New Star Joins ‘How I Met Your Father’ Opposite Hilary Duff

We all thought that Hilary Duff of Disney’s Lizzie McGuire was going to be the ultimate children’s show superstar of Hulu’s upcoming How I Met Your Mother reboot, How I Met Your Father.

It was announced on April 21 that Duff had landed the lead role of “Sophie” in the series that will hopefully begin production soon.

Hulu Adds Another Star

But now, Hulu is stepping up their game by having yet another former child actor join the cast, which in addition to Duff, currently includes:

• Chris Lowell as “Jesse,” an aspiring musician and current Uber driver
• Francia Raisa as “Valentina,” an aspiring stylist and Sophie’s roommate and friend
• Tom Ainsley as “Charlie,” an aspiring model and rich kid who falls in love with Valentina at London Fashion Week, following her back to New York
• Tien Tran as “Ellen,” Jesse’s adopted sister who just left her wife and her small farming town to come to New York
•  Suraj Sharma as “Sid,” a new bar owner and an optimistic friend to Jesse

That actor is none other than Josh Peck, who played a lead role in Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh from 2004-2007. Duff and Peck together are a dream team for millennials who grew up with these two on our screens.

This is likely part of a move to draw bigger audiences into the new show. Josh Peck has millions of followers across all social media platforms, and he can likely attract a lot of new viewers to Hulu with that kind of star power.

Read on to find out more about Hulu’s latest move to bring Josh Peck to HIMYF.

Who Will Josh Peck Play in ‘HIMYF’?’

Peck is set to play “Drew” in the new series. Drew is the vice principal at the school that Sophie’s friend Jesse works at. The role is reportedly a recurring one, so we can likely expect a lot of comedic relief when we see Peck show up in an episode. The 34-year-old has been acting since he was a kid, but he’s pivoted into a much more comedic lane after gaining popularity on the video app, Vine.

Peck is no stranger to reboots, which is probably another reason Hulu tapped him for the role of Vice Principal Drew. Peck is currently the star of Turner & Hooch on Disney+, a series that was inspired by the 1989 film starring Tom Hanks.

Turner & Hooch has received mixed reviews from critics, with the main complaint being that the show is too cheesy and bland. For the most part, though, it’s undeniably likeable. Peck brings a distinct charm to the characters he embodies, and playing Vice Principal Drew might allow him to flex his comedic acting chops in a more mature capacity than the premise of Hooch allows for.

Now that Josh Peck has joined the cast of HIMYF, I do wonder if they will bring on any other big names to round out the group. The producers are obviously still looking for the right mix of characters that can effectively turn this spin-off into its own respected project, so who knows what lies ahead for this production?