Neil Patrick Harris famous quotes

Tonight we celebrate Hollywood's best and whitest, sorry... brightest.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Sorry #Tonight #Oscars

Before babies, I worked very hard to make sure I understood my surroundings and figured out where I fit in the world, whether it was at work or whether it was in a social situation. And with kids, you just can't. The rule is you can't really do that because they dictate and they change so much so you just have to go with the flow more and be present and not have big expectations and be amused all the time.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Baby #Kids #Expectations

The subject of Citizenfour, Edward Snowden, could not be here for some treason.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Oscars #Treason #Snowden

I've been very fortunate to go from interesting chapter to interesting chapter. I've always enjoyed the process and always enjoyed working more really than the end result of what it achieves. I'm more interested in doing the work.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Interesting #Achieve #Process

I have more artistic control in a smaller show. But it doesn't really matter. Sometimes you can have the smallest role in the smallest production and still make a big impact.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Impact #Roles #Matter

I love technology. I buy all of the stuff when they come out first.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Technology #Firsts #Stuff

Rather than ignore those who choose to publish their opinions without actually talking to me, 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.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Gay #Men #Talking

I don't care about my "impact" - I only care about the theater as an art form and criticism as an act of writing.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Art #Writing #Impact

My favorite time to dance is at, like, wedding receptions, when it's all ages and everyone seems to be having fun.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Fun #Age #My Favorite

I don't feel ignored. But I'd rather engage readers than dictate my opinion to them. Opinion is so...subjective!
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Ignored #Opinion #Feels

Parents need to be more accepting of who their kids are and less concerned about what society thinks they need to be.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Kids #Thinking #Parent

I often teach a graduate theater seminar on Greek tragedy in performance. I usually begin by saying that no matter what technological advances occur, the wisdom of these plays will never be obsolete.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Play #Greek #Tragedy

It's good to have a lot of once-in-a-lifetimes in your lifetime. If you get the chance to skydive, go skydiving. If you're offered a part in a weird Shakespeare play in San Diego, slap on some tights and rock out some iambic pentameter.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Play #Rocks #San Diego

Theater for me is about enduring human truth. Special effects can be part of that, but when they obscure what is the reason we come to theater - to see reflections of our confounded humanity - the theater has lost its way.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Reflection #Humanity #Special

I love the American musical for the simplicity of emotion that gets expressed.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Simplicity #Musical #Emotion

I think, in life, being nervous about something that's forthcoming is very helpful, whether it's an awards show or a family gathering or a job interview. If you're too calm and confident, then I think you aren't executing to the best of your ability. So I try not to let nerves get the best of me, but I welcome them because it tends to fuel me to try harder.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Jobs #Thinking #Awards

I think when dance is mediocre, it's painful. But when dance is really impressive, it destroys.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Thinking #Painful #Mediocre

I'm a big proponent of monogamous relationships regardless of sexuality, and I'm proud of how the nation is steering toward that.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Proud #Sexuality #Bigs

I like to make decisions based on things I'm interested in doing, not what seems like the next move in my quote-unquote career.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Moving #Careers #Decision

I loved Rent when I first heard it, but it grew on me and so did Tick, Tick... Boom. Some songs are more interesting than others and sometimes the ones that never stood out at first end up being the best to perform.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Song #Interesting #Firsts

I don't know, on a sitcom, and in theatre especially, you have to really be listening to an audience. And if you're losing them, you can hear the sniffs, and the playbills shuffling and whatnot.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Listening #Theatre #Losing

I collect puppet stuff. I have a puppet workshop in my garage. I was looking for any opportunity to be able to get very creatively involved in that world.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Opportunity #World #Puppets

If I wrote a musical it wouldn't be about me. Although I do some magic, so it would probably be about a magician who appeared and re-appeared all over the place.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Magic #Musical #Magician

I'm probably my biggest critic. I worry that if you spend any quality time reveling in good things then karma will slap you upside the head, so I try to stay as even keel as I'm able.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Karma #Worry #Trying

Mr. Steven Bochco is a very wise man. After a many-monthed nationwide search to find a precocious teenage doctor, he hired me.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Wise #Teenage #Men

I pride myself in being able to straddle demographics, and if that was said as Barney Stinson, it would mean a little different thing.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Mean #Pride #Littles

It's nice to establish yourself as an actor first and a singer second. Proof is such a tremendous piece of work, and I'm incredibly lucky to be a part of it. I'm sure that the musicals will happen in the future, though.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Nice #Actors #Pieces

You can't just put gay in a little gay box anymore.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Gay #Littles #Boxes

Benedict Cumberbatch is not only the best name in show business, it's also the response you get when you ask John Travolta to pronounce Ben Affleck.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Names #Oscars #Show Business

[Before introducing the nominees for best animated film] If you're at the awards party with the guys who made the Lego Movie, now would be a good time to distract them.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Party #Awards #Guy

Oh sure, now you like him [after the audience applaud David Oyelowo].
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Oscars #Audience

He's easily the most well-adjusted former child star in the room, please welcome... Jason Bateman
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Stars #Children #Jason

This next presenter is so lovely you could eat her up with a spoon
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Lovely #Oscars #Next

American Sniper focuses on a soldier with 160 kills, or as Harvey Weinstein calls it, a slow morning
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Morning #Soldier #Snipers

It PASSED! Marriage equality in NY!! Yes!! Progress!! Thank you everyone who worked so hard on this!! A historic night!
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Night #Progress #Marriage Equality

Thankfully I've been quite lucky in my career, but it's always good to re-evaluate things and think about what else you want to do.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Thinking #Careers #Lucky

I felt a little green, because Shakespeare writes the thought process within the text; it was tricky not to think of what to say and then say it, and instead just deliver the lines.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Writing #Thinking #Lines

Babies laughing is like opium.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Baby #Laughing #Opium

Jim Henson was the only piece of fan mail I ever wrote when I was a little kid.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Kids #Littles #Mail

In my 20s, I mostly ate burritos and nachos, with the occasional burger.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Nachos #Burgers #Burritos

I don't stay up and rent private jets and go on yachts and whoop it up in Miami.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Goes On #Miami #Private Jet

I need to stop carving out four-hour chunks to do random things and go home and watch my children grow up.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Children #Growing Up #Home

I love the 'So You Think You Can Dance' show. I love it. I think it's some of the best hours on TV.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Thinking #Tvs #Hours

I like the tube more than the NY subway though, you've got cushioned seats.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Subway

I have an unbelievable assistant who handles all of my scheduling! It's like a Tetris game.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Games #Assistants #Tetris

I have a very large forehead. I have a pronounced skull. Maybe producers think that there is a lot going on up in there.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Thinking #Skulls #Producers

I get to choose things that interest me as opposed to trying to get any job that will have me, which for a vast majority of actors is the case.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Jobs #Trying #Actors

I feel like I know where I'm going. And I like where I'm going.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Feels

I enjoy being a hyphenate. I've always thought of my career as a plate spinner in the circus.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Careers #Circus #Plates

I don't know, but I think kids just want to be listened to, so I want to make sure I do that.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Kids #Thinking #Want

I do a lot of books on tape for Beverly Cleary, and another 'Smurfs' shout-out for that demographic.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Book #Tape #Smurf

I always thought filet mignon was the steak to beat, but the fat content in a rib eye is fantastic.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Eye #Ribs #Fantastic

Chef's choice is my favorite. I'm super adventurous.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Choices #Chef #My Favorite

As an actor, you most often play relatively average parts, so to get to play extreme versions of anything, those are the most exciting parts.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Average #Play #Actors

I'm a nerdy, geeky fan of' Labyrinth' and 'Dark Crystal'.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Dark #Labyrinth #Crystals

Charlie Sheen is who again? Denise is engaged?
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Engagement #Charlie

I love Buster Keaton. I was a big fan of the stunt shows at Universal Studios. I'm a huge Cirque du Soleil nut.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Nuts #Fans #Bigs

I've got no plans to be a ballet dancer at the moment.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Dancer #Ballet #Moments

I'm a games and theory kind of guy. I love puzzles, so it was fun dissecting Shakespeare's prose.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Fun #Games #Guy

I think things through a lot, so I probably use my head more than my heart. That probably comes through in my acting.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Heart #Thinking #Acting

I'm a very lucky man in this chapter of my professional life, 'cause I get to do jobs with wildly different skill sets.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Jobs #Men #Skills

I'm in a play on Broadway, I have an animated TV show coming up, I have a few movies that just came out.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Tv Shows #Play #Broadway

I'm not the best cruise ship crooner. I'm not the best karaoke guy.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Guy #Karaoke #Ships

I'm not trying to climb a ladder - I'm casting a bit of a net.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Trying #Casting #Ladders

I've been taking a trapeze class for the last couple of years. I'm working on my double back flip right now.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Couple #Years #Class

I've been very fortunate to go from interesting chapter to interesting chapter.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Interesting #Chapters

When I auditioned for the show, I didn't realize it was an MTV production, which is going to make for really good tunes during the episodes, if nothing else.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Mtv #Tunes #Realizing

But magic is like pizza: even when it's bad, it's pretty good.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Magic #Pizza

I often feel like books find us for reasons, and we read them when we need them the most.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Book #Needs #Reason

I thought the idea of 'Smurfs' lent itself to the 3-D environment pretty well, I think, better than some of the farm animal movies that have been done before. I was a fan of the 'Smurfs' and they come with their own fan base, which I thought was nice.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Nice #Thinking #Animal

I was a big fan of how Johnny Carson hosted awards shows. Dick Cavett, as well, I think did a really great job of providing a nice blend of comedy, wit and class.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Jobs #Nice #Thinking

I'm shocked at how early everything closes here. But people start earlier. I miss the late nightlife in NYC, but then again I sing and burn so much energy in the show that it's probably good - I get to go home and sleep.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Sleep #Home #Nightlife

The voiceover thing is very selfless. You go in there and they've hired you for your voice, but they know exactly what they want, and the writer's there and he knows exactly how it's supposed to be said. So you can't really argue with them, you just have to let them tell you what to do and then do it.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Voice #Want #Selfless

Tobey's a mellow, cool guy. He's just a good guy. I know that's not the answer you want, and I don't mean that as the political thing to say, but he's a nice guy.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Nice #Mean #Guy

We're in such a volatile climate right now politically. I think they didn't want Assassins to not succeed due to popular opinion and politics, versus on its own merits. I can respect that.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Thinking #Assassins #Want

Starship Troopers was great. It was great fun to work on something with blue screens and big budget special effects. Denise Richards was nice to look at too, of course.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Fun #Nice #Blue

With the Tonys it's a little tricky because a lot of the funnier jokes are more insider, so people watching at home may not get a Julie Taymor reference the way that New Yorkers would. So you have to figure out what comedy plays to a large audience and still respect the individuals who are there.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Home #Play #People

Our culture's adjustment to the epistemology of television is by now all but complete; we have so thoroughly accepted its definitions of truth, knowledge and reality that irrelevance seems to us to be filled with import, and incoherence seems eminently sane. And if some of our institutions seem not to fit the template of the times, why it is they and not the template, that seem to us disordered and strange.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Reality #Irrelevance #Culture

So I've done my fair share of theater. I have also been very fortunate in that I've been able to come to New York two or three times a year just to see as many shows as possible. I think the live theater culture here is incredible.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#New York #Thinking #Years

'Smurfs' just seemed like a great way to represent a young father to be, guy in a marriage, work in conflict, and I was really interested in the technical CG side of things. I'd never done a movie that I thought would be so physical and yet so precise. So I was intrigued by all of that.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Father #Guy #Done

Thankfully, the meat of the Tony telecast is the performances from the shows, so the awards show kind of creates itself around the season, and then I fill in based on the vibe of the season in general. I'm happy that there'll be so many legitimately good performances on the show.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Awards #Meat #Kind

If you don't have any ties to the music industry, you just love 'American Idol,' you can sit there and do exactly what you do in your living room, which is stare at them and judge them.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Idols #Ties #Judging

The TV schedule is fantastic. It allows you to have a life. Theater actors are so disciplined - especially if you're doing musicals, you have to be in shape physically, mentally, and have to be on your game all the time. That's exhausting. On TV, especially a sitcom, you have a lot of free time to play.
-- Neil Patrick Harris

#Games #Play #Schedules