Jennifer Lopez Did ‘How I Met Your Mother’ to Remind Her Fans She Still Did Comedy
Jennifer Lopez once surprised fans when she made an appearance on Neil Patrick Harris’ hit show How I Met Your Mother. In an interview, she shared how she came about doing the show in the first place.
Jennifer Lopez did the hit sitcom because of ‘The Back-Up Plan’
In the 2010s, fans saw Lopez step out of her comfort zone a bit. She’d taken a long break from the film industry to focus on raising her kids. But once her hiatus ended, Lopez decided to experiment with her career. Instead of starring solely in movies, Lopez became a host for American Idol. She enjoyed her time on the series so much that she stayed on for several seasons. Other than that, she also made a cameo appearance in another hit show by the name of How I Met Your Mother. Her special guest appearance was in the season 5 episode “Of Course,” where Lopez played the author Anita Appleby. Her character would teach Harris’ famous Barney Stinson how to properly treat women.
But her appearance on the show all started with The Back-Up Plan. Known for her romcoms, the 2010 feature was a return to form for Lopez. It was the exact type of project she figured her fans expected from her.
“Yeah, I thought it was the type of thing that my fans would want to see me in. You know, after taking my maternity leave for a little while from doing films. It was nice. It was nice to get back and do that. And I was really pleased, when I saw the film for the first time, at how funny it was,” Lopez said in an interview with Beyond Beautiful J.Lo.
However, The Back-Up Plan would also ironically lead her to doing a project that very few expected her to star in.
“You know, [The Back-up Plan] is for CBS films. Obviously, [How I Met Your Mother] is a CBS show, and [CBS said], ‘you know what? You should go on and do little a piece on our #1 show, How I Met Your Mother, you should do that. Your fans would love to see it, remind them that you do comedy,’ and stuff like that and it was a lot of fun,” she said.
Neil Patrick Harris considered Jennifer Lopez his hottest date in ‘How I Met Your Mother’
Everyone seemed thrilled at the prospect of Lopez doing the show. Each of the series’ celebrity guest stars brought something unique to the program, and Lopez wouldn’t be any different. Series creator Carter Bays joked about what fans could expect from Lopez’s cameo.
“We couldn’t be more excited about Jennifer Lopez joining us on How I Met Your Mother. We’re looking forward to a week of revealing outfits and sexy dance moves the likes of which this show hasn’t seen since Regis Philbin guest starred,” Bays told Access at the time.
Perhaps no one had a better time working with Lopez than Harris, who the singer spent the most time on-screen with. Harris had many escapades with dates on the show. But he ranked Lopez as one of his favorite love interests.
“You know who I think was super hot? Jennifer Lopez. She glows as if she’s possessed by some sort of heavenly demon,” Harris quipped on The Skimm.
Likewise, Lopez enjoyed working alongside Harris, as they share a lot of similarities.
“I loved working with Neil and the director over there was awesome. I mean, the whole cast is great, but a lot of my scenes were with Neal and he’s just kind of an all around performer as well, and we just had a good time. He’s a cool guy,” she said.
