TMC
05-24-2023, 09:40 PM
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/neil-patrick-harris-best-roles-movies-tv-shows-doogie-howser-harold-kumar-himym-hedwig-starship-troopers-232554778.html
On how his confidence as a young actor on Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989-1993) mirrored his character’s confidence as a teenage doctor.
“My confidence level was high… Again, acting wasn’t something I had been pushed to do by my parents. I have remarkable and amazing parents who both were lawyers for a long time. And so they were very savvy and are very thoughtful people, and treated us like regular humans. So I think my confidence in my skillset during those years, I wasn't rattled by being younger in an adult environment. ... And so having to have three hours of school every day in a trailer that was the schoolroom, while filming nine hours a day on set with nine, 10 pages of dialogue, and doing that for months and months, it was so fun and so exhilarating in its own way. And I think the fact that I was treated maturely kind of helped with the role, 'cause Doogie had to spout off a lot of medical jargon, and carry himself with a confidence that he knew all this stuff, which I didn’t as Neil know, but I guess that’s the gig. Loved that role. That was fun.”
On wrapping Doogie Howser unexpectedly after four seasons:
“It was super-strange because we never had any kind of resolution to the show. It went four seasons. And they never told us that the fourth was going to be our last. We just weren’t picked up through a fifth. So we never had like a proper farewell or goodbye, you know, ‘See you later.’ It was just, ‘Uh-oh, we’re on the bubble… Oh no, we didn’t get picked up.’ But that’s all right. Four years got us in the syndication. So cha-ching.
“I have no idea where it would’ve gone. I’m asked that a fair amount. Like, ‘What do you think would happen?’ And that’s not my place to answer. Maybe he’s a gynecologist… That’s always my answer.”
On how his confidence as a young actor on Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989-1993) mirrored his character’s confidence as a teenage doctor.
“My confidence level was high… Again, acting wasn’t something I had been pushed to do by my parents. I have remarkable and amazing parents who both were lawyers for a long time. And so they were very savvy and are very thoughtful people, and treated us like regular humans. So I think my confidence in my skillset during those years, I wasn't rattled by being younger in an adult environment. ... And so having to have three hours of school every day in a trailer that was the schoolroom, while filming nine hours a day on set with nine, 10 pages of dialogue, and doing that for months and months, it was so fun and so exhilarating in its own way. And I think the fact that I was treated maturely kind of helped with the role, 'cause Doogie had to spout off a lot of medical jargon, and carry himself with a confidence that he knew all this stuff, which I didn’t as Neil know, but I guess that’s the gig. Loved that role. That was fun.”
On wrapping Doogie Howser unexpectedly after four seasons:
“It was super-strange because we never had any kind of resolution to the show. It went four seasons. And they never told us that the fourth was going to be our last. We just weren’t picked up through a fifth. So we never had like a proper farewell or goodbye, you know, ‘See you later.’ It was just, ‘Uh-oh, we’re on the bubble… Oh no, we didn’t get picked up.’ But that’s all right. Four years got us in the syndication. So cha-ching.
“I have no idea where it would’ve gone. I’m asked that a fair amount. Like, ‘What do you think would happen?’ And that’s not my place to answer. Maybe he’s a gynecologist… That’s always my answer.”