EXCLUSIVE'How I Met Your Mother' Alum Charlene Amoia Dishes On 'Surprise' Recurring Role, Working With Neil Patrick Harris & More
Everyone's favorite waitress!
Charlene Amoia has graced both the big and the small screen with her broad array of work from Grey's Anatomy to The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It to DC's Birds of Prey, but she is perhaps most beloved for her recurring role as "Wendy the Waitress" on How I Met Your Mother.
It's been around eight years since she hung up her apron, but this recurring guest star calls working on the popular sitcom set a "dream job."
In an exclusive interview with OK!, Amoia dishes on playing Wendy, working with costar Neil Patrick Harris, and how every episode was a happy "surprise" to her.
Although, Wendy was a side character, she was still a fun fixture of the series whose presence gave the show a comforting continuity. Often appearing in several episodes per season, she was frequently seen serving up drinks at the gang's favorite dinner spot — MacLaren's Pub.
When asked if she had any idea that Wendy would be featured throughout most of the Emmy winning comedy series, Amoia shares she had no idea at all.
"In fact, the first episode was just one line, and then I think they called me back a couple times that season," she explains of the character that was originally intended by production to be one-and-done. "But it was always a surprise."
Over the six years on the show, Wendy not only was a familiar face in various episodes, but she also had several love interests and even a bit of character arc when it was later revealed she had married and had children at the end of the show.
"It was never written as an arc in consecutive episodes, so it was just a continual blessing throughout the six years I was on it." She adds she was also surprised and happy to see a small "Wendy the Waitress" fanbase form over time. "It was all just like a blessing. I had no idea."
As far as the mood on set went, Amoia couldn't have asked for a better workplace. "It was a dream job in that it was always a fun set to be on with really, really, really nice people," she gushes of the hit sitcom. "I think I just got lucky with that one."
Over the show's nine season run, Wendy had scenes with many of the main characters, but the one she had the most interaction with was the always-womanizing "Barney Stinson" who was expertly brought to life by Harris.
"He [Harris] is extremely professional and easy to work with," Amoia heaps praise on the former Doogie Howser, M.D. child star. "He was just super fun."
The Fear Street actress also spills that "The Platinum Rule" was her favorite episode that she filmed for the show — even though Barney breaks Wendy's heart.
"I was really glad that we got to do that," she tells OK!. "It was definitely my favorite episode to work on. Part of that is because it was just so easy to work with him."
