Neil Patrick Harris Turned Down Role in American Horror Story


UPDATE: After admitting he turned down a role in Season One ofAmerican Horror Story, Neil Patrick Harris will star as a chameleon salesmen inAmerican Horror Story: Freak Show alongside husband David Burtka, according to Hollywood Reporter.

The multi-talented Neil Patrick Harris opened up about a variety of subjects including his upcoming Oscars hosting gig and the controversial How I Met Your Motherfinale during a recent SiriusXM Town Hall interview withEntertainment Weekly Editor Matt Bean. But the juiciest tidbit is that Harris (and his husband, actor David Burtka) previously turned down roles in the first season ofAmerican Horror Storyfollowing cameos in the 2011 comedyA Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.

In it, he plays sort of my drug dealer, and I really am straight and weve been pretending that were gay, Harris says in the below clip. Right after that, we were asked to be in Season One of this great new show called American Horror Story. The idea was that we would be a gay couple that, as it turns out, were murdered in this house, and our ghosts are around for the thing.

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Harris says he was intrigued by the project but decided to pass because he didnt want to become stereotyped for playing the same role twice:We had just played ourselves as a couple not getting along, and I thought, It just seems weird to do that twice, as individual actors to play a couple that hate each other twice. So I said no, that we shouldnt do it.

Fingers crossed, he adds, may get to be on [the show] some day.

On Wednesday, Harris announced his upcoming Oscar hosting gig, using a clever video wherein he crosses Hosting the Oscars off his Bucket List. Now hes trying to figure out the complexities of what the job will entail.

I have a lot of questions still about that job, he says. Ive gotten to be the sort-of co-producer of the Emmys while I was hosting. And, the Tonys, since Ive hosted a number of times, Im aware of more things than just the hosting spots. . .I dont want it to be super derivative of other shows that Ive done. I dont want it to seem like Im doing the same award hosting gig that I did on the Tonys, just on a different stage.

Harris notes that he wants to keep musical elements as part of the ceremony. And when asked who his dream musical collaboration would be, he responds, Gaga? That would be fun. Adele? Pink? We could do circus things.

Elsewhere, Harris discusses his celebrity crush: I did love those Nick Jonas pics with his pants down, grabbing his stuff. My Godchanneling everyones inner Marky Mark. That was awesome. He also defends the divisiveHow I Met Your Mother Finale(which he says subverts a predictable fairy tale idea of relationships) and touches on the intimate nature of his upcoming memoir,Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography.