I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt for reasons I'm not quite sure of.

Posted by: Dave at November 30, 2011 2:51 PM

Not only is he a real Ted, but he's soooooo Dorian too!

Posted by: bleujayone at November 30, 2011 3:02 PM

@suprasente - I'm pretty sure "enemyships" is just another term for fan fiction.

Posted by: Bert at November 30, 2011 3:30 PM

Or they're both professionals and don't have to inject their possible friendships/enemyships into every work decision.

An "enemyship" is a MiG. A "frenemy" is still dangerous but can be your wingman anytime.

Posted by: Jast at November 30, 2011 5:08 PM

Is anyone really shocked by this? Ted's character has always been pretty much a douche. Maybe he was just in character, for that matter.

Posted by: DangadaDang at November 30, 2011 5:39 PM

I have nothing for or against the guy, as I don't watch HIMYM and didn't love or hate Happythankyoumoreplease, so I don't get the eagerness to trash him here.

I mean, this is the interview he was subjected to:

- Where do you MUPPETS! find the time to do stuff?
- MUPPETS?
- Neil in the MUPPETS?
- No MUPPETS for you?
- You have a tan. Discuss.
- Seriously, the tan. Elaborate, or at least tell me something about the MUPPETS.

I would have been far, far more of a dick than Radnor was. I think he showed remarkable restraint in not just screaming "Well why the fuck don't you go interview Jason? He's a swell guy and he's doing a press tour, you can totally get five minutes with him. But I'm not going to suck his dick on your behalf, you unprofessional fangirl twat."

Posted by: Steve at December 1, 2011 4:34 AM

Steve said it best.

Posted by: Craig at December 1, 2011 8:50 AM

Well it's not that he only comes across as humourless in the excerpt -- the ENTIRE interview makes him sound like a dour crankypants. I don't think Dustin's overreaching here.

Posted by: Pod at December 1, 2011 11:42 AM

This guy is the absolute worst part of HIMYM. Its impossible to suspend your disbelief to buy that someone so not particularly attractive nor charming could have such beautiful women interested in him.

Posted by: Marlon at December 1, 2011 12:55 PM

To me that sounds more like a douchey reporter asking dumb questions.

Posted by: Beerad at December 1, 2011 2:03 PM

What a terrible interview. This guy sounds a bit douchey but can you blame him given the interview questions? "You had a tan in some episodes..."!!??

Posted by: Brenda at December 4, 2011 7:27 PM

What a terrible interview. This guy sounds a bit douchey but can you blame him given the interview questions? "You had a tan in some episodes..."!!??

Posted by: Brenda at December 4, 2011 7:27 PM