A day after the news broke that Neil Patrick Harris is set to host the 2015 Oscars, the 41-year-old actor stopped by Entertainment Weekly Radio on Sirius XM Thursday, Oct. 16, and opened up about what viewers can expect from him as the emcee of the upcoming 87th Academy Awards ceremony.
"I don't want them to be super derivative of other shows that I've done," the "Gone Girl" star told EW editor Matt Bean. "I don't want it to seem like I'm doing the same award hosting gig that I did on the Tonys, just now on a different stage. And I think they don't want that, either."
"It's the biggest sandbox in the world," he added. "If you say, 'I think that I should do a thing with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.' Because it's the Oscars, do they say yes? Because they would say no for the Tonys."
The "How I Met Your Mother" star, who has already hosted the Emmy Awards twice and the Tony Awards four times, also said that he wants to keep the 2015 Oscars classy. "I want to also just make sure that it's a classy event," he said. "I've always loved the Oscars and have great respect for its history, and the gowns, and the classiness of it. And I loved Johnny Carson and Billy Crystal and honoring the gravity of it without getting heavy and boring. And I have no idea how to balance that, but that's going to be the task ahead."
As pointed out by Rolling Stone, Harris shared the big news with his social media followers in video he shared on MobyPicture, in which he answers his cell phone and says, "I'm in. Nice." The camera then scrolls down "NPH's Bucket List," which was written on a pad of paper. Items on it include, "Jump out of a plane," "Move to NYC," "Win a Tony Award," "Perform with Muppets," "Bungee Jump," Rap with Snoop Dogg," and "Have children," among many others. All are crossed out except for the bottom item, "Host the Oscars," which he circles at the end of the 25-second clip.
Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who will be producing the show for the third year in a row, said that they are happy to have Harris host the Oscars. "We have known him his entire adult life, and we have watched him explode as a great performer in feature films, television and stage. To work with him on the Oscars is the perfect storm, all of his resources and talent coming together on a global stage," the duo said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter.