This won’t be his usual song and dance. Neil Patrick Harris has played serious roles before (hey there, Gone Girl) but he is primarily known as a comedic performer with a heavy side of theater nerd and host with the most. His two most iconic roles, Doogie Howser M.D. and Barney Stinson, both relied primarily on his ability to tell jokes and look smarmy or charming, or smarmily charming while doing so. But with his return to television after a few years away post-How I Met Your Mother, NPH is going in a different direction.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Harris has signed on to Netflix’s straight-to-series adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events, the popular young adult series of novels that have already been adapted once, albeit in movie form. He is set to play Count Olaf, the insidious and menacing uncle of three orphaned children who is set on getting their inheritance through any means necessary. Interestingly enough. Jim Carrey portrayed Count Olaf in the first on-screen adaptation which makes the “comedian playing the evil guardian” thing a trend. Surely Harris will offer his own spin to the role, but audiences will have to wait a while longer to see how it pans out. Even though Netflix picked up the show over a year ago, filming has not yet begun. How unfortunate.
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
