Gay actor Neil Patrick Harris will host February’s Academy Awards. He confirmed he'd scored the job in a video where he circles hosting the Oscars on his ‘bucket list’. He's since released a statement saying it's "an honour and a thrill" to be asked to host the awards. "I grew up watching the Oscars and was always in such awe of some of the greats who hosted the show,” he says. “To be asked to follow in the footsteps of Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres, and everyone else who had the great fortune of hosting is a bucket list dream come true.” Harris has previously hosted and won awards at both the Tony and Emmy Awards. After wrapping up long-running show How I Met Your Mother, the actor who first found fame as Doogie Howser has starred in box office smash Gone Girl and has just released an autobiography. He’s also proved a hit in the title role of Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway this year. It’s also been a big year in Harris’ personal life – he married David Burkta in Italy last month. The couple have twins, Gideon Scott and Harper Grace, who were born in 2010, and the family lives in New York. Last year the most watched Academy Awards in history were hosted by lesbian icon Ellen DeGeneres. The 87th Academy Awards will show in New Zealand on 23 February.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 16th October 2014 - 10:14am