Yet another NPH pre-Tonys interview!

You’re hosting the Tonys again this year (last time was in 2009). How do you convince middle America that Broadway isn’t some, I don’t know, gay thing?
(Laughs) Well those are your words, not mine. I think the goal is to present all of these productions in a way that makes them desirable for the rest of America and entice them to come to New York and see a show. It’s choosing the right numbers from the shows and explaining and then watching them perform, really.

It’s funny how you’re a guy with kids and you play such a Lothario [on “How I Met Your Mother”] who appeals to men, women, ponies, everyone.
(Laughs) I don’t know that Barney’s ever contemplated a pony but there’s always season eight. No, he’s a great character. You don’t often as an actor come upon someone who gets to be so bold and so broad and so horny. I embrace it as much as I can.

Was ‘Harold and Kumar’ life changing in the way the industry perceived you?
It was a fantastic, lucky moment for sure. I had no idea that sending myself up so completely and ridiculously would be as well received as it was. I thought it would be a small little movie that no one would really notice and if they did that gag might not even be that funny and it ended up having a cult status and a third movie is coming out.

It’s like an Oprah moment. You took a risk, made fun of yourself and good things happened.
Yeah for sure. I think people appreciate I was making fun of myself in such a hardcore way – a prostitute and a line of coke! It was much harder core than I think people thought I was.