Neil Patrick Harris on hosting Academy Awards: “The Oscars has been that show that I was terrified to take on”

After playing a transgender woman who is a punk rock singer in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I wouldn’t think there are many things that scare Neil Patrick Harris.

But the prospect of hosting the Oscars sure did.

“I’ve been in the hosting world for a little while and the Oscars has been that show that I was terrified to take on, but had never been asked to do,” Harris said in an interview with Z100.

‘So when Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, the producers of the show, they just reach out to someone, and thankfully, I think with the help of ‘Gone Girl’ and ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West,’ I had a couple more feature film credits than I did before and that definitely helps with the Academy and their decision making. It’s weirdly one of those things that you don’t know when it’s happening and you don’t reach out for it and present yourself, you just sometimes get a call.”

Is he excited to host Hollywood’s biggest night?

“Partly, I’m that way, and partly I’m reticent because I’ve always thought and said it’s the big target and as exciting as it is it’s potentially lose-lose in various ways because it’s just such a big show.”