Francia Raisa says Hilary Duff's involvement in 'How I Met Your Father' made her want to be a part of it: 'Everything she touches turns to gold'

• Actress Francia Raisa spoke to Insider about her role as Valentina on "How I Met Your Father."
• Raisa said that Hilary Duff's involvement in the Hulu series made her want to be a part of it.

"How I Met Your Father" star Francia Raisa said that Hilary Duff's involvement in the new series made her want to be a part of it.

"I heard Hilary Duff was a part of it and I was like, 'OK, well everything she touches turns to gold so let's see this," Raisa, who stars as Duff's on-screen best friend and roommate Valentina, told Insider.

Raisa, known for roles on shows like "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and "Grown-ish," said that she was a fan of the original series "How I Met Your Father," which ran for nine seasons on CBS between 2005 and 2014.

"HIMYF," which premiered on Hulu on Tuesday, takes inspiration from its predecessor and centers on Duff's Sophie, an optimistic woman in her 30s looking for love in New York City.

She navigates the dating scene with Valentina and a bunch of new friends: a part-time music teacher and Uber driver named Jesse (Chris Lowell), a bar owner and Jesse's best friend named Sid (Suraj Sharma), Jesse's newly-divorced sister Ellen (Tien Tran), and Valentina's British love interest Charlie (Tom Ainsley).

In flash-forward scenes set in the year 2050, future Sophie (played by "Sex and the City" alum Kim Cattrall) tells her son the unabridged story of how she met his father.

The actress said that Valentina, who's an assistant stylist, was originally named Kate. When she first got the sides for the character, the part instantly clicked with her.

"I read it and I went, 'Oh my gosh, I have to play her. I see her so clearly,'" Raisa recalled.

Raisa said that it's "so much fun" working with Duff, whose experience in TV dates back to her days as the titular character of Disney Channel's hit 2000s sitcom "Lizzie McGuire."

"She gives me so much to work with," Raisa said. "It's very collaborative. We're constantly going over lines and ideas together. And it helps that we do get along, all of us do, and we have this friendship and we have this passion for this series and for our characters."

"We have the best time," she added. "We've gotten really close. I'm very, very fortunate to be in the position that I'm in."

Showrunners, writers, and executive producers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger told Insider that they wrote the script for "HIMYF" a couple of years ago but put it on the backburner when they joined NBC's "This Is Us" as executive producers.

Upon the announcement that "This Is Us" would return for a sixth and final season in 2022, Aptaker and Berger revisited "HIMYF." Coincidentally, Duff had also wrapped up the show "Younger" and with the "Lizzie McGuire" revival being scrapped at Disney+, she had availability.

Prior to meeting with Duff, the showrunners were already familiar with the star's work and knew "that she would be perfect for it," Berger said.

"She's incredibly smart," Aptaker said of Duff, who serves as a producer. "She's someone who's grown up on sets, so it's in her blood."

"We met her and we were doubly convinced that she would be perfect for it because she just has that infectious energy where you root for her and even if she's messy and behaves a little badly, you can't help but be on her side and you just want her to get back up and get back out there and keep trying," Berger said.

The first two episodes of "How I Met Your Father" are now available on Hulu. The remaining eight episodes are being released weekly.