First Look: Britney Spears on Next Week’s HIMYM
Neil Patrick Harris and Britney Spears as a couple? It had never crossed our minds, but even we have to admit this is a pretty cute shot.
The pic comes from the May 12 episode of How I Met Your Mother, in which Brit reprises her role as Abby the receptionist.
"I had such a great experience the last time I was on the show that I couldn't wait to come back," says Brit. "I was really looking forward to working with this cast and crew again."
Now if we can just get her to do a duet with Robin Sparkles, that would be golden.
HIMYM Boss Craig Thomas Dishes on Britney, Sarah and More…
Attention Britney Spears: You may want to watch out for Jason Segel.
"The writers were joking that Segel should just run up to Britney and try to make out with her," laughs How I Met Your Mother show runner Craig Thomas. "He has a movie coming out [Forgetting Sarah Marshall] and it could be, like, a $10-15 million bump in the opening weekend. Even if she’s like 'Get off me! What the f–k are you doing?!' "
This is just one idea the HIMYM boss and his crew joked around about to try and "spice up" what remains one of the most remarkably low-key sets in town—even with Britney in the house this week—and give the overhead helicopters something that's worth their time.
"Aerial photos of our set would be so boring—the writers were pitching ideas on how to spice 'em up a bit!"
(See? This is why we love the HIMYM writers. They be funny.)
Craig just phoned in to give me the full 411 on Britney's guest stint, how it happened, what it means for the show, what it means for Josh Radnor's ass crack (seriously), what happened with Alicia Silverstone and whether Britney will be back.
We even delved into this outrageous notion…Could Britney be "The Mother?" (The answer may surprise you!)
Read on for the full Q&A with Craig and all the scoop!
Hey, Craig! So what’s your week been like? Anything special going on?
Just a normal week. You know, typical. Same old nose to the grindstone. No helicopters flying over our sets trying to take pictures or anything like that. Or…wait! That’s exactly what’s happening.
Oh my God, are there really helicopters?
I kid you not. I’m not sure if I’m accurate in saying plural, but there was at least a helicopter. At least one, perhaps more.
Wow, it's like the O.J. chase or something. Right in your own backyard!
I know. Hoping for what? Hoping to get a shot of her walking 15 feet to her trailer. I think they got way more shots of Jason Segel smoking.
So, honestly, tell me, what's it been like working with Britney?
It’s been—I would describe it as surprisingly low-key. Just nice and normal and everything has been really calm. She’s good. We always do a run-through, which is always a little bit of an awkward endeavor at How I Met Your Mother, because we always have like 60 scenes, and it’s like this crew of people and executives and stuff walking around this set. And Britney really nailed it. She was really funny, and she really had kind of her own take on the character.
I’m sure it helps that your set is so homey and drama free.
I think we’re developing that reputation over time, because I know some other clients of her agent have worked on our show, and they’ve sort of passed that on to the agent and to her that it’s a really low pressure environment. She knows she's not in front of a live audience, and we just try stuff, and we do it. We do takes a bunch of times and get different versions and get it to be as good as it can, and I think that really appeals to her.
So, what did you think when Britney’s people asked if she could guest star?
I’ve got to say, I mean, from my writing perspective—everything is a little more last-minute than you want it to be, because we just had a week of prep for nine episodes that were unwritten. So it’s pretty crazy. And last week we were rewriting the script, and the role is like this messy, nerdy, adorable, spazzy receptionist who has a huge crush on Ted, and we’re talking about actresses who are sort of that type. You know, nerdy and messy and then it became…Britney Spears.
It is shocking when you’re writing a role like that, that’s probably the last name that would come into your head. But Britney came in and just embraced this role, it’s not like we had to change the idea of the role to fit her. She came in, wanted to act, wanted to play a character, and that’s just what she’s done. It’s been really good.
Did you have any hesitations at all about casting Britney?
Of course, you know, we have to think about it from a business perspective, too. You can’t say no to it when Britney Spears comes to you and says “I want to do a small, funny part on your show, and not have it be a big deal and you have to write me as the big star.” It’s like, of course you have to say yes to that. You don’t know what’s going to happen necessarily, but you say yes to it, and you’re excited about it. Then it’s turned out to be so kind of effortless and fun and just a really great week, so it paid off, it just really paid off.
What is the episode about?
I think it's the best romantic-comedy episode we've ever done. Abby [Britney] has a crush on Ted, but he’s completely oblivious to it, because he’s going after her boss, the dermatologist who is removing Ted’s tattoo from earlier in the season. That’s who Sarah Chalke is playing. Sarah Chalke is playing the dermatologist who’s removing his butterfly tattoo just above his ass crack. And the episode recounts the high degree of difficulty trying to impress a woman who is removing a butterfly right above our ass crack. And he’s smitten with her and just from a love-at-first-sight kind of moment with Sarah Chalke.
Can you talk about what happened with Alicia and Sarah stepping into the role?
Alicia doing the show was kind of a leak by TV Guide or something before it was a done deal. And then her thing just kind of shifted, she wasn’t available for this week. As I said, everything’s been so last-minute. We still would love to work with her at some point, and we’ve talked to her a couple of times. I would not rule out seeing her in a future episode, but it’s great, because Sarah was available, since Scrubs hasn’t started back up, and we’ve always, always, always wanted to work with her. We didn’t plan on making her be a doctor again. Sort of like Sarah is falling into this weird sort of realm like how Tony Danza has to play a character named Tony. Sarah Chalke, for some reason, must play a doctor.
Like she's not recognizable without the scrubs on.
She literally, I’m even making this up, brought her own Scrubs lab coat. She’s cool, and it’s tailored to her. Sarah Chalke is so great she shows up in her own costume.
That’s awesome! So what are the chances that Britney might come back for more episodes?
You know, it’s been a complete pleasure to work with her, and we would love to have her back. This episode ends with a really funny tag that I think sets up how you might see her coming back. I don’t want to give anything away.
She’s the mother, isn’t she?
You know what, we don’t rule out anything on this show.
How crazy would that be? Think about that, you came up with the concept so many years ago and now, all of a sudden you guys just say, let's just make the Mother Britney Spears.
Yeah, and the spinoff is How I Met Your Father, and it’s all from Britney Spears’ perspective and then you do five years of that.
I love it!
You know what, she seems to be having fun. I don’t rule anything out. I think people will be really surprised by how different the character is from the public perception of Britney Spears and also just how good she is at doing it.
Video: HIMYM Stars Talk Britney
How I Met Your Mother returns this Monday!
To celebrate, the stars met up in West Hollywood last night to toast the relaunch (and an early St. Patty's Day) with a some fine Jameson Irish whiskey. And of course the entire press line of reporters had one question on their minds: Britney. ('Cause let's face it, our bosses might kill us if we didn't ask.)
On Monday, I'm bringing you all the fun you fans will love from the HIMYM party in the latest Watch with Kristin show—including scoop on Robin Sparkles (whee!)—but for now, let's dish a little Brit-Brit. 'Cause truth told, the castmembers are adorable and funny talking about their new costar.
Click on the video above!
HIMYM Boss Talks Spears, Confirms Chalke!
Just heard from How I Met Your Mother cocreator Craig Thomas about the casting of one Ms. Britney Spears to play receptionist/comic foil Abby on episode 14 of HIMYM this season. He says, "We're thrilled to have Britney Spears on the show. Britney is an exciting new talent, and we can't wait for the world to meet her. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to check out this 'Internet' thing everyone is talking about." Ha!
Craig was also good enough to comment on the casting of a certain Scrubs favorite, saying, "We couldn’t be happier to have Sarah Chalke joining us to play a new love interest for Ted, Dr. Stella Zinman. Not only is Sarah smart, funny and charming, but we already know she looks damn good in a lab coat."
Funny, our Ms. Chalke made it big when she stepped into the Roseanne cast to replace Alicia Goranson, and it wasn't until the role of Elliot Reid on Scrubs came along that she shed the sobriquet of "Second Becky." Lucky for her, now that she's stepped in to replace Alicia Silverstone on Mother, "Second Dr. Stella Zinman" just doesn't have the same ring to it!
Meanwhile, E! News has learned that Britney will be on the Fox lot today for more rehearsals in preparation for the taping of her HIMYM episode later this week.