Neil Patrick Harris

Harris at The Smurfs 2 premiere in 2013

Harris began his career as a child actor and was discovered by playwright Mark Medoff at a drama camp in Las Cruces, New Mexico.[12] Medoff later cast him in the 1988 drama film Clara's Heart, starring Whoopi Goldberg and based on the novel of the same name by Joseph Olshan. Clara's Heart earned Harris a Golden Globe nomination. The same year, he starred in Purple People Eater, a children's fantasy.

Harris's first film role as an adult was 1995's Animal Room, although he portrayed a teenager. His subsequent film work has included supporting roles in The Next Best Thing, Undercover Brother, and Starship Troopers. In 2004, Harris played a fictionalized, hyper-womanising, lewd version of himself in the Harold and Kumar stoner comedy films Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. It was the shift from roles associated with his sanitized "Doogie Howser" character to the more unscrupulous and bawdy part in the Harold & Kumar franchise that liberated Harris and revitalized his acting career, leading to his now-iconic role of Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother the following year.[13] He would go on to reprise this role in the sequels: Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.

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. The same year, he played the lead in the indie comedy The Best and the Brightest.[14] On March 7, 2010, he made a surprise appearance at the 82nd Academy Awards, delivering the opening musical number. He starred in the films The Smurfs (2011) and The Smurfs 2 (2013). Harris provided the voice of Steve the Monkey in the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs film franchise.

In 2014, Harris showed a more serious side in Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher. Harris co-starred in the film as Desi Collings, the wealthy and obsessed ex-boyfriend of Amy Dunne, played by Rosamund Pike. Harris has said: "I was pinching myself at the opportunity" to work with Fincher. He received general praise from critics for his performance, as did the film.[15]

On February 22, 2015, Harris hosted the 87th Academy Awards; it was his first time hosting the ceremony, and the first time an openly gay man hosted the Academy Awards.[3][16]

In October 2019, it was announced Harris would star in the fourth installment of the Matrix franchise.[17]

Harris at BookCon in 2019

Harris has worked on Broadway in both musical and dramatic roles. He played Tobias Ragg in the 2001 concert performances of Sweeney Todd. In 2002, he performed beside Anne Heche in Proof. In 2003, he took the role of the Emcee in Cabaret alongside Deborah Gibson and Tom Bosley. As a result of his critically acclaimed performance in Cabaret, Harris was named the top-drawing headliner in the role of the Emcee by GuestStarCasting.com, outranking fellow celebrity stars John Stamos and Alan Cumming.[18] In 2004, he performed the dual role of the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald on Broadway in the revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Assassins. He also sang the role of Charles (initially played by Anthony Perkins in a 1966 ABC telecast) on the Nonesuch recording of Sondheim's Evening Primrose and portrayed Mark Cohen in the 1997 touring company of the musical Rent, a role he satirized on the January 10, 2009 episode of Saturday Night Live, which he hosted.

In 2010, Harris directed a production of the rock musical Rent at the Hollywood Bowl; he cast his Beastly co-star Vanessa Hudgens as Mimi.[19] In 2011, Harris played the lead role of Bobby in Stephen Sondheim's Company with the New York Philharmonic in concert, opposite Patti LuPone and others.[20] That same year, he directed The Expert at the Card Table at Broad Stage's Edye in Santa Monica, California.[21]

Harris has hosted the Tony Awards four times: the 63rd Tony Awards on June 7, 2009,[22] 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.[23] 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.[24]

A week after hosting the Tonys, it was announced that Harris would portray the titular role in the first Broadway production of the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which he did from March through August 2014.[25][26] Harris went on to win the 2014 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.[27]

In 2022, he joined the New York City Center Encores! presentation of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods as The Baker opposite Sara Bareilles as The Baker's Wife. The cast also included Heather Hedley, Gavin Creel, and Denée Benton The limited production ran from May 4 to May 15.[28]

Beginning in 1989, Harris played the title role of a child prodigy doctor in Doogie Howser, M.D., for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe. After the show's four-season run ended in 1993, Harris played a number of guest roles on television series, including Murder, She Wrote. From 1999 to 2000, he starred with Tony Shalhoub in the NBC sitcom Stark Raving Mad, which lasted 22 episodes. He has played lead roles in a number of made-for-television features including Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story in 1994, My Ántonia in 1995, The Christmas Wish in 1998, Joan of Arc in 1999, The Wedding Dress in 2001, and The Christmas Blessing in 2005.

Cobie Smulders and Harris at ComicCon for How I Met Your Mother in 2013

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 2008, Harris guest-starred on Sesame Street as the Sesame Street Fairy Shoe Person.[29][30][31] In 2009, he hosted the 7th Annual TV Land Awards and appeared as a guest judge on Season 9 of American Idol.[32] 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.[33] Harris hosted the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 22, 2013, marking his second time hosting the event.[24][34][35]

After a preview at the 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. As a character who could make anyone do his bidding by singing, he spent most of the episode singing several original songs.[36] In 2010, Harris filmed a pilot episode for an American adaptation of the British game show The Cube as host, though it was not picked up to series.[37]

In 2014, Harris 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,[38] although he claims he was never actually offered either job.[39]

On September 15, 2015, Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris, a live variety series hosted by Harris on NBC, made its debut but was cancelled after an eight-episode run.[40]

On January 15, 2016, Netflix cast Harris in the television adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events, in which he stars as Count Olaf.[41] It ran for 3 seasons and 25 episodes before ending on January 1, 2019.

On March 31, 2017, NBC picked up Harris's game show titled Genius Junior, the format would test the smarts of the most brilliant children in the country. Harris would serve as host and executive producer. The series received a 10-episode order and debuted on March 18, 2018.[42]

In January 2021, Harris starred in the British drama series, It's a Sin, broadcast on Channel 4, depicting the 1980s HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United Kingdom. In June 2021, Harris was announced to be a judge on Australia's Got Talent: Challengers & Champions, a spin-off series of Australia's Got Talent.[43][44]

In June 2022, it was announced that Harris would play a villain for the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who.[45] In July 2022, Harris starred in the Netflix series Uncoupled as gay Manhattanite Michael Lawson, a realtor re-navigating the dating scene after 17 years.

In 2007, Harris worked with Mike Nelson on an audio commentary for RiffTrax. The two "riffed" on the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Harris is a big fan of the cult TV series Nelson worked on, Mystery Science Theater 3000. Harris was interviewed for a 1992 Comedy Central special This Is MST3K hosted by Penn Jillette about the series and its fans.[46] In 2008, Harris played the title role in Joss Whedon's musical web series Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog alongside Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. The first episode of the series debuted on July 15, 2008.[47] He has also provided his voice for the Disney California Adventure Park attraction California Screamin'.[48]

On December 11, 2010, Harris hosted the Spike Video Game Awards.[49]

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.[50] His debut young adult novel, The Magic Misfits, was released in November 2017 and is the first in a four-book series of the same name.[51][52][53]

In October 2020, Harris released a single-player board game named Box One,[54] produced by luxury playing card company Theory11. It is currently available exclusively through Target.