NEW DELHI: "How I Met Your Father" star Hilary Duff does not believe in the concept of one true love as the actor doubts that there is only "one person for everyone".
Duff, who sat down for a virtual interview with PTI with co-stars Chris Lowell and Tien Tran, is happy to be returning for a second season of the sitcom.
"I do not believe that there is only one person for everyone. I think that love can exist with many different people, many different times throughout your lifetime. And it will be just as authentic," the 35-year-old actor said.
The show follows the stories of Sophie (Duff) and her group of friends in the midst of figuring out who they are, what they want out of life and how to fall in love in the age of dating apps and limitless options in Manhattan, New York.
It is the spin-off of classic comedy series "How I Met Your Mother" that run from 2005 to 2014.
For Lowell, who plays Jesse, timing plays an important part in finding love. "To me, the thing that is the biggest factor, as I got older, is timing. I think when you meet someone is so imperative to how it goes. I just can't believe how much that plays a part," he said.
Tran agreed and said there is something special when two people decide to share their lives with each other. "I always joke around with my wife and say, 'do you believe in soulmates?' And she's like, 'no, there's probably like a thousand people out there that I could be with but I chose you'. We chose each other. And that is what makes it special. And you have to choose that person every day," the actor-comedian, who essays the character of Ellen, said.
Duff added, "And then you keep making decisions and choices that get you closer together. And then that bonding is like no other relationship that you'll ever have."
The second season, which currently streams on Disney+ Hotstar, sees Sophie still figuring out her love life and navigating the 30s with her friends, which also includes Valentina (Francia Raisa), Charlie (Tom Ainsley) and Sid (Suraj Sharma).
Duff said the team felt confident after the season two pickup for the show.
"The confidence of the pickup (for season two), it really just made us go 'Woo. Okay. We got through that hard hump of figuring out what this looked like and who we are here. And then like, bang, we're back and we're back like with a double order and we just got to sit, be confident and comfortable. And that made this season levelled up," the actor added.
Lowell said even the writers capitalised on the learnings of season one and used that to make the sophomore chapter better. "With season one, it was the first time all of us were getting to know each other. We were learning our own rhythms and how we worked together. And the writers were also doing all of this work trying to learn how best to write for us, our different cadences, what we do that's funny, what works and what doesn't. And I think they really took advantage of that in the second season of really knowing that it's hysterical when I cry. I cry so many times this season. They find all these (moments) and really know what we can do well and how to make us the funniest versions of ourselves. And I think that has been just really fun to explore," the 38-year-old actor said.
For Tran, returning for season two was nothing short of homecoming. "We got to come back and our cast was the same. Most of our crew had come back too. So we just got to get dropped into almost like our own home and to see all the familiar faces again that made us feel safe and feel comfortable. It only helped us level up. And I trust these two (Duff and Lowell) with my life. I feel so comfortable coming to work every day because it just felt like coming back home," she said.
One of the highlights of season one was the guest appearance of Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky from the original series.
And now with season two, the team took it a notch above with the appearance of yet another favourite from the original series -- Neil Patrick Harris as the iconic Barney Stinson.
Having Harris on board for a cameo was nothing short of exciting, said Duff.
"First of all, it's Neil Patrick Harris. He is such a star and he's so charismatic. He opens his mouth and you're just like, 'Oh yeah, you're you'. I felt really little and small. It was just exciting," she said.
And to share screen space with Harris was a big moment for Duff, she added.
"I don't know if I can really put it into words except for just that I'm a big fan of his and getting to have that experience, I mean, we had like four pages of dialogue between us, it was a very big moment in the show. We also were playing people who never met before but it was very funny. And he nails it, he is just good. He's a talented guy and very handsome," Duff said.
"How I Met Your Father" is created by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, previously worked as co-showrunners on "This Is Us" and creators of "Love, Victor".