The Crush List, aka I’d See Him/Her in Anything

It’s a running joke between Jenn and I that as soon as you declare yourself willing to see Actor X in “Anything” they will promptly make a Wayans’ brothers movie.

That said, I still have a list of people I’m willing to tempt fate for, and that’s my Crush List.  I’m prone to them, I confess, so the list is quite long.  It still has Christian Bale on it, despite his recent bad behavior.  (What can I say?  I’m loyal…)  But lately, right there at the top, an unlikely contender has appeared.

Neil. Patrick. Harris.

I watched Doogie Howser, MD when I was young.  Every gifted kid I knew watched that show, with their parents, like a sort of how-to manual for exceptionalism.  (Way to set the bar RIDICULOUSLY high, folks!)

I suppose Jenn will say his career rehabilitation began with Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle, but my crush began with his appearance on How I Met Your Mother.  On this CBS sitcom, which I would argue is every bit as funny as Friends, NPH plays Barney Stinson, a womanizing lawyer with an obsession with suits.  Barney is a *terrible* person, but that’s what makes him such a joy to watch.  Here, I’ll show you.  Here he is, talking about the Hot/Crazy Scale:

After winning me over completely on this show, during the Writers’ Strike, he made a musical.  A musical about a super-villain.  With Joss Whedon. It’s brilliant, and NPH can actually sing. I’ll show you:

What makes Barney Stinson, and NPH, so remarkable is that NPH is gay.  Out.  Openly gay.  On YouTube:

He made the Prop 8 musical on Funny or Die.

And yet that old canard about how gay actors cannot believably play straight just doesn’t work.  There’s no question in my mind that NPH is gay….but Barney is straight.  It works. And the more times it works, the safer it becomes for other actors to step out of the closet.  It’s brave.  I love to see brave being rewarded.

The other thing that makes Neil Patrick Harris great is his willingness to spoof himself and his career.  It’s like innoculation against the Shut Up List.

Like when he went on SNL recently.

Also, he spoofed the computer-journal gimmick of Doogie Howser, MD on How I Met Your Mother, but the YouTube is letting me down.

There.  My admiration is public.  His place on the Crush List is declared.  I’m sure he’s about to curse out a busload of nuns or make Little Man 2 any minute now.