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Neil Patrick Harris — news, coverage & facts — IJR

2004–2014

In 2004, he performed the dual roles of the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald on Broadway in the revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Assassins. In 2004, Harris played a fictionalized, hyper-womanizing, lewd version of himself in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, a stoner comedy film in the Harold & Kumar series. He would go on to reprise the role in the sequels Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008) and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011). In 2005, Harris portrayed Jon in the London premiere of Tick, Tick... Boom! at the Menier Chocolate Factory. He was replaced by Christian Campbell in July of that same year.

From 2005 to 2014, Harris played Barney Stinson, a serial womanizer, in the CBS ensemble sitcom How I Met Your Mother. The role earned him Emmy nominations every year from 2007 to 2010. In 2007, he worked with Mike Nelson on a comedic audio commentary set to the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory for RiffTrax. In 2008, Harris played the title role in Joss Whedon's musical web series Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. That same year, he guest-starred on Sesame Street as the Sesame Street Fairy Shoe Person. In 2009, he hosted the 7th Annual TV Land Awards and appeared as a guest judge on season 9 of American Idol. Harris provided the voice of Steve the Monkey in the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs film franchise (2009–2013). After a preview at San Diego Comic-Con, a musical episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold featuring Harris as the villainous Music Meister premiered on October 23, 2009, on Cartoon Network. He has also provided his voice for the Disney California Adventure Park attraction California Screamin'.

Harris hosted the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards on September 20, 2009. On August 21, 2010, he won two Emmy Awards at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony, one of which was for his guest performance in the television series Glee. Harris hosted the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 22, 2013, marking his second time hosting the event. Harris has hosted the Tony Awards four times: the 63rd Tony Awards on June 7, 2009, the 65th Tony Awards on June 12, 2011, the 66th Tony Awards on June 10, 2012, and the 67th Tony Awards on June 9, 2013. Only Dame Angela Lansbury, with five ceremonies, has hosted the Tony Awards more times. Hosting the Tony Awards has earned him four Primetime Emmy Awards in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 for the 63rd, 65th, 66th and 67th, respectively.

Harris appeared in the 2010 Time 100 list of influential people. That year, Harris directed a Hollywood Bowl production of Rent; he cast his Beastly co-star Vanessa Hudgens as Mimi Márquez. Also in 2010, Harris provided voice acting for the role of the adult Dick Grayson (Nightwing) in the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood and the beagle Lou in the film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. On March 7, 2010, he delivered a musical number appearance at the 82nd Academy Awards. He played the lead in the indie comedy The Best and the Brightest. In December 2010, Harris hosted the Spike Video Game Awards. In 2011, Harris played the lead role of Bobby in Stephen Sondheim's Company with the New York Philharmonic in concert. That same year, he directed The Expert at the Card Table at Broad Stage's Edye in Santa Monica, California. He also starred in the 2011 film The Smurfs and its 2013 sequel The Smurfs 2. On Sept. 15, 2011, Harris received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Harris portrayed the titular role in the first Broadway production of the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch from March through August 2014. He received acclaim for the role, with Variety declaring, "It's astonishing how polished a physical performance Harris gives. Channeling his inner Rockette, along with Iggy Pop and Lou Reed by way of the Ramones, he carries off some advanced dance and acrobatic moves". The role earned Harris the 2014 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He exited the role on August 17, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. Later in 2014, Harris portrayed Desi Collings in Gone Girl, a film directed by David Fincher.

In 2014, Harris reportedly turned down the chance to replace David Letterman as host of the Late Show on CBS, stating that he feared he would get bored of the repetition that hosting a nightly talk show would entail. He also rejected the suggestion of replacing Craig Ferguson as host of The Late Late Show on the same grounds, although he later claimed he was never actually offered either job. In October 2014, Harris released a memoir titled Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography, which is structured like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. His autobiography spent two weeks on The New York Times Best Seller List.

2015–present

On February 22, 2015, he hosted the 87th Academy Awards. On September 15, 2015, Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris, a variety series hosted and executive produced by Harris, premiered live on NBC and ran for eight episodes. He declined to appear in the fifth season of American Horror Story after appearing in the fourth in a guest role due to scheduling conflicts with Best Time Ever. On January 15, 2016, Harris was cast as Count Olaf in the television adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events. It ran for 3 seasons and 25 episodes on the streaming service Netflix before ending on January 1, 2019. On March 31, 2017, NBC picked up the game show Genius Junior with Harris as host and executive producer. The format would test teams of children, aged 12 and under, in various subjects including spelling, mathematics, and memory. The series received a 10-episode order and debuted on March 18, 2018. His debut young adult novel, The Magic Misfits, was released in November 2017 and is the first in a four-book series.

In October 2020, Harris released a single-player board game named Box One, produced by Theory11. As of February 2021, it is available exclusively through Target. Harris has been a frequent guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World. In January 2021, Harris starred in the British drama series It's a Sin, broadcast on Channel 4 and HBO Max, depicting the 1980s HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United Kingdom. In June 2021, he was announced to be a judge on Australia's Got Talent: Challengers & Champions, a spin-off series of Australia's Got Talent. Harris appeared in The Matrix Resurrections, the fourth installment of the Matrix franchise, released in December 2021.

In 2022, he joined the Encores! presentation of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods as The Baker; the limited production ran at the New York City Center from May 4 to 15. Harris also starred in the 2022 Netflix series Uncoupled as gay Manhattanite Michael Lawson, a realtor re-navigating the dating scene after 17 years. He also portrayed Francis Beaumont in Peter Pan Goes Wrong for a limited engagement from April 11 to May 7, 2023. In December 2023, Harris guest starred as the Toymaker in the third and final special, "The Giggle", of the 60th anniversary specials of Doctor Who. On August 15, 2026, Harris hosted Horizons: A Carousel of Progress at Disney's D23 annual convention.

Personal life

From 1997 to 1998, Harris dated actress Christine Taylor. In a 2008 appearance on The Howard Stern Show, he discussed how the relationship made him realize his true sexuality: "She's the coolest, nicest chick ever. She's an absolute catch, and I thought, 'If I'm not going to feel the super sparks with her... it probably means I'm gay.'" Harris publicly came out as gay in November 2006, saying, "I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love." In 2019, he led the Tel Aviv Pride parade.

Harris has been in a relationship with actor and chef David Burtka since April 2004. In October 2010, they became parents to twins, son Gideon and daughter Harper, born via a surrogate mother. Following the passage of the Marriage Equality Act in New York on June 24, 2011, Harris and Burtka announced their engagement via Twitter, stating that they had proposed to each other five years earlier but kept the engagement secret until same-sex marriage became legal. Harris and Burtka married in Italy in September 2014. Pamela Fryman, the long-time director of How I Met Your Mother, officiated the wedding while Elton John performed at the reception. In 2013, the couple bought a townhouse in Harlem, which they sold in 2022 for $6.99 million.

Harris is a fan of magic, including card magic. His characters in How I Met Your Mother, American Horror Story: Freak Show, and Glee also use magic. Harris won the Tannen's Magic Louis Award in 2006 and hosted the 2008 World Magic Awards on October 11, 2008. He previously served as the president of the board of directors of Hollywood's Magic Castle, from 2011 to 2014. Additionally, Harris and Burtka were guests of honor for "Magic Chefs", a season 1 episode of Top Chef Masters, that took place at the Magic Castle. He also collaborated with the French-Swedish sportswear brand Ron Dorff on a fashion collection launched in September 2022. Fifteen percent of all proceeds were donated to World Central Kitchen.

In May 2022, it resurfaced on Twitter that Harris had hosted a Halloween party in October 2011 in which he served guests a meat platter designed to resemble the corpse of Amy Winehouse. He apologized later that month.