How I met your winners: TV star Neil Patrick Harris will present the Oscars
How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris was today confirmed as the host of next year’s Oscars ceremony.
He has previously hosted the Tony Awards and the Emmys. The 41-year-old, who also stars in hit film Gone Girl, said presenting the Academy Awards would fulfil a lifelong ambition.
He announced the news by tweeting a video in which he says “I’m in!” on the phone before circling the words “Host the Oscars” on his bucket list.
Harris, who shot to fame as a child star in Doogie Howser MD in 1989, follows Ellen Degeneres as presenter. The star-studded selfie she took during the show became the most re-tweeted photo of all time with 32.8 million views. The ceremony was watched by more than 45 million viewers — its biggest audience since 2000.
Harris, left, said: “I grew up watching the Oscars and was always in such awe of some of the greats who hosted the show. 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.”
The 87th Academy Awards are on February 22 in Los Angeles.
