'How I Met Your Father': Francia Raisa, Tom Ainsley join Hulu spinoff

Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Francia Raisa, Tom Ainsley, Tien Tran and Suraj Sharma have joined the cast of Hulu's upcoming How I Met Your Mother spinoff, titled How I Met Your Father.

Hilary Duff leads How I Met Your Father and stars as Sophie who is telling her son in the near future how she met his father. Chris Lowell stars as Jesse.

Raisa will portray Sophie's best friend and roommate Valentina, an aspiring stylist who returns from the London Fashion Week with Charlie, played by Ainsley.

Ainsley's Charlie fell in love with Valentina at London Fashion Week and followed her to New York. Charlie has been living in a rich bubble his entire life.

Tran will appear as Jesse's adopted sister, Ellen, who moves from a small farming town to New York after separating from her wife. Sharma will star as Jesse's roommate and best friend Sid.

"SUIT UP !!! I am on cloud 9!!! Thank you God!!!! This show is going to be LEGEN....wait for it... DARY," Raisa said on Twitter about the casting.

How I Met Your Father is a spinoff of CBS' How I Met Your Mother, which ran for nine seasons from 2005 to 2014. Josh Radner, Cobie Smulders, Jason Segal, Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris starred.

Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (This Is Us) created How I Met Your Father and are penning the series.

Pam Fryman, who helmed episodes of How I Met Your Mother, is directing the pilot episode and is serving as an executive producer. Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, who co-created the original series, are also serving as executive producers.