Quotes from Neil Patrick Harris

My parents own a restaurant in Albuquerque.

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

When you call someone and ask them to do something they've never done before, in different mediums I think they would be inclined to pass because they're afraid of the risk. But the creative people who populate the theater world love the challenge of new things.

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.

There is just a lot of creativity and theatricality in performers who happen to be gay. Maybe there's a success in numbers, so by the law of averages we are going to get these jobs.

Whenever I wasn't in school with a tutor three hours a day, I'd get a knock and be rushed to set and they'd be waiting and I'd film my thing and then I'd go back to school again.

Chef's choice is my favorite. I'm super adventurous.

Charlie Sheen is who again? Denise is engaged?

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

American Sniper focuses on a soldier with 160 kills, or as Harvey Weinstein calls it, a slow morning.

We're blessed on 'How I Met Your Mother' to feel like we're doing a bit of a funny playlet everyday.

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.

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

I've got no plans to be a ballet dancer at the moment.

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

I've done plenty of daredeviling - from white-water rafting to bungee jumping. But I think the most fearless was hosting the Emmy Awards. It was overwhelming, and I definitely had to leave fear at the door.

There are so many examples of talented actors working today, no matter how they live their private lives. I'm lucky that people believe me when I'm in character.

Mmmmmmmm. Anderson. He's dreamy. Just dreamy. I've been a fan of his since season 1 of 'The Mole.' I just thought he was so cool when he talked in this cool, low, secret-agent voice.

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

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

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.

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

Whether it's a double take or a spit take or an extra-long pause before a reaction or a line, I try to be as cognizant as possible about the technical end of it. So I think the physical stuff works easier for me than maybe for others who are more just going on instinct.

'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.