TV Tattler: Celebrity Interviews
Neil Patrick Harris' New Comedic Role Suits Him
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Theater flexes your acting muscles in a way a show can't. When you have a camera crew and writers, you don't have to be spot on all the time because there's multiple takes and there's a lot of editing that can be done to benefit a performance. When you're live on stage, it's just you there and them watching, so you have to raise your game in a practical matter. I'm doing Arthur Miller right now and it's the complete opposite of Barney in 'How I Met Your Mother' as far as an actor is concerned, so it's nice to make sure the box I'm getting labeled in doesn’t look like a square.
That's a good way to put it. Have a little variety in your life.
Exactly. Plate spinning. Sword swallowing.
And ropes courses.
(Laughs.) And rope courses. Now if I could find a rope course, I'd be thrilled! Never done it, really.
What do you tell your friends about 'How I Met Your Mother' to get them interested in the show?
It plays like a sitcom with multi-cameras and it plays like 'Everybody Loves Raymond,' but it doesn't play out in a linear way. The whole thing is a big story that the older Ted in the future is telling his kids about relationships and what it all meant. So we're allowed to jump back and forth between 12 hours ago and 12 hours since, and two hours later, and back and forth.
Is that what drew you to it? That it’s not like your standard sitcom?
Yeah, I think people are getting frequently bored with the situation comedy format where something happens in the first act and you have to deal with the repercussions in the second, and deal with the conclusion in the third and make jokes in between, but this sort of allows for different layering. In the episode, "The Pineapple Incident," the story kept overlapping and you'd think the story had ended, and you'd reveal another plot point and go back and see it all again, and was it new knowledge. Then you'd reveal another plot point, and you'd go back. So I think that’s enjoyable to watch. It's certainly enjoyable to create. I just hope the network will start advertising our show again! Howie Mandel and his crateful of Samsonite luggage are really taking a toll on us!
If you could go back in time at any point in your life and give yourself advice, what age would that be and what would that advice be?
I’d probably go back and tell myself around the age of 16 or 17, no, maybe even older. I’d go back to my 20-something self and convince me it's not incredibly important what others think of you. You just have to do your own thing. It's hard to be in the public eye when you're deciding who you wanted to be. I was very aware of trying to make sure everyone was pleased, and living your life that way is difficult. I think you can be selfless and still be a good person, but I think you need to be an individual and not quite care about making sure that everyone else is happy.
What are some of your current favorite TV shows?
Great question. I love competition reality shows -- not the romance ones, but 'Survivor,' 'Amazing Race,' 'Top Chef' and 'Project Runway.' All of those kinds of shows I can’t get enough of.
What about all-time?
My all time favorite shows, I loved 'Three’s Company,' big fan of 'The Carol Burnett Show.' I like really old school variety art stuff like 'Ed Sullivan.' I love 'Letterman.' '24' is a great show. Oh you know what I'm watching now, this show, I don’t know if it's going to be a hit or not, it's called 'Lost.'
That little show about some people on an island?
Yes. I hope people start watching it. I bought a video iPod and I’m watching season two now episode-by-episode on my iPod, which is an absolute technological thrill. It’s the coolest thing ever because there’s no commercials, and you can be anywhere, you know, at the gym or a restaurant if you’re eating by yourself or what not. Before my play, 'All My Sons,' I’ll just sit there and watch 'Lost.' It’s great.
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