Neil Patrick Harris says hosting Oscars was a ‘beast’, not likely to return

Neil Patrick Harris says hosting Oscars was a ‘beast’, not likely to return

Harris doesn't think his family or soul could handle experiencing the criticism he received following the 87th Academy Awards again.

Neil Patrick Harris successfully hosted four Tony Awards ceremonies and two Primetime Emmy Awards, but fans shouldn’t expect him to be a repeat Oscars host. The former How I Met Your Mother star told the Huffington Post that after the harsh criticism he received for his hosting attempt during February’s 87th Academy Awards, he doesn’t think his family or soul could handle going through the ordeal again.

Harris started his hosting gig for the Academy Awards off strong, by landing big laughs with his “Tony we honor Hollywood’s best and whitest… brightest” joke before his well-received opening musical number. The magic-enthusiast then proceeded to spend a great deal of time reminding the audience that he locked his Oscars predictions in a glass case on stage, and even though he proved at the show’s conclusion that he somehow predicted every unpredictable moment of the evening, the crowd didn’t seem to care. Viewer expectations were high when Harris tweeted before the show that he was “super appreciative” of the show’s writers and wished they could write everything he says all the time, but due to the lack of social media buzz throughout the show, the 41-year-old actor was unable to match the ratings of last year’s telecast, which was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres.

Huffington Post asked Harris whether or not he’ll consider hosting the Oscars again in the future, but he immediately shot down that possibility.

“I don’t know that my family nor my soul could take it,” said Harris. “It’s a beast. It was fun to check off the list, but for the amount of time spent and the understandable opinionated response, I don’t know that it’s a delightful balance to do every year or even again.”

Harris added that while he’s tried not to keep up with too much of the criticism viewers have made regarding his hosting abilities, he hopes people realize “just how much time and concession and compromise and explanation has gone into almost every single thing.” He also feels that “people were enjoying themselves more and more” throughout the telecast, “so for that I’m happy.”

Be social, please share!

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *