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Ted Mosby’s legacy may be long-lasting — but Josh Radnor would prefer fans call him by his real name.
Speaking to Modern Family alum Jesse Tyler Ferguson on the Sep. 9 episode of the Dinner’s on Me podcast, Radnor — who played Ted Mosby for nine seasons on How I Met Your Mother — said he wants his character to be “honored,” but to not necessarily supersede who he is a person.
“I don’t know how much I’m fighting this fight anymore, but it’s so clear to me that I was playing a character and I still want that to be honored,” Radnor, 51, said. “Like I’m, I’m a lot chiller with people who call me Josh than people who call me Ted.”
He continued: “You know, if you approach me just like honor, like I’m with my wife, it’s many years later…”
“This is my name. This is my dog. Like, to create like some distance. And I’m glad you like it. I’ll actually talk to you about it ’cause I like it too. But just do me the courtesy,” he added.
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The How I Met Your Mother lead served as the show’s protagonist for nine seasons from 2005 to 2014. And as fans have continued to associate Radnor with the love-struck character in the years since the CBS sitcom wrapped, he’s worked to distance himself.
Speaking to PEOPLE in a February 2025 interview, Radnor said, “In some ways, I always ran things through a bit of a How I Met Your Mother algorithm in terms of, is this far enough away from the tone of the show. I was really looking for roles that just felt really different.”
Radnor recently launched a rewatch podcast, produced by Alek Lev, titled How We Made Your Mother, that he co-hosts with series co-creator Craig Thomas.
Richard Cartwright/CBS
The podcast, he told PEOPLE back in February, allows him to “re-engage” with the character who was such a big part of his life.
“It’s tiring to run from such a big part of yourself and your career,” he explained. “I think that part of me doing this [rewatch podcast] is just to almost call a truce with it and say like, ‘All right, you’ve given me a lot. You’ve taken a lot from me. I don’t want to be at odds with you, so let’s just turn around and see.’ I think there’s something that will be psychologically healthy for me about it, to re-engage at this age.”
