-Our next guest is a talented actress you know from shows
such as "Grown-ish"
and "The Secret Life of the American Teenager."
She stars in "How I Meet Your Father" with new episodes
premiering Tuesdays on Hulu. Let's take a look.
-So, what made you want to set Oscar up with Sophie?
-Oh, he's just really, really special,
and we didn't want him to go to waste.
-And setting him up with me would have been a waste?
-You told us that you didn't want us setting you up anymore.
-What, so we're listening to me now?
-And we've accepted that you're not the relationship type.
I mean, you're 30, and you've only had one serious boyfriend.
-If that.
-Wait, what?
-We have questions about this "Charlie."
-An "aristocrat" who "left his life in London" for you?
-Oh, my God.
Do you guys not think he's real?
-Of course we think he's "real."
-I showed you a picture of him.
-You showed us a picture of a person.
-Hey, guys, I'm very excited about this.
The name of the show is "How I Met Your Father,"
but it's not my fault, Wally.
"How I Meet Your Father."
[ Laughter and applause ]
I trust you, and this is what I get.
Please welcome to the show Francia Raisa.
♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Thank you so much for being here.
-Thanks for having me. You trying to meet my daddy?
-I'm so -- "How I Meet Your Father"?
How would I -- That sounded -- -Awkward.
-Very awkward. I mean, as I was reading it,
I'm like, "That can't be right."
But, you know, then it's too late.
Look, I'm a slave to the cue cards.
I have a question for you. -Go ahead.
-This is a sitcom. It is a very funny show.
You're very funny in it. But you originally thought
you were going to be a dramatic actor.
-Yeah. I started -- So, I started watching novelas
with my grandmother when I was 5 years old.
-Okay. Very dramatic. -Very dramatic.
Like, "Oh, Celia!" [ Shouts in Spanish ]
You know, very much like --
[ Shouting in Spanish ]
You know that. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ]
My favorite, though, is --
[ Shouting in Spanish ]
[ Laughter ]
Yeah. So that's what I thought my trajectory was,
and then "Grown-ish" happened, and I was like,
"I don't know how I got on this show, but here we go."
And then my manager actually said, "I see you on a sitcom."
And I said, "I can't do comedy.
Like, I don't know how I finagled my way in "Grown-ish,"
but, like, that's not going to happen."
And here we are and now I love comedy.
-Oh, well, great. And I think comedy loves you back.
This is obviously a spin-off of "How I Met Your Mother."
Was that a show you were familiar with?
-I was familiar with it.
So, when I was 21, I had a long-distance relationship.
He lived in Canada.
-So, he was imaginary?
[ Laughter ]
-You know what?
Everyone in L.A. felt like he was because I never saw him.
-Alright, alright. Well, his loss.
-His loss, exactly. I flew to Canada to go see him,
and all he wanted to do was watch "How I Met Your Mother."
I was like, "Dude, why are my clothes still on?"
[ Laughter ]
Like, "Barney, me, like, what's going on here?"
And I was so resentful towards the show.
Obviously, I fell in love with it,
so I secretly watched it when he wasn't around.
And then when I booked it, I text him.
I was like, "Guess what."
-That is a real -- That is a real payback.
Nicely done.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Now, obviously the show, this franchise has big fans.
You have people in your life, though, who are --
Obviously your family's going to watch the show
because you're in it but you have family members
who are real fans.
-Yeah, they are real fans, finally.
I mean, listen, my friends and family,
they've watched everything I've done.
Obviously "Secret Life" was huge for me,
and they were huge fans of it.
"Grown-ish," you know, I was 29 playing 21, and all my friends
were in their 30s like, "Yeah, it's a cute show."
And I said, "Thanks."
And now, they're actually texting me, and they're excited,
and they're like, "Oh, my gosh. I love it. You're so good."
I'm like, "Yeah. Thank you."
Even people from high school that were like,
"You'll never be an actress," are texting me like,
"You're so good in it.
I appreciate and love you so much."
I was like, "Yeah, same."
[ Laughter ] "Thanks."
-Do you have the kind of family
that gives you feedback on your performances?
-You know what?
They more so give me feedback on my interviews.
So I'm wondering how they're going to feel after this.
-Oh, interesting. -Yeah.
-And what is it about the interviews
that they give you feedback on?
Is it about how you talk about them?
-Most of the time it's how I talk about my mother
because I'll, you know, share stories about my mother and,
like, some of the Latin abuse that happens.
Y'all know what I'm talking about.
-Gotcha. -You know?
-So you haven't really spoken much about her
in the body of this interview.
Is there anything you want to say, either pro or con?
-I'm sure she's already texting me,
"[Speaks Spanish] Don't talk about me like that."
-Even before you talk about her, she's already, like, texting?
-Probably. My phone's probably blowing up right now.
My friend has it. I'm not even gonna look.
-And now, do you let them know when you're going to be
on a talk show, or do you try to hide it from them?
-I'm on Google Alerts for them. -Oh, no.
-They know things before I even know things.
The amount of messages I get, like,
"Oh, my gosh, you did this."
I'm like, "That just happened five minutes ago.
How do you know this already?"
-Well, it's very sweet. I mean, I think you'd rather
have a family that's engaged like that
and has the Google alert.
-Yeah, it's fun until, you know,
they're like, "Oh, you shouldn't have worn that.
Don't blink like that. Why is your hair like that?
Maybe next time say this.
You should have said this joke instead.
And half the time I'm like, "Damn it, you're right."
-Yeah.
I feel like -- I'm saying this with all genuineness.
I think your blinking's been great.
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah, it's the aristocrat.
[ Laughter ]
-Hey, congratulations on the show.
-Thank you. -It is so lovely to have you out there.
I think it's going to be no notes from your family.
I think this went absolutely fantastic.
-Oh, no. My mom will find something.
She's a Mexican woman.
She'll find something to say, like, "Did you work out before?"
"No, I didn't." -Okay.
-"I didn't wake up. There was snow."
-Let her know that we're always open to feedback here.
Thank you so much for being here.
-Thank you. By the way, I owe you food.
-Oh, yes. -I always make salsa,
and I didn't bring you any because I don't live here.
-I would have loved salsa after those leeks. Next time.
-Yeah. I don't know what you were eating.
-I apologize. I apologize. -It didn't look pleasant,
but next time, I will bring you salsa and, you know,
it's my personal recipe. -Alright.
-We're working on that. But yes. -I'm looking forward to that.
You guys, Francia Raisa, everybody.
New episodes of "How I Met Your Father"
premiere Tuesdays on Hulu. We'll be right back.