Despite its controversial ending, How I Met Your Mother is one of the best sitcoms of all time. And that's definitely partially because of the cast. It’s hard to imagine the characters being played by anyone else, as the chemistry and comedic timing really tie it all together, as well as the emotions when needed. Surprisingly, though, there was apparently some tension on set, according to Neil Patrick Harris and Josh Radnor.

With an ensemble cast like the one for HIMYM, where everyone works so closely together, and these friendships are forming on-screen, friendships are bound to form off-screen as well. While it seems like they are all close to this day, things might have been a bit different back then. While appearing on Radnor and co-creator Craig Thomas’ podcast How We Made Your Mother, Harris revealed to his former co-star that he thought he wasn’t too well-liked:

• Neil Patrick Harris: I always kind of felt that my performance annoyed you, Josh.
• Josh Radnor: What? Tell me more. Tell me more.

Radnor seemed shocked by the admission, which Harris said came to him as they were having that conversation. It’s a bit hard to believe, since Ted and Barney had a pretty entertaining friendship throughout HIMYM’s run.

Harris went on to explain why he thought Radnor was annoyed by his performance, and it was really because Barney was written differently from everyone else:

Barney did have a different way of looking at things and doing things on HIMYM, and it’s not just with the suits he would always wear. Of course, Barney is legen – wait for it – dary, but at the time, it sounds like Harris was worried that his character’s personality would drive a wedge between him and his castmates. He said it was like they were on different sitcoms, but that's also why it was so great. While now he can look back and really see that, back then it wasn’t easy:

It’s unfortunate that Harris felt that way, but it’s also understandable why he would think all this. Barney wasn’t the best character at times and didn’t always say the right thing at the right time, but it’s what made him lovable. And not surprisingly, Radnor understands where the confusion comes from.

Luckily, there are no hard feelings, and Radnor even looks back at that time with happiness, especially since Ted was annoying at times, too. To that point, the Ted actor said:

Radnor went on to explain that there was something in the tension that Harris described that would come out sideways, which was the “secret sauce.”

Overall, there’s a reason How I Met Your Mother went on for so long, and fans are still streaming with a Hulu subscription. Had there been just straight tension between Harris and Radnor, it’s likely things would have gone differently. But the fact that they both felt the way they felt just means that they were doing their jobs right. And it makes me so happy that they’re still friends today.

How I Met Your Mother may be one of the best sitcoms of all time, but it is one of many shows with a wildly disappointing finale. It’s been nearly 12 years since HIMYM's conclusion, but fans are still not quite over how it ended. The series is notorious for killing off the titular Mother not long after finally introducing her, with Ted running back to Robin. While it’s not unusual for those invovled to defend the episode, I still gotta give star Neil Patrick Harris credit sticking to his Barney-defending guns.

The CBS sitcom has one of the most disliked endings ever, and still to this day, the Internet is reminded of how terrible it is. I can’t say I blame them, because I, too, am not a fan of that finale, and wish so much it had ended with Ted and Tracy getting married, having their kids, and having that be that. Harris, however, does not feel that way.

While speaking with co-star Josh Radnor on the How We Made Your Mother podcast, Harris revealed why he likes the ending of the show so much, and it was in response to what Radnor was saying. Radnor recalled what an editor who had edited both of his movies told him when it comes to the difference between a show and movie. You have to transform a movie in two hours, and with a TV show, you have to “maintain stasis so people watch over and over,” so the characters have to transform “way slower.” And that’s exactly why Harris is defending the ending:

I get where Harris is coming from. A lot had changed throughout HIMYM’s nine-season run, but some things stayed the same by the end. Whether that includes Ted and Robin’s relationship, after she divorced Barney, who eventually changes his lifestyle after having a daughter. It was definitely an unexpected ending, but it’s definitely true to how life is sometimes:

No matter how much time fans complain, it won’t change the ending of How I Met Your Mother. Not everything is wrapped up in a nice bow, and Harris definitely knows that. Hence why he defends it so strongly. Then again, HIMYM is supposed to be a sitcom, and killing off the love of Ted’s wife, who is the focus of the entire series, after fans just meet her, is pretty harsh, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this discourse continues until the end of time. No matter how much Harris and others like it.

As a HIMYM ending hater, I will continue to hate the ending for as long as I live, but I certainly give Neil Patrick Harris props for what he’s doing. Fans can see for themselves how they feel about the ending with all nine seasons streaming with a Hulu subscription.

Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Dexter: Resurrection episode "Call Me Red," so stream it with a Paramount+ subscription or read at your own risk!

Dexter: Resurrection just introduced one of my favorite storylines for the franchise ever, and finally revealed the storyline that brought such a stellar, all-star cast together to join Michael C. Hall. Peter Dinklage made his big debut as billionaire philanthropist Leon Prater, and revealed to "Red" that he secretly runs a society for serial killers to network and share their dark secrets.

Neil Patrick Harris, Krysten Ritter, Eric Stonestreet, and David Dastmalchian all made their way into the story as notorious serial killers, brought together by Prater for mysterious reasons we still don't fully understand as an audience, at least beyond appeasing his bloodlust. One the one hand, I'm psyched because I can see this storyline going in a lot of fun and different directions, but on the other hand, I have concerns after one of those major guest stars has already been killed off.

The Potential For Dexter: Resurrection's Killer Club Storyline Has Me Thrilled

The Dexter universe has been growing with the prequel running alongside the continuation, and I think it could explode in a similar multi-timeline fashion as the John Wick franchise's future, all tied to this serial killer faction. We now have a stacked cast of personable and highly deadly murderers to mix it up with after Red's demise, and while Dexter doesn't necessarily jive with most criminals, it seems there might be at least one that follows a "code" that he can abide by.

Imagine if this season ends with Dexter enlisting or teaching other serial killers in this sordid circle about Harry's "code," leading to some twisted Dark Passenger-infused version of the Avengers? It's a wild idea to consider, but also a possible one, given that it doesn't seem as though Leon Prater himself is a serial killer. Would he be opposed to Dexter teaching the rest of this group how to adhere to his special brand of justice? (Or, perhaps, other groups of misguided killers.)

Truthfully, it seems likely that the bulk of Dex's current colleagues have their own quirks that drive their urge to kill, and won't need additional guidance. The titular character wants justice served, but others like Lowell simply want to retrieve others' tattoos so that he can look at them. Mia Lapierre, on the other hand, might be easier to mold into something of an equal, assuming Dexter ever has the chance to reveal he's actually the Bay Harbor Butcher to her.

I could also see a scenario where Dexter has to hunt these serial killers down, and this becomes a long arc that's drawn out through several seasons of the series. He's already taken down some awful folks in the past, so I'd love to see him spend a season pursuing and eliminating each person in Prater's special club and still avoid detection from his benefactor.

Lowell's Early Exit Has Me Concerned This Story Is Moving Way Too Fast

Unfortunately, I don't think Dexter Resurrection plans on keeping this colorful cast of killers on the series for the long haul. Dexter killed off Neil Patrick Harris' Lowell before the end of the episode, where this new storyline was introduced. It's led me to believe other newcomer actors like Eric Stonestreet and Krysten Ritter (both of whom were blown away by the fans) won't be on the series for long, either.

It's a shame, because I would kill to see a season centered solely around Eric Stonestreet's ponytail killer, and him having the thriving family life that Dexter always wanted with Rita. I'm also 100% all-in on whatever is going on with David Dastmalchian's killer, who appears to be the most cryptic of the bunch.

I should state that we have no idea what the overall plan for Dexter: Resurrection is, and how this whole thing will shake out now that Dexter has already broken the rules of the serial killer club. It's possible that was a one-and-done meeting, and it'll be Prater vs. Dexter from here on out, and he'll go after some of those other killers at a later date.

There's also a part of me that wants Dexter to embrace the community of having other serial killers to talk to. I think that was a good way of further illustrating that he's not a good person, which I've noted both New Blood and Resurrection have illustrated a bit so far.

Dexter: Resurrection streams new episodes on Paramount+ on Fridays, with Showtime broadcasting the episode on Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET. I'm ready to see where the rest of this season heads, and am holding out hope it's the setup for a much longer story arc than I currently expect.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe introduced an entire generation of superhero movie fans to some of the comic book publishing giant’s most iconic characters, such as Iron Man and Thor. However, many of the heroes and villains we know from those Marvel movies in order have found their way to the big or small screen. Let’s honor some of the actors who brought them to life before they were inducted into the MCU.

Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man)

Some Marvel Comics fans have criticized the casting of Tobey Maguire in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, considering he was far older than when Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive arachnid at the time. While Tom Holland certainly fit the bill of a teenage vigilante better years later, Maguire is still remembered today as one of the best to play the role. Not to mention, he wore, arguably, the best cinematic Spidey outfit of all time.

Jessica Alba (Invisible Woman)

Following her Golden Globe-nominated breakthrough role on Dark Angel, Jessica Alba could be seen just about everywhere in the early 2000s. Ironically, she made her comic book movie debut in Tim Story's Fantastic Four as a superhero known for being unseen: Sue "Invisible Woman" Storm, who would be inducted into the MCU with Vanessa Kirby's portrayal.

Ben Affleck (Daredevil)

Ben Affleck would make an amusing, if not polarizing, impression when he joined a long line of live-action Batman actors for Zack Snyder's short-lived DC Extended Universe. More than a decade earlier, the Oscar winner cut his teeth in the world of superhero acting by playing the title role of 2003's Daredevil before Charlie Cox took over the role for the MCU in his own hit series.

Djimon Hounsou (Black Panther)

Djimon Hounsou has a small role in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy as Korath the Pursuer, but had voiced the Black Panther in a BET original animated series four years earlier. The Academy Award nominee would later share the screen as Korath with the MCU's T'Challa, Chadwick Boseman, for an episode of the animated anthology series, What If...?

Wesley Snipes (Blade)

Marvel's popular vampire hunter character would, technically, make his MCU debut when Mahershala Ali made a vocal cameo as Blade in the post-credit sequence of 2021's Eternals. However, the first actor to play the Daywalker in his own trilogy of Blade movies, Wesley Snipes, beat him to the punch by making a full, live MCU appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Dolph Lundgren (The Punisher)

It is hard to imagine Rocky IV star Dolph Lundgren with jet black hair, but he donned it to play Frank Castle in a straight-to-video feature adaptation of The Punisher in 1989. The role of the vengeful vigilante would be passed down a couple more times before Jon Bernthal took over as the MCU's official iteration, but the Swedish actor would later return to comic book movie acting as King Nereus in the Jason Momoa-led Aquaman movies.

David Hasselhoff (Nick Fury)

Samuel L. Jackson's performance as Nick Fury has become so definitive that Marvel would use his likeness in the Ultimate universe comics. However, the eye-patched secret agent's main iteration better resembles David Hasselhoff, who would, indeed, play him in 1998's Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., a made-for-TV movie that was intended to be a pilot for an original series on Fox.

Jennifer Garner (Elektra Natchios)

Jennifer Garner played a lighter interpretation of Matt Murdock's assassin lover, Elektra Natchios, in 2003's Daredevil and in her own spin-off film from two years later. While the Alias star would also reprise the role in Deadpool & Wolverine, the official MCU iteration, introduced in Season 2 of the Daredevil series, is played by Élodie Yung.

Chris Evans (Human Torch)

Chris Evans is one of the few MCU actors who can say he previously played a superhero from a different corner of the Marvel Multiverse. Years before he was cast as Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger, he starred in the 2000s Fantastic Four movies as the Human Torch, which he referenced to hilarious effect in Deadpool & Wolverine. The MCU later introduced its own official iteration of Johnny Storm, played by Joseph Quinn.

Lou Ferrigno (Hulk)

Before Bruce Banner's mean, green alter ego became the product of putting Mark Ruffalo in a performance capture suit, he was brought to life in live-action on the hit TV show, The Incredible Hulk, by Lou Ferrigno, standing in for David Banner actor Bill Bixby whenever he would get angry. The legendary bodybuilder also lent his voice to the role in the Incredible Hulk animated series and made a cameo as a security guard in both 2003's Hulk and the Edward Norton-led MCU debut.

J.K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson)

One of the few actors known for playing the same Marvel character both in and outside of the MCU is J.K. Simmons. The Academy Award winner stole the show as the editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies before reimagining the role as a conspiracy theorist and podcast host in the Tom Holland-led films.

Doug Jones (Silver Surfer)

The MCU would introduce a unique version of the Silver Surfer played by Emmy winner Julia Garner in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Doug Jones, a master of roles requiring performance capture and heavy makeup transformations, shares credit for portraying the first "live-action" iteration of the metallic-skinned alien from 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer with Laurence Fishburne, who provided the voice.

Robert Hays (Iron Man)

It is hard to imagine anyone else in the role of Tony Stark other than Academy Award winner Robert Downey Jr., but Iron Man was the star of his own animated series years earlier in the mid-1990s. Voicing the wealthy vigilante was Robert Hays, who is best known for starring in the classic spoof movie, Airplane!, as Ted Striker.

Neil Patrick Harris (Spider-Man)

In 2003, MTV aired a TV show very loosely connected to Sam Raimi's Marvel movies called Spider-Man: The New Animated Series. Instead of Tobey Maguire, the actor providing the voice of Peter Parker was none other than future How I Met Your Mother cast member Neil Patrick Harris, who later contributed to the 2010 video game, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

Eric Allan Kramer (Thor)

Years before Chris Hemsworth's definitive performance as Thor in the MCU made him a household name, Eric Allan Kramer of Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Good Luck Charlie fame became the first actor the play the role in live-action in the 1988 TV movie, The Incredible Hulk Returns. However, I feel obligated to mention that Vincent D'Onofrio's role in Adventures in Babysitting as Dawson, who bears a striking resemblance to the God of Thunder, predates Kramer's portrayal by a year.

Rosemary Harris (Aunt May)

With all due respect and admiration for Marisa Tomei, the Oscar winner is certainly not the first person you would picture to play Peter Parker's Aunt May, as she does in the MCU. However, Rosemary Harris is not only the spitting image of the comic book character, but also gives a moving, iconic performance as May opposite Tobey Maguire's Peter in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy.

Matt Salinger (Captain America)

One of the most notable screen iterations of Steve Rogers that pre-dates Chris Evans' portrayal comes from 1990's infamous straight-to-video feature, Captain America. Playing the title role is Matt Salinger, who, believe it or not, is the son of The Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger, as the actor discussed with The Guardian.

James Avery (War Machine)

Most people know actor James Avery best from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air cast as Philip Banks. Around that same time, however, the actor lent his voice to the animated Iron Man series as James "Rhodey" Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine, years before Tony Stark's buddy was portrayed in the MCU by Don Cheadle... and Terrence Howard, of course.

Nicholas Hammond (Spider-Man)

Before the role was brought to life by Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, the first actor to play Peter Parker in live-action was Nicholas Hammond. The Sound of Music star led CBS' Spider-Man series and its two made-for-TV companion films in the late 1970s.

Jennifer Connelly (Betty Ross)

Liv Tyler appeared in 2008's The Incredible Hulk as Betty Ross, the colleague and love interest of Edward Norton's Bruce Banner. Years earlier, in 2003's Hulk, she was played by Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly, who was also subtly inducted into the MCU as the voice of Karen, the AI built into Peter Parker's high-tech suit in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Thomas Jane (The Punisher)

Three actors were brought in to play Frank Castle before Jon Bernthal was cast in the role for the MCU. The second, after Dolph Lundgren and before Ray Stevenson, and first to bring the vigilante into the 21st Century, was Thomas Jane in 2004's The Punisher, which sees the anti-hero take on a corrupt businessman responsible for his family's tragic deaths.

Cree Summer (She-Hulk)

Cree Summer is the prolific voice actor behind many well-known animated roles, such as Susie Carmichael from Nickelodeon's Rugrats. She was also the second person to voice Bruce Banner's cousin, Jennifer Walters, on the animated Incredible Hulk TV show almost a couple of decades before Tatiana Maslany was cast in the lead role of Disney+'s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

Michael Chiklis (The Thing)

Jamie Bell and Emmy winner Ebon Moss-Bachrach (who also appeared on Jon Bernthal's The Punisher series) both played CGI versions of Ben "The Thing" Grimm in their respective cinematic adaptations of the Fantastic Four comics. However, Michael Chiklis admirably went the old-fashioned route and donned a heavy amount of prosthetics to play the orange, rock-skinned superhero in Tim Story's movies from 2004 and 2007.

Sam Elliott (Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross)

Following William Hurt's passing, Harrison Ford stepped in to play Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross for the MCU in Captain America: Brave New World, in which the military general-turned-U.S. president becomes the Red Hulk. However, you could argue that the most intimidating portrayal of the character is still that of Sam Elliott in 2003's Hulk.

Peter Hooten (Dr. Strange)

With the title's otherworldly, psychedelic imagery, it is not very surprising to learn that Marvel's Doctor Strange comics were first adapted for live-action in the 1970s. CBS attempted to launch a series focused on the Sorcerer Supreme with a pilot led by actor Peter Hooten, who was, of course, succeeded decades later by Benedict Cumberbatch as the MCU's official iteration.

Lisa Rinna (Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine)

While better known today as a star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Lisa Rinna also has the honor of being the first actor to portray Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in live-action in 1998's Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. In the MCU, the Italian-American noblewoman and CIA director is played by Seinfeld cast member Julia-Louis Dreyfus.

Conan Stevens (Man-Thing)

In 2005, SyFy aired a scary "movie of the week" inspired by the Marvel comic book character Man-Thing, played by Conan Stevens, who is essentially the publisher's equivalent to DC's Swamp Thing. The humanoid plant creature was painted in a far more sympathetic light in the Disney+ original Halloween special, Werewolf by Night, in which he was portrayed in motion capture by Carey Jones.

Ed Asner (J. Jonah Jameson)

Emmy winner Ed Asner's definitive TV role for years was cantankerous journalist Lou Grant on beloved TV sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the character's more earnest self-titled spin-off. In other words, he was a perfect choice to voice J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the 1990s.

Eric Bana (Bruce Banner)

The first live-action, theatrically released feature film adaptation of Marvel's The Incredible Hulk comics, director Ang Lee's Hulk, cast Australian actor Eric Bana as Bruce Banner. The brilliant physicist would later return to the big screen as part of the MCU, first portrayed by Edward Norton in his 2008 solo flick before Mark Ruffalo took over the role in subsequent installments.

Ed Gale (Howard The Duck)

Howard the Duck, one of the most bizarre characters in Marvel Comics' history, exists in the MCU, having first appeared in the post-credit sequence for Guardians of the Galaxy, voiced by Seth Green. The fowl extraterrestrial crimefighter made his feature debut, however, in a self-titled film from producer George Lucas, in which Ed Gale, a little person also known for playing Chucky in Child's Play, wore a duck costume on set while Chip Zien provided the voice.

Ioan Gruffudd (Mr. Fantastic)

Before Pedro Pascal added the MCU to his ongoing list of franchises by playing Reed Richards in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, English actor Ioan Gruffudd played the stretchy superhero otherwise known as Mr. Fantastic in Tim Story's Fantastic Four movies.

Sticky Fingaz (Blade)

Mahershala Ali is actually not Wesley Snipes' direct successor to the role of Blade. Rap artist Sticky Fingaz played the vampire hunter in a short-lived TV series from 2006.

Plenty of upcoming 2025 TV shows can show off having great casts, but which franchise can boast two star-studded lineups across two different timelines centering on the same titular character? That tricky distinction is best exemplified by Showtime’s Dexter series, which concluded its prequel series Original Sin in a theory-sparking way in February, just a few months before the impending spinoff Dexter: Resurrection premieres. The latter started filming in January, and there’s been no end to the exciting cast reveals.

While major details are still somewhat scarce, we know that Resurrection will center on the killer-killing vigilante at some point after he was killed off in New Blood and then brought back to life in Original Sin’s premiere. And we also know that this may well be the most impressive ensemble cast yet to join Michael C. Hall in the world, although it’s technically impossible to beat Original Sin’s mirror images of the O.G. cast.

Check out all the big names who have signed on for the new spinoff since it was first announced, starting with new recruits and ending with the few known returning stars. (Note that while Jennifer Carpenter addressed her potential to return, she currently isn’t within this lineup.)

Eric Stonestreet - "Al"

• The Modern Family and Santa Clauses vet is reportedly set to appear in four episodes.
• He'll portray a midwesterner named Al who is believed to be one of the serial killers that the namesake vigilante will be tracking down.

Krysten Ritter - "Mia"

• Jessica Jones vet Krysten Ritter joins Dexter: Resurrection in a guest-star capacity as a character named Mia Lapierre, who is rumored to be a well-respected sommelier that may
• It's unknown how many episodes "Mia" will be featured in, but she's also believed to be a potential serial killer who catches Dexter's eye.

Neil Patrick Harris - "Lowell"

• Following the cancellation of his comedy Uncoupled, whose second season was initially picked up by Showtime before the 2023 strikes messed those plans up, Neil Patrick Harris is indeed teaming up with Showtime for this guest-starring spot on Dexter: Resurrection.
• Harris will be portraying a character named Lowell, and little else is known about the role, though set photos revealed the actor will be rocking a rather different hairstyle in the horror-thriller.

Steve Schirripa - "Vinny"

• Sopranos and Blue Bloods vet Steve Schirripa doesn't factor into a ton of TV horror, but he'll be making his mark on the Dexter-verse in a recurring capacity.
• Schirripa will portray a character named Vinny, who will apparently be a greed-mongering landlord of a less than reputable living establishment.

David Dastmalchian - "Gareth"

• Late Night with the Devil and Oppenheimer vet David Dastmalchian is no stranger to horror and genre projects, so it's no surprise he's joining this franchise in a guest-starring capacity.
• Unfortunately, beyond the "guest star" distinction and the lone character moniker "Gareth," nothing else is known about what to expect from Dastmalchian's character.

• Fans have waited ages to see Game of Thrones alum Peter Dinklage's debut as Toxic Avenger, but we'll have to settle for his next TV role as a series regular in Dexter: Resurrection.
• Dinklage will star as a billionaire venture capitalist named Leon Prater, whose publicly philanthropic nature is buttressed by darker interests and urgest.

Uma Thurman - "Charley"

• The first additional cast member to be announced for Dexter: Resurrection alongside Michael C. Hall, esteemed Hollywood icon Uma Thurman landed what is arguably her biggest TV role yet as a series regular within this universe.
• Thurman will portray a polished and dependable character named Charley, who serves as the Head of Security for Peter Dinklage's billionaire Leon Prater, after having previously taken on a variety of upper-level security positions.

Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine - "Blessing Kamara"

• The Lincoln Lawyer vet Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine is set as the series regular named Blessing Kamara, a driver for a rideshare company. He's an extremely positive guy who is dedicated to both his family and his local community, which will either be a good thing or a bad thing for Dexter.

Kadia Saraf - “Claudette Wallace"

• Kadia Saraf, who has portrayed Attorney Anya Avital in both Law & Order: SVU and Organized Crime, will play NYPD Detective Claudette Wallace, who has a reputation for being rigidly methodical and sharp as a tack.

Dominic Fumusa - "Melvin Oliva"

• Best known for Nurse Jackie and Godfather of Harlem, Dominic Fumusa is joining Dexter: Resurrection as fellow NYPD Detective Melvin Olivia, who seems to be the only investigator who totally understands his partner Claudette.

Emilia Suárez - "Elsa Rivera"

• Musician and Up Here co-star Emilia Suárez is set to play the confident and outgoing Elsa Rivera, a workplace buddy of Harrison Morgan's at the Empire Hotel.

Returning Stars From The Dexter-Verse

• Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan
• James Remar as Dexter's late father Harry Morgan
• Jack Alcott as Dexter's son Harrison Morgan
• David Zayas as Angel Batista
• David Madigoff as Iron Lake PD's Teddy Reed (from Dexter: New Blood)

Dexter: Resurrection is currently in production, which kicked off in January, and the eventual goal is for the spinoff to debut on Showtime and Paramount+ with Showtime in Summer 2025.

Considering how many child stars have walked away from Hollywood, it is always so inspiring to see an actor who started early and continues to act to this day. Of course, some of them would walk away from the spotlight or experience a bit of a career hiccup before making an impressive return, either with more acting roles or in a new medium altogether. See for yourself by taking a look at these former child actors who went on to impress us as adults.

Mayim Bialik

After hitting it big as the title character of the hit '90s sitcom Blossom, Mayim Bialik lived a normal life that included earning a neuroscience degree and starting a family. She made her major industry return by joining the Big Bang Theory cast as neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler, which led her to lead another sitcom called Call Me Kat and host Jeopardy! for a short time.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

After getting his start in movies like Angels in the Outfield and A River Runs Through It and playing an alien posing as a human teen on the great ‘90s TV show, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Joseph Gordon-Levitt never really went away from Hollywood. However, he did experience a moment of relative obscurity before roles in the likes of (500) Days of Summer, a few great Christopher Nolan movies, and his many collaborations with Rian Johnson put him on the A-List.

Jurnee Smollett

Jurnee Smollett made a grand impression in her youth with a recurring stint on Full House and as the title role of the acclaimed Black horror movie, 1997's Eve’s Bayou. Her career would take an astonishing turn toward A-list success in 2020 after her Emmy-nominated turn in HBO’s Lovecraft Country, which was followed by her role as Black Canary in DC’s Birds of Prey, her great performance in Amazon Prime’s The Burial, and more.

Jason Bateman

Following his debut appearance on Little House on the Prairie, his roles on sitcoms like Valerie (later called The Hogan Family after some major casting shake-ups), and his lead part in Teen Wolf Too made Jason Bateman an '80s heartthrob. Years later, playing Michael Bluth in the Arrested Development cast made him a comedy icon before his Emmy-nominated turn as Marty Byrde in Netflix's Ozark cast further proved his remarkable versatility.

Keke Palmer

Keke Palmer – who proved she was an acting powerhouse at 9 years old with her debut role in Barbershop 2: Back in Business before scoring her first lead role in 2006's Akeelah and the Bee – never needed a comeback moment because her notoriety never really stopped. However, it is clear that the multi-talented Emmy winner was never more popular before her scene-stealing performance in Jordan Peele’s 2022 alien invasion movie, Nope.

Josh Brolin

After making his acting debut at 17 in 1985's The Goonies cast, Josh Brolin rarely had another role quite as successful until, at 39, he was cast in 2007's instant classic Western movie, No Country for Old Men, as Llewellyn Moss. The son of James Brolin went on to receive an Oscar nomination for 2008's Milk, was cast as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first big bad, Thanos, and has given commanding performances in various other acclaimed films.

Drew Barrymore

Many forget that, years after 1982's E.T. the Extra-terrestrial made her a sensation at just 7 years old, Drew Barrymore had a few career shake-ups due to personal drama including addiction. Yet, her astonishing performance in the opening scene of 1996’s Scream brought her back to the A-List and earned her roles in blockbusters like Charlie's Angels and TV shows like Santa Clarita Diet before she found later success as a daytime talk show host.

Neil Patrick Harris

Playing the prodigious title role of Doogie Howser M.D. made Neil Patrick Harris a household name, at least for a while. His popularity would skyrocket, however, when he played Barney Stinson in the How I Met Your Mother cast, which opened up many avenues for the now multi-Emmy-winning performer, from working with David Fincher on Gone Girl to hosting award shows and taking the stage on Broadway.

Gaby Hoffman

Gaby Hoffman had an amazing run as a child actor in the late 1980s and early 1990s with roles in movies like Uncle Buck, Field of Dreams, Now and Then, and Sleepless in Seattle. After stepping away to focus on her education, she resurfaced as a sought-after talent with her Emmy-nominated starring role in the Amazon Prime original TV show, Transparent.

Ke Huy Quan

Following his iconic roles in classic '80s movies Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, as Short Round, and The Goonies, as Data, Ke Huy Quan’s role offers began to disappear. That would change decades later when he won an Academy Award for his uplifting performance in A24's acclaimed multiverse movie, 2022’s Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Anna Chlumsky

For years, Anna Chlumsky was best known for her heartbreaking performance as 11-year-old Vada in 1991's My Girl. Years later, she significantly increased her star power with her multi-Emmy-nominated role in the hit HBO series, Veep, as Amy Brookheimer.

Macaulay Culkin

One of the most essential examples of a “former child star” is Macaulay Culkin, who had Hollywood in the palm of his young hands after leading the original Home Alone cast as Kevin McCallister. He still acts from time to time, having shown up in the American Horror Story Season 10 cast or on HBO's The Righteous Gemstones, is in a power couple with Brenda Song, and finally received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.

Christina Ricci

Christina Ricci would continue to find notable acting roles beyond her star-making turn as Wednesday Addams in 1991's The Addams Family and 1993's Addams Family Values. However, starring in Showtime’s Yellowjackets cast did wonders for her modern notoriety before she revisited her breakout role with a fun part in Netflix’s Wednesday cast, opposite Jenna Ortega.

Christian Bale

Christian Bale owes his fame to starring in Steven Spielberg's 1987 period drama Empire of the Sun and the cult-favorite 1992 musical Newsies but his menacing turn in 2000's American Psycho earned him wide respect as an adult. However, leading Christopher Nolan's live-action Batman movies as Bruce Wayne made him one of the top actors of his generation, leading to his Oscar win for 2011’s The Fighter.

Danica McKellar

Danica McKellar embodied the ultimate girl next door when she was cast in the original Wonder Years as Winnie Cooper from 1988 to 1993. Much later in her career, she would acquire a much different fanbase when she became one of the most prolific stars on the Hallmark Channel with roles in movies like Christmas She Wrote and Swing into Romance.

Cole Sprouse

Cole Sprouse had already acted alongside his sibling, his identical twin brother Dylan, numerous times (such as in Big Daddy) before Disney Channel’s The Suite Life franchise made them teen idols. However, you could argue that Cole was never more popular after he joined the Riverdale cast as Jughead Jones.

Hilary Duff

There were few teen Disney Channel stars who became quite as iconic and as quickly as Hilary Duff after she starred in the title role of Lizzie McGuire. She would find later success in the scene-stealing supporting role of Kelsey Peters on TV Land’s Younger and as the lead protagonist of Hulu's short-lived but well-liked How I Met Your Mother spin-off, How I Met Your Father.

Josh Peck

Josh Peck first rose to fame on Nickelodeon by scoring major roles in kid-friendly comedies like The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh. He would later prove his worth as a versatile actor with more mature roles, such as on Fox's Grandfathered or in Christopher Nolan’s Best Picture Oscar winner, Oppenheimer.

Vincent Kartheiser

Vincent Kartheiser first made a name for himself by appearing in ‘90s teen movies like Alaska and Masterminds. However, he would find later and greater success after starring in AMC's Mad Men cast as Pete Campbell.

Kurt Russell

Following his feature debut in 1963’s It Happened at the World’s Fair alongside Elvis Presley, Kurt Russell continued to have success as the star of light and funny Disney movies like The Strongest Man in the World. In 1981, he reinvented himself as an action movie icon after playing Snake Plissken in John Carpenter’s Escape from New York, which led to plenty more awesome movie roles, such as R.J. MacReady in The Thing and Coach Herb Brooks in Miracle.

Kieran Culkin

Kieran Culkin was previously best known as Macaulay Culkin’s younger brother, who also showed up in the Home Alone movies and played Matty Banks in the Father of the Bride movies. However, he would become one of the more prolific Culkin siblings following his Emmy-winning turn in the Succession cast as Roman Roy and other widely acclaimed performances.

Johnny Galecki

For years, Johnny Galecki was best known for playing the third Rusty Griswold in 1989's National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and David Healy on Roseanne. He would later reprise the latter role on The Conners years after experiencing a career resurgence by playing Leonard Hofstadter on CBS' The Big Bang Theory.

Thomas Brodie-Sangster

Thomas Brodie-Sangster made an impressive feature film debut as Liam Neeson’s onscreen stepson in the 2003 rom-com, Love Actually. The British actor would later surprise audiences with his role as Jojen Reed in the Game of Thrones cast, leading to parts in the Maze Runner movies and Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit.

Tyler James Williams

Tyler James Williams became a bonafide sitcom star by playing a young Chris Rock on Everybody Hates Chris, which led to more interesting roles, such as Lionel in the acclaimed 2014 indie comedy, Dear White People. However, his recurring role on the Walking Dead cast and multi-Emmy-nominated turn as Gregory Eddie on the Abbott Elementary cast earned him wide respect as an adult actor.

Alisan Porter

Alisan Porter only appeared in a handful of movies, including Ron Howard's Parenthood and John Hughes' Curly Sue in the title role, before she walked away from acting when she was still very young. She would later reinvent herself as a talented musician when she competed in and won the tenth season of NBC's hit singing competition show, The Voice.

Ashley Johnson

Ashley Johnson broke into the business when she joined the Growing Pains cast as the Severs' youngest child, Chrissy. She is best known these days as a prolific voice actor who has breathed life into iconic roles such as Gretchen on Recess and Ellie in the hit post-apocalyptic video game The Last of Us, which was adapted into an HBO series that she cameoed on.

Jennette McCurdy

Jennette McCurdy became one of the most promising young talents to break through on Nickelodeon, having been cast on iCarly as the charmingly bullish Sam Puckett. However, she became better known and even better respected years later for her acclaimed, revealing 2022 memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, which focuses on her life as a reluctant child actor.

Natasha Lyonne

Natasha Lyonne began her career early in life – notably appearing on Pee-wee's Playhouse – and seemingly hit her peak in her late teens and early 20s with the American Pie movies and But I'm a Cheerleader before substance abuse caused her career to slow down. Years later, Emmy-nominated turns on TV shows like Orange is the New Black, Russian Doll (which she co-created), and Poker Face and a few acclaimed movie roles reignited her wonderfully versatile career.

Mara Wilson

Following her star-making roles in Mrs. Doubtfire, Miracle on 34th Street, and Matilda, Mara Wilson walked away from the spotlight soon after starring in Thomas and the Magic Railroad. She would later take up minor, infrequent parts after becoming better known for writing about her experiences as a top child actor.

Haley Joel Osment

Haley Joel Osment would never go on to play a role quite as iconic as young medium Cole Sear in, arguably, the best M. Night Shyamalan movie, The Sixth Sense (which earned him an Oscar nomination) at 11 years old. However, his work as an adult – such as recurring roles on hit series like Silicon Valley and The Boys and memorable parts in movies like Kevin Smith’s Tusk – has been nothing short of exciting.

Taylor Momsen

Taylor Momsen made a charming debut as Cindy Lou Who in 2000's How the Grinch Stole Christmas and, in her teens, made an impression on the Gossip Girl cast as Jenny Humphrey. She would later reinvent herself as the frontwoman of a successful rock group called The Pretty Reckless.

Lukas Haas

Following an acclaimed run as one of the most revered child actors of the 1980s for his roles in Witness and Lady in White, Lukas Haas went on to take progressively smaller roles as he grew up. However, much of the projects he has taken in his adulthood – including movies like Inception and Babylon and TV shows like The Righteous Gemstones and War of the Worlds – have been met with great receptions.

Even the greatest actors have ups and downs in their careers. For some, it's more dramatic than others. John Travolta was virtually forgotten about before Quentin Tarantino cast him in Pulp Fiction, for example. Then there was "The McConaissance," when Matthew McConaughey roared back to prominence. Those two are hardly alone in finding roles that brought them back. Here is our list of 32 roles that saved actors' careers. 

Pulp Fiction - John Travolta

This was a big one. In the late '70s, there wasn't a bigger star than John Travolta. On the strength of a hit TV show (Welcome Back, Kotter), and two huge hits at the box office with Saturday Night Fever and Grease, Travolta was on top of the world. Then, almost all of a sudden, poof, he was gone. In the 16 years between Grease in 1978 and 1994, he appeared in only 11 movies, and three of those were Look Who's Talking movies and most of them bombed. Then Tarantino came along and cast him as Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction and once again, Travolta was on top of the business and he's never looked back. 

Dallas Buyers Club - Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey exploded onto the scene in the early '90s in Dazed And Confused, where he delivered some of the most iconic quotes. In the mid-90s he started playing more dramatic roles in movies like A Time To Kill, Contact, and Amistad. By the early 2000s, he established himself as a popular lead in rom-coms. Then, after a few of his movies struggled to make an impact in the late 2000s, his star faded a little. That all changed in 2013 when he starred in, and won a Best Actor Oscar, for Dallas Buyers Club and The McConaissance was born. 

Stranger Things - Winona Ryder

With movies like Beetlejuice, Heathers,  The Age of Innocence, and Little Women, Winona Ryder was a superstar in the late '80s and early '90s. But in the early '00s, after some bad press for her shoplifting conviction, Ryder's star had fallen quite a bit and she even took a short break from acting. Though she never fell off the map completely, it wasn't until she starred in Stranger Things starting in 2016, that Ryder returned to the top. 

Judy - Renée Zellweger

Between Jerry McGuire in 1996 and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason in 2005, Renée Zellweger was one of the most popular and successful actors in Hollywood. With a slew of hits and awards,  Zellweger could do no wrong. Then, after a few less-than-successful movies, the industry showed how fickle it could be and she fell off the A-list. That all changed in 2019 with Judy, followed up with the TV series The Thing About Pam.

The Whale - Brendan Fraser

the 1990s were Brendan Fraser's decade. He had some massive hits, most notably The Mummy in 1999, but soon after, it's like everything dried up. He worked still, but barely and it left the world asking what had become of the heartthrob. He answered every one with his amazing performance in The Whale, winning the Best Actor Oscar and roaring back to the top. 

Birdman - Michael Keaton

In the 1980s, Michael Keaton delivered some of the funniest lines in some of the funniest movies. In the mid-90s and early 00s, his career slowed a bit. He was still working but wasn't the big star he'd been when he got the role in Tim Burton's Batman. That is, of course, until he starred as an actor much like himself in Birdman and brought the great actor back to the top of the A-list. 

House Of Cards - Robin Wright

When she burst onto the scene in The Princess Bride, the sky was the limit for Robin Wright. She reached new heights with her role as Jenny in Forrest Gump but found herself a tabloid regular with her marriage to Sean Penn. Ultimately, she found perhaps her greatest fame when she landed the role of Claire Underwood in Netflix's House Of Cards. 

Everything Everywhere All at Once - Ke Huy Quan

Has there ever been a feel-good story in Hollywood like Ke Huy Quan's return to fame after winning an Oscar for his role in Everything Everywhere All at Once? After decades of virtually not working in the industry, having found fame as a kid, Quan was once again the toast of the town. 

Halloween (2018) - Jamie Lee Curtis

She's been called the original slasher film "final girl" for her role in the original Halloween, and Jamie Lee Curtis rode that fame to the top of Hollywood. You might not remember, but in 2006 she actually announced her retirement from acting. Though she didn't give it up completely, she was very selective about roles, mostly playing supporting characters. That changed with 2018 Halloween when she roared back into the business head first. 

Sin City - Mickey Rourke

People forget just how huge Mickey Rourke was in the 80s. Men wanted to be him and women wanted to be with him, as they say. Then, he decided he'd put acting on the back burner and become a boxer. After a somewhat successful run, he returned to acting, and with Sin City and The Wrestler, Rouke was back on top in Hollywood

Scream - Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore became a huge star as a kid in the 1980s with movies like E.T. and Firestarter. In her teens, some personal problems derailed things a little, but when she starred in Scream, it brought her completely back and she's never looked back. 

Wild - Reese Witherspoon

When Reese Witherspoon won the Academy Award for her performance in 2005's Walk The Line, she was on top of the world. Just a few years later though, after a string of poorly performing romance movies Witherspoon dubbed her "love triangle period," her career hit a valley. Then came Wild which marked not only her resurgence as an actor but her transition to big-time producer as well. 

Iron Man - Robert Downey, Jr

There probably isn't a more famous comeback story than Robert Downey, Jr. After years of personal problems and addiction, his career looked like it was going to be completely wasted. Then Downey sobered up and landed the role of a lifetime as Tony Stark/Iron Man and the rest is history. 

Arrested Development - Jason Bateman

Jason Bateman has had quite a few ups and downs in his career. In the '80s, he was a teen star on the verge of big things, but then his career hit a serious lull. It really wasn't until the cult success of Arrested Development that Bateman once again commanded must-see TV. 

Ryan Reynolds - Deadpool

With big roles in 90s TV shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Two Guys And A Girl, Ryan Reynolds was poised for huge success. At first, that's what he found, but it started to fizzle out with a string of forgettable movies in the late '00s and early teens, including the disaster that was The Green Lantern. Then came another superhero movie in 2015 called Deadpool and now he will be doing that until he's 90. 

Yellowjackets - Christina Ricci

By no fault of her own, Christina Ricci's career hit a string of bad luck with projects that she shined in, but for one reason or another didn't capture the attention of audiences. That changed, obviously, with Yellowjackets starting in 2021. 

The Godfather - Marlon Brando

People forget that when Francis Ford Coppola cast Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone, Brando was on the outs in Hollywood. It's well-known lore at this point that Coppola had to fight to get the legend in the movie, but we're all grateful he did. 

24 - Kiefer Sutherland

With roles in Stand By Me, The Lost Boys,  and the two Young Guns movies, the late '80s and early '90s were big for Kiefer Sutherland. The mid and late '90s saw a bit of a lull with some box office disappointments. In 2001, Sutherland took on the role of Jack Bauer in 24, which quickly became one of the most popular shows on TV and Sutherland rode it to a new level of fame. 

 Orange Is The New Black - Natasha Lyonne

Legal and personal problems almost completely derailed Natasha Lyonne's promising career in the '00s. Thankfully, she got the help she needed and cleaned up, she scored a role on the Netflix hit Orange Is The New Black and she's continued to crush in a number of roles since. 

This Is Us - Mandy Moore

Around the turn of the century, Mandy Moore was unstoppable, starring in hit movies and charting on the Top 40. It was in 2016, however, when she was cast as the matriarch in This Is Us that her fame shot to an entirely new level. 

The Town - Ben Affleck

After a big decade in the '90s, Ben Affleck's fame in the '00s was more about the tabloids than it was about his filmography. It took a few years, but eventually, he proved to everyone how great a filmmaker he was with The Town in 2010, and ever since, he's been crushing it. 

Monster-in-Law - Jane Fonda

There weren't many bigger stars in Hollywood than Jane Fonda in the '70s and '80s. Then, in 1991, she announced she was retiring from acting, coinciding with her marriage to Ted Turner. She returned, to everyone's delight, in 2005's Monster-In-Law alongside Jennifer Lopez and has scoring hits ever since. 

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle - Neil Patrick Harris

Like his character on Doogie Howser, MD, Neil Patrick Harris was a prodigy. However after the hit show ended, he struggled to move into more adult roles. Surprisingly, it was playing a fictionalized version of himself in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle that landed him back on audiences' radar screens, and then he landed his most famous gig on How I Met Your Mother

Bohemian Rhapsody - Mike Myers

Mike Myers was everywhere in the 1990s. From SNL to Wayne's World (one of the best movies based on an SNL character) to Shrek to Austin Powers, he was on top of the world. In 2010, after a string of box office misses, he retreated from the scene, only to emerge with a glorious role in 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody. 

John Wick - Keanu Reeves

After proving to be box office gold for a couple of decades, Keanu Reeves had a string of misses in the late '00s, but when he teamed up with director Chad Stahelski for John Wick in 2014, he helped launch a whole new franchise that continues to pump out hits. 

Unfaithful - Diane Lane

Diane Lane has always been selective about her roles, going back to her early days in Hollywood in the '80s. This has led to multiple career "revivals" but the most notable has to be her turn in the hit Unfaithful in 2002 which earned her a Best Actress nomination at the Oscars in 2003. 

Airplane! - Leslie Nielsen

For a generation of audiences, Leslie Nielson will forever be known for his roles in some of the best parody movies like Airplane! and The Naked Gun. But before Nielson was delivering hilarious lines in those movies, he was known for his dramatic acting., though his career had slowed before he reinvented himself in the first Airplane!  

Striptease - Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds was one of Hollywood's biggest stars in the '70s, but a few poorly received movies in the '80s knocked him off that lofty perch. While many might point to his role in Boogie Nights in 1997 as reviving his career, it was really his hilarious performance in Striptease from a year earlier that put him back on the map.

No Country For Old Men - Josh Brolin

After finding success as a young star in the 1980s in movies like The Goonies, Josh Brolin hit a career drought that lasted more than a decade and left him wondering if he'd ever regain his earlier success. He did so and more after his amazing turn in No Country For Old Men in 2007 and has been one of Hollywood's best ever since. 

Trading Places - Don Ameche

With an amazing career that had started in the 1930s, Don Ameche's bookings dried up in the 1970s. Luckily for all of his, he landed a role as one of the Duke Brothers in Trading Places and he once again was a huge star, this time with a whole new, younger, generation of fans. 

Sea of Love - Al Pacino

It is easy to forget that even the greatest sometimes find themselves in slumps. Such was the case with Al Pacino in the mid 1980s. After all the incredible success of the '70s, he learned how fickle Hollywood can be and it wasn't until 1989's Sea Of Love that Pacino regained his rightful spot among the elite. 

Rocky Balboa - Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone is responsible for some of the biggest franchises in Hollywood history, but even the great ones stumble. Stallone had a pretty rough run of bad movies in the late '90s and early '00s, but when he returned to his roots in 2006's Rocky Balboa, he once again found his footing and not only starring in Rambo, reviving his other monster franchise, but he launched a new one with The Expendables.

Kids, we know the show may, in essence, be the story of Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and his crusade for true love, but out of the entire How I Met Your Mother cast, few would disagree that the funniest member of the gang is Barney Stinson. Only an actor as charming and versatile as Emmy winner Neil Patrick Harris could make an irritatingly self-righteous and despicably perverse creep such a blast to watch. Thus, we had no issue accepting the challenge of compiling the most hilarious quips and philosophies we heard from the Barnacle on one of the best sitcoms of all time.

“It's Gonna be Legen— Wait For It... Dary! Legendary!”

Probably the best variation of the most famous of Barney’s many signature catchphrases is, “It's gonna be legen— wait for it... and I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the second half of that word is DAIRY!”

“Suit Up!”

The first of Barney’s many signature catchphrases that HIMYM introduced us to was his demand that Ted adopt a more formal wardrobe similar to his. In fact, Barney is never not in a suit — not just because his mysterious occupation requires it, but because he believes it makes him seem cooler.

“Challenge Accepted!”

If there is one thing that Barney loves more than suits — and women, of course — it would have to be a good challenge. He is willing to take on any dare that someone provokes him with, or even one that no one was actually intentionally provoking him with in the first place. It often gets into some really absurd situations, like when he managed to get a girl’s number while speaking only like a dolphin.

“This Is Totally Going In My Blog!”

In the event that something amuses or infuriates him, Barney like to bring up that he chronicles his daily activities online. The one time we actually saw him updating his blog was HIMYM’s fun way of paying homage to Harris’ breakout role on Doogie Howser M.D.

“Think Of Me Like Yoda, But Instead Of Being Little And Green, I Wear Suits And I'm Awesome. I'm Your Bro. I’m Broda!”

One of the most refreshing details about a character like Barney, who is always trying to sell how cool he is, is that he is not shy about his love for the Star Wars movies. In fact, he mentioned one of the most iconic Jedi Masters, Yoda, in comparison to his coolness.

“One Of The 24 Similarities Between Girls And Fish Is That They’re Both Attracted To Shiny Objects”

One of the few times Barney is seen without a suit comes from one of the best How I Met Your Mother episodes, “Okay, Awesome.” On a night he, Ted, and Robin (Cobie Smulders) plan to hit a up a club, he chooses a shirt with a silvery finish, believing it might give him better chances with the ladies.

“When I Get Sad, I Stop Being Sad And Be Awesome Instead. True Story”

What makes Barney’s very shallow solution to Marshall’s (Jason Segel) grief over losing Lily (Alyson Hannigan) in Season 2 a classic line is not just its comedic overtones, but its serious undertones. We come to understand further down the line that much of Barney’s sleazy behavior is in response to a fear of abandonment, which he, admittedly, did a pretty bang-up job repressing at this time in the series. 

“A Lie Is Just A Great Story That Someone Ruined With The Truth”

We are, admittedly, of two minds about this Barney-ism. On the one hand, honesty is always the best policy, but on the other hand, many a great tale has been tainted by fact-checking, indeed.

“The Killer In A Horror Movie Does Not Stand In Front Of The Camp Cabins With A Bullhorn And Shout, ‘Attention, Unguarded Teens! At 3:00, I Will Jump Out Of That Closet And Hack You To Death With A Machete. By The Way, My Only Weakness Is Fire'"

In Season 3’s “Slapsgiving,” Barney attempts to downplay the anticipation for the third slap he is expected to receive from Marshall by claiming his literal countdown “took out all the suspense” of the occasion. He likens it to what a slasher movie might be like if the villain made his presence known.

“Step One, You Start Running. There Is No Step Two”

When Barney agrees to take Marshall’s place in a marathon, they question if he is up to the task, having not undergone the necessary training. Barney believes his two—nay, the one-step process is all he needs, only for the joke to later be on him when his legs stop working during his free subway trip.

“A Bro Never Cries. Exceptions: Watching Field Of Dreams, E.T., Or A Sports Legend Retire”

Barney would actually defy this article of the Bro Code upon the birth of his daughter in the series finale. However, the validity of the rule still stands, because who can resist tearing up at any of these occasions?

“You’re Forcing Me To Be The Voice Of Reason. And That’s Not A Good Look For Me!”

In the Season 1 finale, Ted’s plan to finally win Robin’s heart is to prevent her from going on a work trip by making it rain. Naturally, everyone finds this idea ridiculous, including Barney, who is normally the one who needs to be talked back down to reality. It's a fun role reversal, until Ted's rain dance actually ends up paying off at the end.

“God, It’s Me, Barney. What Up? I Know We Don’t Talk Much, But I Know A Lot Of Girls Call Out Your Name Because Of Me”

One of the few times we see Barney bow down by the grace of the Almighty occurs in Season 4’s “Not a Father’s Day,” when he begs for a desirable outcome after learning the last woman he was with might be with child. This is exactly the way we might expect Barney to pray: treating God like another bro in the way he speaks and still making it all about him.

“You Don’t Bring A Date To A Wedding, That’s Like Bringing A Deer Carcass On A Hunting Trip”

For starters, we cannot avoid pointing out just how rude it is for Barney to compare women to game animals, as he does after Ted grows desperate to find a plus-one for his friends’ nuptials in Season 2’s “The Wedding.” On the other hand, Ted would end up meeting one of his best pre-Tracy significant others, Victoria (Ashley Williams), at the reception, so Barney certainly has a point after all.

“Without ‘Me,’ It’s Just ‘Aweso’”

Here is yet another example Barney’s masterful wordplay… and another self-righteous proclamation of his awesomeness.

“Don’t Say You’re Gonna Kill Someone In Front Of Airport Security. Not Cool!”

In Season 1’s “The Sweet Taste of Liberty,” an attempt to pick up a couple of attractive travelers at an airport leads Ted and Barney to board a plane to Philadelphia, but they are escorted off under suspicion of criminal activity. An understandably irritated Ted tells Barney he is going to kill him, but we agree with Barney that that moment is not a good time to say that, even in jest.

“In My Body, Where The Shame Gland Should Be, There Is A Second Awesome Gland”

There is certainly some truth to Barney’s “true story” from Season 2. He certainly had no shame at that point.

“Oh, Ted, No. Do Not Tell Me You’re Going To Start Searching For ‘The One’ Again. The Only Time I Want To Hear You Saying ‘The One’ Is If It’s Followed By The Word ‘Hundredth’”

Interestingly, at that point in the series, Barney probably really had been with at least 100 women. He would eventually complete a list of 200 in Season 4’s “Right Place, Right Time.”

“There’s Only Three Things You’ll Ever See Me Fight: The Stubborn Clasp Of A Bra, Harassment Charges – Nine For Nine — And The Urge To Vomit When I See Someone Wear Brown Shoes With A Black Suit”

In Season 4’s “The Fight,” when MacLaren’s employee Doug (Will Sasso) enlists the guys’ help to beat up some customers in the back alley, they discuss the moral complications and necessities of resorting to violence. Before eventually agreeing to the idea to impress Robin, Barney claims his only reasons for “fighting” relate to his promiscuity and austere fashion sense.

“A Girl Is Allowed To Be Crazy As Long As She Is Equally Hot”

One of Barney’s funniest — yet, admittedly, most problematic — theories and/or rules is referred to as “The Hot/Crazy Scale,” which he explains in Season 3’s “How I Met Everyone Else” when Ted introduces the gang to a woman he met online. It posits that the more attractive a woman is, the more mentally unstable she may be, which — like most of Barney’s rhetoric — is absolutely absurd, but quite hilarious in the context of the episode.

“Ted, Bubala, If You Have A Crazy Story, I Was There. It’s Just A Law Of The Universe”

In Season 8’s “The Ashtray,” Barney tries to insert himself in Ted’s recollection of the last time he encountered The Captain (Kyle McLachlan), despite Ted’s insistence that Barney was not there. Obviously, Barney’s exaggerating here about it being a universal truth that he would be involved in any amusing tale, but he has been involved in most of the gang’s amusing tales, so we can’t say we disagree.

“There’s Only One Street Where That Is Normal. Here’s A Hint: A Big, Yellow Bird Lives On It”

When discussing how unusually genial Marshall is with fellow New Yorkers, Barney points out that such behavior in the Big Apple is only common in Sesame Street. Coincidentally, Jason Segel would go on to work with similar creatures when he wrote 2011’s The Muppets.

“You Poor Thing. Having To Grow Up In Canada, With America Right There”

The only thing that Barney is more than a pro-American is an anti-Canadian, as evident by his incessant ribbing of Robin’s native country. Despite this, he and the broadcaster shared an on-and-off romance that led to an inevitably doomed marriage, but Barney’s dislike of the Great White North had nothing to do with their split.

“Unfair? I Would Not Let You Take Care Of The Imaginary Kids I Make Up To Score With Single Moms!”

In the Season 3 premiere, “Wait for It,” Ted and Barney meet Amy (Mandy Moore), with whom they unwittingly break into the home of a family she used to nanny for to use their hot tub. She believes the family unfairly fired her, but Barney, to his credit, actually unleashes his parental instincts and points out just how irresponsible she is.

“Anytime A Bachelorette Party Drives Through The City In A Limo, Sticking Their Heads Out The Sunroof Shouting, ‘What’s Up, New York,’ WE Will Be What Is UP New York”

This comes from Barney’s inappropriately jubilant reaction to the news that Marshall and Lily have split, putting him under the impression that he, Ted, and Marshall are all single at the same time and can be wingmen together. Soon after, however, he realizes that Ted and Robin have finally become a couple in the Season 2 premiere.

“Every Halloween, I Bring A Spare Costume, In Case I Strike Out With The Hottest Girl In The Party. That way, I Have A Second Chance To Make A First Impression”

On All Hallow’s Eve, some children like to prepare two costumes in order to have a second round of trick-or-treating. Barney has amended this tradition so it applies to his chances of scoring a different sort of treat.

“I Have One Rule…”

Barney likes to say he has only “one rule” quite often, but tends to follow that with a different philosophy every single time, such as “never date a girl with a hook for a hand.” Of course, the addendum to these instructions is always the same: “Unless she’s hot.”

“You Can’t Ride The Tricycle Before Me. It’s Like Jimmy Olsen Beating Lex Luthor While Superman Watches Impotently In His Bed”

“The Tricycle” refers to a certain experience with two women at once, which Ted becomes close to having before Barney, which makes him quite jealous. Given his history with women, he believes that — between him and Ted — it would make more sense for him to be the first to achieve this feat and hilariously likens it to the Man of Steel’s good buddy defeating his nemesis instead.

“You Can Grab Life By The Crack And Lick The Crap Out Of It”

The crack in this Season 1 quote refers to the crack in the Liberty Bell, which Barney tries to convince Ted to lick after meeting a security guard for the national landmark on an impromptu trip to Philadelphia. Of course, anything sounds inappropriate when coming from Barney Stinson, so this sort of rhetoric is not much of a stretch for him.

“You Wanna Scoop Stuffing On Your First Day? Hello, NFL, Can I Be Quarterback Next Sunday?

Ted and Robin decide to spend Thanksgiving volunteering at a soup kitchen and are surprised to find Barney is its volunteer of the year. When Ted asks if he can take his place scooping stuffing, the veteran likens the job to playing the top position on a football team without prior experience.

“Oh Yeah, You Just Know She Likes It Dirty!”

In the pilot episode, when Ted first lays eyes on Robin, he brings Barney’s attention to her. Immediately, the player’s head goes right to the gutter, imagining how the woman who would one day be his spouse enjoys her nighttime activities.

“Moist…”

To prove a point to Lily (Alyson Hannigan) after she becomes upset with him for his brutally honest review of her experimental play, Barney writes his own intentionally irritating one-person show to prove a point to her. The first segment sees him repeat this word that he knows Lily cannot stand.

Say what you want about Barney Stinson, when it comes to scoring the funny lines on How I Met Your Mother, he won the challenge.

Spoilers for Doctor Who’s “The Devil’s Chord” are ahead. If you haven’t watched the episode, you can stream it with a Disney+ subscription. 

Doctor Who is in a new era on Disney+, and that means a new legion of villains has arrived too. That’s right, along with Ncuti Gatwa taking his place as the Fifteenth Doctor in Doctor Who’s cast, actors including Neil Patrick Harris and Jinkx Monsoon have also joined as members of a league of gods called The Pantheon. So, since we’ve met two big bads from this group, I had to ask Russell T. Davies if we’ll see more, and his response has me stoked!

Russell T. Davies Revealed How Many More Villians From The Pantheon We’ll Get This Season

Ahead of Doctor Who’s premiere on the 2024 TV schedule, I had the chance to speak with the series' showrunner Russell T. Davies about the first two episodes. While talking about Jinkx Monsoon’s character Meastro, I had to ask about what it’s like creating this legion of gods, and the writer told me exactly what we can expect moving forward. 

Giving me the “scoop” about how many more Pantheon members are coming, Davies said:

Isn’t that exciting! Along with Neil Patrick Harris’ Toymaker – who was the man who caused the Doctor to bi-generate in the 60th Anniversary special – and Jinkx Monsoon’s Meastro – who can literally steal music and cause world-ending damage – we can expect “at least three” more gods from this group. That means more A-list guest stars on Doctor Who and more campy villains for the Fifteenth Doctor to take on. 

While we don’t know who will play these three characters or when they’ll come, it’s exciting to know that the Timelord will be taking on Pantheon members in so many episodes. It helps create a bigger overarching story for the season, and who wouldn’t want more of these incredibly creative characters?

Along with dishing about the number of Pantheon villains coming, Davies also told me that they will be mixed into the season, noting that other sci-fi-heavy episodes are coming too. Here’s what he had to say about balancing this season’s bad guys and what we can expect as new installments come out:

I’m so excited about how these characters will up the stakes of Doctor Who, and this balance of hard sci-fi and fantasy we'll be getting. 

In “The Devil’s Chord” The Doctor says he can’t fight beings like The Toymaker and Maestro, and since he’s not one to say he can’t do something, you know this challenge is unlike anything he’s faced before. To that point, Davies told me that these villains make you feel like you’re on a roller coaster, and I can’t wait for the ride to keep going:

As we’ll talk about more, gods like The Toymaker and Maestro open a creative door for Davies to explore as he makes episodes, and that makes the stories even more fun to watch on screen. 

Russell T. Davies Explains Why He Loves Incorporating The Pantheon Into Ncuti Gatwa’s First Season As The Doctor

With at least a trio of villains from The Pantheon coming, it’s exciting to know that we’re going to get at least three more wildly creative big bads that all connect somehow. Davies said he’s had fun crafting these stories, and in a lot of ways it’s been freeing. 

When I asked him about writing episodes with antagonists like the ones played by Jinkx Monsoon and Neil Patrick Harris, the showrunner said:

In a world of science-fiction and fantasy that’s existed for decades, it’s always so fun to see The Doctor take on new challenges. I love that Davies is creating new rules and finding fresh ways for the Timelord to defeat his adversaries, and I can’t wait to see how the season continues!

To see the three Pantheon gods Russell T. Davies teased, make sure to stream the new season of Doctor Who as it airs every Friday at 7 p.m. ET on Disney+. 

One of the many joys of having children is getting the opportunity to embarrass them, which is as enjoyable as it is easy to do. I’d imagine that scenario is exemplified for kids whose dad is famous for comedic roles like Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother, and Neil Patrick Harris did not squander the opportunity presented to him when making his TikTok debut. The actor referenced his most iconic catchphrase, sending fans running to the comments to add their own favorite quotes from HIMYM (which is one of the best shows you can watch on Hulu right now).

Neil Patrick Harris’ kids, meanwhile, were just running, trying to get away from their dad’s most cringeworthy comments and dance routine. Thirteen-year-old twins Harper and Gideon (who he shares with husband David Burtka) may not be able to handle their dad’s “rizz,” but others clearly thought the actor’s premiere TikTok post was legen — wait for it — dary. See for yourself: 

This is parenting at its finest, if you ask me. For one, the young teens are fully game to play up Neil Patrick Harris’ lameness by telling him not to say “ramp up my rizz” and correcting him when he calls it “TikTak.” However, it looks like NPH legitimately gets to Harper by saying, “I’m gonna be a snack!” causing her to scream and run off-camera. 

Fans of How I Met Your Mother — one of Neil Patrick Harris’ best shows — couldn’t get enough of this Barney resurrection and were only too happy to welcome the actor to TikTok with their own references to HIMYM’s inside jokes. Comments on the post included: 

• I knew I needed Barney Stinson as Neil Patrick Harris as a dad. Thank you universe thank you – tai_ner
• this is legen………dary ✨ – german_flower2000
• SWARLEY has entered the chat and we are here for it!!! – bevbuckle
• Why am I still waiting for it tho Swarley?? 😭 – pistol2g
• You didn’t even suit up!!! 😝 ❤️ – jessicamontrone
• The way I YELLED at LEGEN…WAIT FOR IT…… 😂
• Legen…They may not be impressed or excited, but I am. And that’s what matters…dary – emjaytx

As Neil Patrick Harris clearly knows, there’s nothing better than being able to make your kids laugh, and if that means jumping up into a dance that’s deemed “too cheesy,” so be it. Even though Gideon was not willing to “wait for it,” ultimately finishing his dad’s quote before NPH got the chance to, it was fun to see the teen try not to crack a smile at NPH’s performance.

How I Met Your Mother remains beloved by fans, even 10 years since it aired its final episode on CBS — and despite the fact that it had really lost its way by the end. Hopefully NPH’s fans are in for more Barney shout-outs with the help of his kids, now that he’s on the “TikTak.” HIMYM is available to stream with a Hulu subscription, and be sure to check out what shows are premiering soon with our 2024 TV schedule. 

Doctor Who is a British institution, and while it’s made household names of the actors who take on the mantle of The Doctor, it’s also cast many stars in guest roles. So, with that in mind, we took a journey through the iconic modern era run of the beloved BBC show, and found 32 famous actors who played a minor role in this time lord’s journey. 

Jonathan Bailey

While we know and love Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton on one of Netflix’s best series, Bridgerton, and as Fiyero in the Wicked cast, you might not be aware that he was in Season 8 of Doctor Who in the episode “Time Heist.” He starred alongside Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor, playing the hacker Psi. 

Brett Goldstein

Brett Goldstein appeared in the Season 11 episode “The Tsuranga Conundrum '' alongside Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor. During the episode that saw The Doctor and co. stuck on a spaceship while an enemy tries to destroy it, and the Emmy-winning actor played the head nurse Astos. Then, two years later, Goldstein became a household name when he joined the Ted Lasso cast as the beloved grouchy player-turned-coach Roy Kent. 

Carey Mulligan

Before Carey Mulligan starred in movies like Drive, Promising Young Woman and Maestro, she played the young Sally Sparrow in the Season 3 episode “Blink.” Not only is this episode one with some of Doctor Who’s best quotes, but it’s also one of the most iconic stories in the show’s history as David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor took on the Weeping Angels. 

Olivia Colman 

In one of Doctor Who’s best episodes, and Matt Smith’s first as the Eleventh iteration of the time lord, Olivia Colman played “Mother,” a woman who is taken over by Patient Zero in “The Eleventh Hour.” After that, the actress, of course, went on to win an Oscar for The Favourite, and she starred in various other successful projects including the film The Lost Daughter, and the series Broadchurch and The Crown. 

James Corden

Long before James Corden was hosting The Late Late Show, he guest starred in two of Matt Smith’s episodes as his pal and flatmate Craig, most notably in the Season 5 episode “The Lodger.” 

Andrew Garfield

He may be best known as The Amazing Spider-Man and for films like The Social Network and Tick, Tick…Boom! but before all that, Andrew Garfield starred alongside David Tennant in two Doctor Who episodes, “Daleks in Manhattan” and “Evolution of the Daleks.” He played Frank, a boy who gets the Doctor to help get rid of the Daleks. 

Bill Nighy 

In one of the most moving episodes of Doctor Who, “Vincent and The Doctor,” Bill Nighy plays Dr. Black, who works at the museum where Vincent Van Gogh’s self-portrait is held. Before starring in the emotional Matt Smith-led episode all about the aforementioned painter, Nighy was best known for movies like Love, Actually and Pirates of the Caribbean. Since then, he’s been in films including About Time, Emma. and Living, which he got an Oscar nomination for. 

Daniel Kaluuya

You know Daniel Kaluuya? That’s right, the star of Jordan Peele’s movies Get Out and Nope and the man who won an Oscar for Judas and The Black Messiah. Well, before all of that, he played Barclay in Season 4 of Doctor Who in the episode “Planet of the Dead,” where he helped the Tenth Doctor fix an engine after a double-decker bus they were on got stuck in a very sandy place.  

Felicity Jones

Before she entered a galaxy far, far away in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story or received her Oscar nomination for The Theory of Everything, Felicity Jones guest starred on Doctor Who. In 2008, she played Robina Redmond opposite the Tenth Doctor in the episode “The Unicorn and the Wasp,” which was a fun take on Agatha Christie and her mysteries. 

Ian McKellen

While you don’t see Sir Ian McKellen in Doctor Who, his voice is undeniable, as he was the man behind The Great Intelligence in Matt Smith’s 2012 Christmas special  “The Snowmen.” This special appearance was just another feather in this iconic British actor’s cap in the world of genre as he’s best known for playing Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films as well as Magneto in the X-Men movies. 

Maisie Williams

Obviously, we know Maisie Williams as Arya Stark, an integral character in the Game of Thrones cast. However, she also starred in another series that’s considered a British institution when she appeared in four of Peter Capaldi’s Season 9 Doctor Who episodes – “The Girl Who Died,” “The Woman Who Lived,” “Face the Raven'' and “Hell Bent” – as Ashildr (AKA Me) the immortal Viking. 

Michael Gambon 

In Doctor Who’s 2010 Christmas special, “A Christmas Carol,” the Eleventh Doctor finds himself with a very Scrooge-like character named Kazran Sardick, played by the late Michael Gambon. The actor also played the antagonist’s father Elliot Sardick. Of course, before this, he also starred in another tentpole fantasy franchise by playing Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter movies. 

John Hurt 

In the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, John Hurt joined Matt Smith and David Tennant as a regeneration of the time lord named the War Doctor, who lived between the eighth and ninth versions of The Doctor. He was, of course, played by the late great John Hurt, who was known for iconic films like Alien and The Elephant Man. He was a legendary British actor, and he played a pivotal role in the long-running BBC series.

Gemma Chan

From the beloved and star-studded rom-com Crazy Rich Asians to Marvel’s The Eternals, Gemma Chan’s star has grown immensely over the last few years. However, before that, she played geologist Mia Bennett in the 2009 episode “The Waters of Mars” alongside David Tennant’s Doctor. 

Michael Sheen

David Tennant plays the demon to Michael Sheen’s angel in Good Omens, but before they shared the screen together, the Aziraphale actor voiced a House on the show that made his co-star a household name. During Matt Smith’s run as The Doctor during the episode “The Doctor’s Wife,” the actor known for Frost/Nixon and Masters of Sex voiced the evil entity that lived just outside the universe. 

Richard E. Grant

With over 140 credits to his name, including Gosford Park and Hudson Hawk, Richard E. Grant is a legendary British actor. In Doctor Who he played an equally iconic role as the antagonist Dr. Simeon in the Eleventh Doctor-led Christmas special “The Snowmen.” After that, the actor who played a variant of Loki in Marvel’s most timey-wimey show, returned to Dr. Simeon for the Season 7 episode “The Name of the Doctor.” 

Jonathan Groff

As one of the first big actors to guest star in Ncuti Gatwa’s run as the Fifteenth Doctor, Jonathan Groff joined the cast for a Regency-era episode. Before making a brief appearance on Doctor Who, Groff made a name for himself on Broadway in shows including Merrily We Roll Along and Hamilton. He also voiced Kristoff in both Frozen films, and starred in David Fincher’s series Mindhunter. Talk about range. 

Stephen Fry

During the Thirteenth Doctor’s run, Stephen Fry played a role in the Season 12 episode “Spyfall" as C, the head of MI6. An iconic character actor, Fry has over 190 credits to his name, and he is best known for films like Wilde and V for Vendetta. 

Simon Pegg

Long before he was choosing to accept missions with Tom Cruise in the Mission: Impossible movies and leading Edgar Wright’s Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy – which is Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End – Simon Pegg guest starred on Doctor Who. He played The Editor in Season 1 of the modern era, and went up against Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth generation of the time lord. 

Kylie Minogue

Yes, you read that right, Australian pop icon Kylie Minogue, singer of “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” and “Chiggy Wiggy,” did star in a 2007 episode of Doctor Who titled “Voyage of the Damned.” During Season 4, she was featured alongside Tennant’s Doctor as Astrid, an alien waitress. 

Helen McCrory

Helen McCrory played Rosanna in the 2010 Doctor Who episode “The Vampires of Venice.” The Peaky Blinders star joined Matt Smith’s Doctor as the leader of the Saturnyns. Along with the two iconic BBC shows, the actress also played Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies and starred in The Count of Monte Cristo. 

Toby Jones

In the episode “Amy’s Choice,” Toby Jones played the Dream Lord. This spooky villain that comes from the darker side of The Eleventh Doctor is another fun character in Jones’ cap, as he also voiced Dobby in the Harry Potter films and played Dr. Zola in the Captain America movies as well as Claudius Templesmith in The Hunger Games. 

Neil Patrick Harris

Joining the episode of the three-part 60th Anniversary special, Neil Patrick Harris played the Toymaker and witnessed the historic bi-generation. The How I Met Your Mother alum faced off against David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor as well as Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor. 

Timothy Dalton

Yep, you read that right, James Bond was in Doctor Who too. Timothy Dalton – who played 007 in License to Kill and The Living Daylights – guest starred in the Tenth Doctor’s 2009 episodes “End of Time” parts one and two where he played The Narrator and Lord President Rassilon, the founder and first leader of The Doctor’s home planet, Gallifrey. 

Brian Cox

In “End of Time,” Brian Cox wasn’t seen on screen with David Tennant, however, you can hear him, because he voiced Elder Ood, who is of an alien race the Doctor works to protect. While you don’t see Cox physically in the episode, you can see him as the patriarch of the Succession cast, Logan Roy, and you can check out movies of his, including Troy and Manhunter. 

Letitia Wright

Letitia Wright’s future is as the Black Panther, but prior to playing Shuri in the MCU and starring in other fun projects, she appeared in the Season 9 episode “Face the Raven” with Peter Capaldi’s Doctor. In Doctor Who, she played Anahson, an orphan looking for her mother. 

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

While Gugu Mbatha-Raw is best known for travelling through time and space as Ravonna Renslayer in Loki, she also played Tish Jones in four episodes of Doctor Who’s fourth season alongside David Tennant. The actress who played Martha’s sister in these episodes then went on to star in many films, including Belle, and series like The Morning Show. 

Thomas Brodie-Sangster

You likely know Thomas Brodie-Sangster as the kid from Love, Actually or from his work in The Maze Runner movies and The Queen’s Gambit. However, he also starred in a pair of Doctor Who episodes in Season 3 alongside David Tennant as Tim Latimer, a schoolboy from 1913.  

Alan Cumming

The host of The Traitors and star of The Good Wife, Alan Cumming starred as King James I in the Season 11 episode “The Witchfinders.” In the episode featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, this star of stage and screen played the king of a nation that was in the midst of a witch trial when the time lord showed up. 

Iain Glen

Iain Glen played Octavian in the 2010 Doctor Who episodes titled “The Time of Angels” and “Flesh and Stone.” While the actor made a name for himself on Game of Thrones as Jorah, Daenerys’ protector, he was trying to protect his team and The Doctor from the Weeping Angels in this set of Matt Smith-led episodes. 

Anthony Head

Anthony Head played Rupert Giles in 123 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Uther Pendragon in 43 episodes of Merlin. He also portrayed the evil headmaster Lassar in one episode of Doctor Who – “School Reunion” – back in its second season alongside David Tennant. 

Jacob Anderson 

You likely remember Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm from Game of Thrones or Louis de Pointe du Lac in the series Interview with a Vampire. In the midst of all that, he joined Season 13 of Doctor Who for a recurring role as Vinder, a pilot and guardian who watches from Observation Outpost Rose and worked with the Thirteenth Doctor across seven episodes. 

As you can see, the list of actors who have made minor appearances on Doctor Who is long and wickedly impressive. From legendary actors like Ian McKellen and Olivia Colman and modern TV staples like Jonathan Bailey and Brett Goldstein, it’s hard to believe that all these folks aided (or tried to stop) The Doctor on their wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey journey through time and space, but they all did!

Fame is a tricky thing, and sometimes the biggest stars in the world can lose it all. Personal problems, changing times, and other factors can lead to a once-promising career disappearing almost over night. These stars, however, reversed their trajectories and came out on top after enduring rough times, in this list of actors who made remarkable career comebacks. 

Robert Downey, Jr.

Robert Downey, Jr was one of the most promising young actors in Hollywood in the 1980s, starring in films like Less Than Zero, Chaplin, and Natural Born Killers. In the mid-90s his life went infamously went off the rails with substance abuse problems. When it looked like he'd thrown it all away, he cleaned up and his fame exploded as he became one of the highest-paid actors in the MCU.

Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda has had a few ups and downs in her career. After breaking out as a star in the '60s, she was later shunned by many for her notorious trip to North Vietnam during the war. She rebounded and starred in hits like 9 to 5 and On Golden Pond. In 1991, Fonda married Ted Turner and completely stepped back from acting. She didn't appear in anything at all until after their divorce in 2001, but roared back to prominence in the 21st Century. 

Rob Lowe

As a member of the "Brat Pack" in the 1980s, Rob Lowe was on top of the world. That all came crashing down when a videotape of Lowe in a compromising situation was leaked. His hard partying had caught up to him, and though he got sober in 1992, he would spend much of the decade playing smaller roles or in direct-to-video movies. In 1999 he landed the role of Sam Seaborn in The West Wing and was once again on top, where he's stayed ever since. 

John Travolta

In the late '70s, there was no bigger star than John Travolta. From Welcome Back, Kotter to Grease and Saturday Night Fever, Travolta was in some of the biggest pop culture touchstones of all time. Then the '80s came and his career hit a serious lull. While he was in the hit Look Who's Talking and its sequels, it was 1994's Pulp Fiction that vaulted Travolta back to the top. 

Natasha Lyonne

In the late '90s, Natasha Lyonne was one of a group of budding stars in American Pie and other movies like Slums Of Beverly Hills before health and addiction problems derailed her career. Thankfully for all of us she came out of those those stronger and has since starred in fantastic shows like Orange is the New Black and Russian Doll. 

Brendan Fraser

Brendan Fraser winning the Oscar for 2022 The Whale capped off one of the greatest comeback stories in Hollywood history. His work had all but completely dried up in the late '00s and 2010s, but his career has had the most incredible resurgence in the 2020s. 

Winona Ryder

Winona Ryder defined "movie star" for late Gen Xers in the '90s, but after her infamous arrest for shoplifting in 2001, her career nosedived and she didn't appear in a movie for about three years after. For the next decade or so, she worked steadily but didn't regain her star power from early in her career. That changed when she starred in Stranger Things, starting in 2016, and she once again became a huge star. 

Dave Chappelle

In 2003 Dave Chappelle debuted Chappelle's Show on Comedy Central and it became a massive hit. Despite the network throwing tens of millions of dollars at the comedian to keep the show going, he turned it down and walked away. Chappelle stayed away for most of the next decade before reviving his standup career, and while Chappelle continues to garner controversy, it's safe to say he's as big as ever. 

Betty White

When Betty White died in 2021 she was mourned by millions. The beloved actress had been a television star since the 1940s, but not all of those years were in the spotlight. After early success in the '50s in Life with Elizabeth and other sitcoms, White's career hit a lull for more than a decade. She returned to the big time with her role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the '70s, The Golden Girls in the '80s, and then later with Hot in Cleveland in the 2010s.

Ke Huy Quan

There is no more heartwarming story than that of Ke Huy Quan's resurgence. the actor, who first found fame as a child in The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, completely disappeared from Hollywood. For twenty years, he appeared in not one TV show or movie, before returning in 2021 with a role in Finding ʻOhana, and then winning an Oscar for his performance in 2022's Everything Everywhere All At Once. 

Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton was a controversial choice when he was cast as Batman in Tim Burton's Batman in 1989, but it shows just how famous he was at that time. After Batman Returns, Keaton's star faded and he starred in a run of films to mixed reviews. In 2014 Keaton starred in the very meta Birdman, as a former superhero star looking to regain his fame. It worked, at least for Keaton. 

Katharine Hepburn

Anyone with a career as long as Katharine Hepburn's is bound to have some slow periods. The most amazing fact of the legendary actress' career was the 34-year span between Best Actress Oscars. She won in 1934 for Morning Glory and then again in 1968 and 1969 for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and The Lion in Winter, respectively. She would win her fourth 13 years later in 1982 for On Golden Pond. 

Mickey Rourke

In the 1980s Mickey Rourke starred in a string of hits. Eventually, though, his reputation as being difficult to work with overshadowed his performances and he was left in the Hollywood wilderness until triumphantly returning to his past glory in 2008 with The Wrestler.

Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier was one of the biggest stars of the '50s, '60s, and '70s. Then came the '80s, when he stepped away from acting and concentrated on directing, to mixed reviews. In 1988 he turned back to acting and had a wonderful late career resurgence with films like Shoot To Kill and Sneakers. 

Jason Bateman

In the 1980s it looked like Jason Bateman was a surefire bet to be a huge star. Then the '90s came and his career pretty much dried up. He had some guest spots on TV shows, but little else. He was all but forgotten. In 2003, Fox debut a show you may have heard of, Arrested Development, with Bateman as the star, and he's been huge ever since. 

Keanu Reeves

It's hard to remember a time when Keanu Reeves wasn't one of the biggest stars in the world, but after his success in the '90s and early '00s with The Matrix and Speed and more, he starred in a slew of commercial and critical failures. Thankfully for Reeves fans everywhere, John Wick came along and Reeves was back on top of the mountain, where he still is. 

Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore almost became a Hollywood child star casualty after her string of hits as a kid in the 1980s. She had a rough childhood that led to substance abuse problems as a teenager. Against the odds, she got through it all and became an even bigger star on the other end. 

Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris first got famous as a child prodigy playing a prodigy on Doogie Howser, MD. After the sitcom ended in 1993, he struggled to regain that popularity. That is, until he played a fictionalized version of himself in Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle in 2004. Soon after he landed the role he's best known for, Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother. 

Matthew McConaughey

Most of Matthew McConaughey's early career was made up of starring roles in rom-coms. In 2009 the Lincoln Lawyer star took a two-year acting hiatus to re-evaluate his career. He emerged in 2011 by taking on more serious roles and leaving his rom-com leading man reputation behind. Since the so-called "McConaissance," McConaughey's become on of the most acclaimed actors of the 21st century. 

Nicolas Cage

By 2009 Cage was one of the biggest action stars in Hollywood, and one of the highest-paid actors in the business, but it seems he couldn't curb his spending and ended up in debt to the IRS and other creditors. As a result, Cage seemingly took every job offered to him, and he put out an immense catalog of straight-to-video movies that few people have ever watched. Finally, in 2022, Cage revealed he was finally debt-free and started being more selective with his roles. this led to acclaimed roles in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and 2023's Dream Scenario.

Mandy Moore

Mandy Moore's career started like a comet as a singer in the late '90s which she parlayed into an acting career. That career slowed way down in the early 2010s, only to be revived in a massive way with her starring role on the NBC hit This Is Us. 

Christian Slater

With starring roles in Heathers, Pump Up The Volume, and Gleaming The Cube, Christian Slater became a Gen X icon. He scored a number of high-profile roles in big-budget movies in the '90s, before work started drying up in the early 2000s. He returned to Hollywood prominence with his award-winning role in Mr. Robot and has maintained it ever since. 

Luke Perry

Luke Perry was one of the biggest television stars of the 1990s as part of the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210. After the show ended though, his star faded some. That is, until he was cast in the CW's Riverdale and he was discovered by a whole new generation of fans. Tragically, Perry died in 2019 at age 52. 

Christina Ricci

Childhood success for Christina Ricci didn't immediately translate to success as an adult. She's always worked steadily, but her fame never quite reached the heights of her early career in The Addams Family. That changed in 2021 with Showtime's Yellowjackets. 

Michelle Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh first found international fame with her roles in the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies and Crouch Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She maintained a level of success, but she exploded to new heights with her Oscar-winning turn in 2022's Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. 

Neve Campbell

Neve Campbell was huge in the '90s with her starring role in the show Party Of Five and movies like The Craft and Wild Things. In the early 2000s, she starred in the Scream franchise, but hit a lull after that. Recently, she's been back on top with roles in The Lincoln Lawyer and Twisted Metal. 

Channing Tatum

Fans might not think that Channing Tatum has never had a career lull, but he has actually had a couple. He's always had to fight the idea that he's all looks and little substance (which is far from accurate), and that has affected his career at different points. He's always rebounded with strong performances like the one in Foxcatcher, however. 

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence's career hasn't really had a financial downturn, her lull was completely her choice. After a couple of poorly reviewed films and becoming the most famous victim of the iPhone hacking scandal, Lawrence stepped away from acting for two years in 2019. She triumphantly returned in the great movie Don't Look Up in 2021. 

Patrick Dempsey

Patrick Dempsey was first famous for starring in teen comedies like Loverboy and Can't Buy Me Love. He bounced around for a few years after that, working steadily but hardly a star. That changed in a big way when he landed the role of Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in 2005 on Grey's Anatomy. 

Marlon Brando

The 1960s weren't kind to Marlon Brando. After establishing himself as a bonafide star and one of the finest actors of the 20th century in the '50s, his mercurial nature earned him a reputation as difficult to work with. A string of box office failures didn't help. Famously, he pushed hard to get the role of Vito Corleone in The Godfather, and wow, was that the right move! He won an Academy Award and reminded everyone how great an actor he was. 

David Carradine

Leave it to Quentin Tarantino to help revive a star's career like he did with John Travolta. David Carradine was huge in the 1970s as the star of Kung Fu, and while he always found work, it took until Kill Bill in 2003 that he found that same level of fame again. 

Kiefer Sutherland

After becoming one of the biggest teen idols of the '80s, Kiefer Sutherland spent most of the '90s in smaller, supporting roles. In 2001, however, he landed the role of Jack Bauer in 24 and it became the part he's most known for, becoming a television icon over the run of the show. 

Fame, as they say, is fleeting, and these actors prove there can always be a second act in Hollywood. 

If you’re a fan of Walt Disney World, there’s a better-than-even chance your favorite park is Epcot. There’s something about that park that many fans love, be it the unique environments, the diversity of food in World Showcase or, in many cases, the diversity of alcoholic beverages one can find in World Showcase. Neil Patrick Harris understands this intrinsically.

Harris is a regular host at Epcot’s Candlelight Processional every year because he’s a very open and honest Disney Adult. He loves the parks as much as the rest of us, and he understands them in a way that only those of us who are a bit (or perhaps more than a bit) obsessive truly do. Harris likes to include jokes for the Epcot audience, often some that are a little inside baseball, and now he’s going viral (thanks to friend of this writer, Main St. Magic) for one that any Epcot guest will appreciate. "Welcome to Epcot, which stands for Ecery Parent Can Order Tequila."

The relationship between Epcot and alcohol is one that goes back to the park’s opening. Epcot was the first Disney Park to sell alcohol to the general public. While every North American Disney Park now serves booze in at least some capacity (even Disneyland itself sells booze in a few spots), Epcot still has the reputation as the park at which to drink And yes, tequila is part of the reason why.

Because World Showcase at Epcot has different pavilions celebrating different nations of the world, adult guests can enjoy the alcoholic beverages that each nation is known for. This can mean enjoying tequila in Mexico, sake in Japan or distinctly British beer in the U.K. “Drinking Around the World,” i.e. sampling the alcoholic offerings from every nation in World Showcase, has become a popular (though certainly unofficial) attraction at the park. 

Harris is, of course, also making a joke about the fact that if you’re a parent visiting Epcot, you could probably really use a drink after spending several hours with your kids in a theme park. Harris is a parent himself, so he knows of what he speaks. 

Some people think alcohol is given too much focus by guests at Epcot, and certainly nobody wants to see guests overindulging and becoming a problem. It’s not actually that common, but it does happen. Alcohol is frequently involved in incidents that end up with people banned from Walt Disney World after guests imbibe too much and then do something they probably wouldn’t do sober. 

There's an extra reason to celebrate at Epcot this season. The construction walls surrounding the newest Disney World attraction and the park's multi-year update are finally down. While not everybody loves the new World Celebration, we could probably all raise of glass of tequila in celebration that the walls are all finally down. 

The third and final Doctor Who 60th anniversary special, titled “The Giggle,” is just a few days away from appear, and with it will bring arguably the most famous member of the 60th anniversary’s cast. Las year, it was announced that Neil Patrick Harris was joining Doctor Who to play, as showrunner Russell T. Davies described him “the greatest enemy the Doctor has ever faced,” and this was later revealed to be The Toymaker. Funny enough though, though Doctor Who has developed a wider global fanbase since the show relaunched in 2005, the How I Met Your Mother alum had never heard of it when he was approached for the role.

Davies recounted how he looped Harris into the Doctor Who 60th anniversary proceedings during an interview with EW, as well as explained what made the actor the perfect fit for this role:

The Toymaker is actually an established Doctor Who villain, although unlike adversaries like the Daleks, Cybermen and Master who frequently appear, this character hasn’t appeared onscreen since “The Celestial Toymaker” serial premiered in 1966. Michael Gough played him back in the day, and most of the serial is now missing. Nearly 60 years later, Neil Patrick Harris is getting to put his stamp on The Toymaker, and though he wasn’t familiar with the timey-wimey ride that is Doctor Who, Davies knew that his penchant for games and magic tricks made him just the man to revive the long-absent antagonist.

There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding what The Toymaker is up to “The Giggle,” although as teased in the Doctor Who trailer released in September, he’s responsible for the wave of madness that’s swept the Earth, which was set up at the end of “Wild Blue Yonder.” This time around, The Toymaker will face off against David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble. Here’s what Russell T. Davies had to say about Neil Patrick Harris acting opposite Tennant and Tate:

In addition to bringing The Toymaker back, “The Giggle” will also officially introduce Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor, although we did get a cameo from him a few weeks back when he was inserted into the 2013 docudrama An Adventure in Time and Space. So even though it was just last year we watched Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor shockingly regenerate into the Fourteenth Doctor, and a only few weeks back when we watched him establish a hilarious tie to the Daleks, David Tennant’s new iteration of the Time Lord is already stepping away from the spotlight. What I’m interested to learn, though, is if we’ll see more from The Toymaker following the 60th anniversary, whether he’s reprised by Neil Patrick Harris or a new actor takes over the role.

Although Doctor Who continues to air on BBC One in the United Kingdom, a Disney+ subscription is now required to watch new episodes elsewhere in the world. Following the release of “The Giggle” on Saturday, Ncuti Gatwa’s first full Fifteenth Doctor story, “The Church on Ruby Road,” drops December 25 on the 2023 TV schedule.

The phrase “former child star” is most often associated with someone who was famous when they were much younger, but is not quite as well-known — or, perhaps, does not even act anymore — as a grown-up. Yet, for every starlet who has risen and fallen, there are just as many who have beaten the odds and have gone onto bigger and better things as adults, like these beloved celebrities.

Macaulay Culkin

The first person you might think of when you think of “former child stars” could be Macaulay Culkin, who was on top of the world when he led the original Home Alone cast as Kevin McCallister. While his notoriety would slow in subsequent years, it is always a treat to see him show up in ensembles like the American Horror Story Season 10 cast or Kid Cudi’s Entergalactic cast.

Lukas Haas

Lukas Haas was one of the most acclaimed young actors of his time with leading roles in 1985’s Witness, opposite Harrison Ford, and the underrated ghost story, Lady in White, from 1988. He has since made a living taking smaller roles in otherwise big movies like Inception and Babylon, plus he's shown up on TV shows like The Righteous Gemstones and War of the Worlds.

Jurnee Smollett

With an Emmy nomination for HBO’s Lovecraft Country, a scene-stealing role in DC’s Birds of Prey, and a stellar turn in Amazon Prime’s The Burial, Jurnee Smollett has established herself as one of the strongest talents of her time. However, that was already clear with her recurring role in Full House and her astonishing performance in 1997’s acclaimed Black horror movie, Eve’s Bayou, when she was still a child.

Jason Bateman

From his debut role on Little House on the Prairie to his years on the sitcom Valerie (which would become The Hogan Family), Jason Bateman showed great versatility as a performer in his younger years. He has upheld that reputation ever since, as seen by his Emmy-nominated work leading the Arrested Development cast and, later, the Ozark cast. His ability to shift from starring in funny movies like Horrible Bosses to dramas like Air is remarkable.

Dakota Fanning

Racking up more than 20 credits before she turned 10, Dakota Fanning was everywhere in the early 2000s — catching the attention of filmmakers like Steven Spielberg for War of the Worlds and holding her own against actors like Robert DeNiro in Hide and Seek. Save her age, nothing much has changed for the actor, who appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood cast and reunited with her Man on Fire co-star, Denzel Washington, in 2023’s The Equalizer 3.

Ryan Gosling

A 13-year-old Ryan Gosling entered show business as a Mouseketeer, paving the way for him to star in back-to-back scary anthology TV shows for kids (Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Goosebumps), lead Young Hercules, and more. Leading 2004’s The Notebook cast paved the way for him to be an action hero in Drive and Blade Runner 2049. On top of all that, he also earned Oscar nominations for Half Nelson and La La Land, and made us laugh as part of the The Nice Guys ensemble and the Barbie cast as Ken.

Brie Larson

After some faux ads on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show marked her debut at 9, Brie Larson went on to star in a family sitcom with the late Bob Saget (Raising Dad), was in a YA novel adaptation (Hoot), and she even had a singing career in her teens. Now, she is a comic book movie star (for appearing in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and playing the MCU’s Captain Marvel), and she has an Oscar for Room from 2015.

Kenan Thompson

On All That — Nickelodeon’s answer to Saturday Night Live — one of the young cast’s most prominent breakouts was Kenan Thompson, who went on to co-lead his own kid-friendly sitcom with Kel Mitchell, aptly named Kenan & Kel. The Emmy winner went on to break the record for longest-running SNL actor and lead his own adult sitcom, Kenan.

David Krumholtz

After making his debut playing a child actor in 1993’s Life with Mikey, David Krumholtz became a prominent child actor with roles in Addams Family Values as Wednesday’s love interest and Tim Allen’s head elf, Bernard, in The Santa Clause. The crime procedural, Numb3rs, earned him greater recognition, leading to a career that includes lending his voice to Sausage Party, appearing in the Oppenheimer cast, and reprising Bernard on Disney+’s series, The Santa Clauses.

Neil Patrick Harris

Playing a kid genius on Doogie Howser M.D. made Neil Patrick Harris a household name, which he acknowledged when he later played himself in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. Of course, the five-time Emmy winner is better known today as Barney Stinson from the How I Met Your Mother cast, Count Olaf on Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, and so much more.

Josh Brolin

At 17, first-time actor Josh Brolin immediately made his mark on pop culture as part of the Goonies cast in the role of Brand Walsh. However, he really got heads turning at 39 when he starred in one of the best movies of the 2000s, No Country for Old Men. The son of Hollywood veteran James Brolin has an Oscar nomination for Milk and multiple comic book movie roles under his belt (Jonah Hex, MCU’s Thanos, and Cable in Deadpool 2), among other great achievements. 

Haley Joel Osment

After debuting in Forrest Gump and starring on The Jeff Foxworthy Show, Haley Joel Osment’s Oscar-nominated performance in, arguably, the best M. Night Shyamalan movie, 1999’s The Sixth Sense, made him a sensation. He went on to earn leading parts in Pay It Forward and Steven Spielberg’s A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. More recently, Osment has been known to pop up in the most unexpected places — Kevin Smith’s Tusk, a guest role on The Boys, Netflix's animated fantasy series Dogs in Space, to name a few — but always with grand results.

Ethan Hawke

After debuting in Joe Dante’s Explorers at 15, Ethan Hawke only grew in prominence in his later teens and throughout his 20s by starring in Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites, etc. He went on to earn Academy Award nominations for Training Day and Boyhood. He completed Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy with 2013’s Before Midnight, became a Scream King with great horror movies like Sinister, and he's done a fair amount of work behind the scenes, too.

Abigail Breslin

Just four years after M. Night Shyamalan gave 6-year-old Abigail Breslin her big break with Signs, her role in the Little Miss Sunshine cast made her one of the youngest Oscar nominees of all time. As she matured, so would her roles — such as a teenage murder suspect in Stillwater or a vigilante in the Accused cast for Fox.

Mayim Bialik

Mayim Bialik stole the show from the Big Bang Theory cast as Amy Farrah Fowler and later led Fox’s Call Me Kat in the title role. However, the Jeopardy! host’s status as sitcom royalty dates back to the ‘90s as the star of Blossom.

Brenda Song

Perhaps Brenda Song’s most iconic character is London Tipton from the Suite Life franchise — which is just one of the roles that made her a prominent Disney Channel star. Beyond the children’s cable giant, she was in one of the best David Fincher movies, The Social Network, led Netflix’s Secret Obsession, and had a main role in Hulu’s Dollface.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Despite being removed for disruptive behavior when making his show business debut on Romper Room at 3 years old (as he revealed to David Letterman), Leonardo DiCaprio went on to lead a winning child actor’s career that included a season on Growing Pains and an Academy Award nomination for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? Things would only get better as he grew up, earning even more Oscar nominations — and one win for The Revenant — and becoming as important to Martin Scorsese’s filmography as his This Boy’s Life co-star, Robert DeNiro, whom he reunited with in 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

Tyler James Williams

Tyler James Williams started out appearing on Sesame Street before landing the title role of Chris Rock’s autobiographical sitcom, Everybody Hates Chris. Following an acclaimed indie comedy (Dear White People) and a recurring role on the Walking Dead cast, the actor became sitcom royalty again when he joined the Abbott Elementary cast, which earned him multiple Emmy nods.

Kurt Russell

Former Disney star Kurt Russell made his feature debut in 1963’s It Happened at the World’s Fair alongside Elvis Presley, and he went on to play him in a made-for-TV biopic and Forrest Gump. Several great movie roles later, Russell is one of the top action heroes of all time, and now he's working with his family by joining the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters cast alongside his son, Wyatt, who is playing his younger self.

Jodie Foster

After getting her start on TV at a very young age (the first gig being The Doris Day Show), Jodie Foster got a head start on the more mature roles she would become known for when she appeared in Taxi Driver at 14. The two-time Academy Award winner (for The Accused and Best Picture Oscar winner The Silence of the Lambs) would continue to work from both in front of and behind the camera.

Johnny Galecki

In 1989, 14-year-old Johnny Galecki appeared as Rusty in the National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation cast, and he also starred in another holiday classic, Prancer. I would not be surprised if many did not realize that Leonard from The Big Bang Theory was the same actor, but they were likely more hip to that fact by the time he reprised his role from Roseanne, David Healy, on The Conners.

Miranda Cosgrove

Even with Jack Black in the lead, Miranda Cosgrove stole the show in 2003’s School of Rock, and she went on to do the same thing as the evil Megan in the Nickelodeon sitcom, Drake & Josh. One of her most notable credits as an adult was a Paramount+ exclusive revival of iCarly — another Nickelodeon show she led as a teen.

Keke Palmer

Her bombastic debut role in Barbershop 2: Back in Business made it clear that then-9-year-old Keke Palmer was a powerhouse talent. The Emmy winner would continue to demonstrate her skill as the lead of Akeelah and the Bee and much later in life as part of Jordan Peele’s Nope cast.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar

While Zach Morris from the Saved by the Bell cast is still the role he is best known for — he even reprised it in a Peacock exclusive revival — Mark-Paul Gosselaar managed to prove his versatility in later years. He had a successful stint as a detective on NYPD Blue, played a rebellious lawyer on Franklin & Bash, and an abusive captor in NBC’s Found.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Before starring on the great ‘90s TV show, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Joseph Gordon-Levitt made multiple TV appearances and starred in classic movies like Angels in the Outfield and A River Runs Through It. These days, he is best known for his many collaborations with Rian Johnson, his Golden Globe-nominated turns in (500) Days of Summer and 50/50, and running the creative collaboration platform HitRecord.

Sean Astin

Before playing the title role of Rudy and starring in the Lord of the Rings movies as Sam, Sean Astin was best known as Mikey in The Goonies. In addition to his accomplished voice acting career, one of his most celebrated roles as of late is Bob Newby from the Season 2 cast of Stranger Things — a show very much inspired by The Goonies.

Kirsten Dunst

After making her film debut in star-studded The Bonfire of the Vanities, Kirsten Dunst really made an impression at 12 playing a 70-year-old bloodsucker in Interview with the Vampire. Starring in the Spider-Man movies as Mary Jane Watson swung her right into the A-list and, in 2022, she received an Academy Award nomination for The Power of the Dog.

Kieran Culkin

With his roles in the Home Alone movies and in Steve Martin movies (both parts of Father of the Bride), it seemed like Kieran Culkin was on his way to the same level of stardom as his brother, Macaulay. However, it was not until later in life when he was thrice Emmy-nominated for starring in HBO’s Succession cast that he became the star he was destined to be.

Selena Gomez

Before leading Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place made Selena Gomez a star, she got her start on Barney in the early 2000s. She now has two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her performance on Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building cast and a Daytime Emmy nod for her Max original cooking show, Selena + Chef.

Elle Fanning

Before breaking out in the Super 8 cast, Elle Fanning’s claim to fame for a while was starring as a younger version of sister, Dakota, in I Am Sam and Taken. Now, she has an Emmy nomination for leading Hulu’s The Great, which is just one of the many Victorian-era roles she has played in more recent years.

Christina Ricci

For years, Christina Ricci’s performance in Barry Sonnenfeld’s Addams Family movies was the definitive iteration of young Wednesday Addams. The Yellowjackets cast member got to revisit those days with her supporting role on Netflix’s Wednesday cast, opposite Jenna Ortega in the lead this time.

Danica McKellar

Some of the most memorably endearing moments from the original Wonder Years involved Danica McKellar’s Winnie Cooper and her puppy love relationship with Fred Savage as Kevin Arnold. Romance is a big part of the actor’s career these days, primarily appearing in popular Hallmark movies like Christmas She Wrote and Swing into Romance.

Knowing the kind of career they would one day lead, I am sure these celebrities wear their “former child star” identities as a badge of honor.

How I Met Your Mother is beloved to this day for its ongoing gags, like the Lemon Law and Robin Sparkles. However, one of the most iconic inside jokes from the CBS comedy has to be the Slap Bet and Slapsgiving. This gag that spanned the course of eight seasons centered around a bet Barney and Marshall made in Season 2, and it spiraled into a maniacal plan Jason Segel’s character developed to torture Neil Patrick Harris’s character. With each slap, the plan got more detailed and outlandish, which in turn made it more extra and funny. However, the stories behind both the origins of the Slap Bet and its holiday Slapsgiving make the HIMYM joke even funnier. 

How The Slap Bet Played Out Across Eight Seasons Of How I Met Your Mother

The Slap Bet began in Season 2 during Episode 9 – which is considered one of the best HIMYM episodes – after Marshall won a bet with Barney about a secret Robin was keeping regarding her short-lived career as Canadian pop star Robin Sparkles. When Neil Patrick Harris’s character loses the bet, Lily, the Slap Bet Commissioner, gives him the choice of ten slaps then and there or five that could be randomly used anytime. Barney chooses the five slaps, beginning the long and arduous journey. 

The second slap occurs in Season 2, Episode 16 when the gang is forced to see Barney’s terrible play. After that things get really crazy, and Slapsgiving is introduced. In Season 3, Episode 9 – “Slapsgiving” – Marshall tortured Barney with a slap countdown clock, slap-related decorations and an original song for after the slap. Following the first hit-worthy holiday, slaps four and seven were both dolled out on Thanksgiving. 

While Marshall initially has five slaps, the rules changed in Season 7 when Barney accepted three extra slaps so he could take off the ducky tie he’d been wearing for an entire year. Following that, Segel’s character gave out the rest of the slaps in ways that included Boyz II Men and other silly flourishes, like a blanket with a tiger on it, and it ended when Marshall slapped Barney right before he married Robin, effectively ending the bet that lasted 8 years. 

If you are looking to watch all seven episodes that contain slaps from the Slap Bet, I’ve got you covered:

• “Slap Bet” Season 2, Episode 9 
• “Stuff” Season 2, Episode 16 
• “Slapsgiving” Season 3, Episode 9 
• “Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap” Season 5, Episode 9 
• “Disaster Averted” Season 7, Episode 9 
• “Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra” Season 9, Episode 14 
• “The End  of the Aisle” Season 9, Episode 22 

What Inspired The Slap Bet In How I Met Your Mother?

The inspiration behind the Slap Bet is so simple, that I was honestly shocked. While speaking with EW in 2017 for an oral history about one of How I Met Your Mother’s best inside jokes, creator and showrunner Carter Bays said:

Isn't that wild? I guess it makes sense that an idea as bonkers as this one was inspired by real life though, because I'm not sure how they'd come up with it otherwise.

After Marshall administered the first slap in the episode “Slap Bet,” he gets Barney again later in Season 2. However, in Season 3 the stakes were heightened with the iconic “Slapsgiving” episode. Bays revealed why they decided to place Neil Patrick Harris’ next slap during the holiday episode, saying:

From then on, Marshall’s methods for distributing the slap got more extra, more tortuous, and occasionally more musical. And just like how Barney never knew when it was coming, we rarely did too, unless it was Thanksgiving.

The Story Behind Slapsgiving

Bays said that while they were trying to write a Thanksgiving episode where Ted and Robin deal with their breakup in Season 3, they realized the B-story could be all about Barney’s third slap. He said that the writer’s room was cracking up over the idea of “Slapsgiving,” and creator and showrunner Craig Thomas knew it “could become a thing.” Well, not only did it turn into a thing, but Slapsgiving got two sequel episodes, showing just how legendary the bit became.

Continuing to talk about the evolution of the Slap Bet and Slapsgiving Thomas revealed why they all loved working on Marshall’s extra holiday hijinks together. He told EW:

Seeing the look of horror on Barney's face when he realizes what the countdown is for made me cackle, and Marshall's original song about getting slapped was not only hilarious, but a fun way to show off Segel's and Harris's musical talents. Overall, "Slapsgiving" not only delivered on this ongoing bit, but it showed off its stars' skills as comedians by way of this dumb little joke. 

Slapsgiving really does bring “so much joy,” and each time I watch How I Met Your Mother I can’t help but laugh over all the effort put into pulling off the Slap Bet and Slapsgiving. 

Jason Segel Actually Slapped Neil Patrick Harris

Due to the fact that both Jason Segel and Neil Patrick Harris are brilliant physical comedians, and they were very committed to playing Marshall and Barney the best they could, the slaps were real. In the EW story, it was revealed that in rehearsal, Segel said when they got on screen he would actually slap NPH. Harris explained that he wanted to play out Barney’s wild actions for real too, he didn’t want to fake it. With that said, the Uncoupled star explained:

It turns out the two How I Met Your Mother cast members, Harris specifically, took the bit so seriously, that the cast was worried he would get hurt. Cobie Smulders, who played Robin said:

Filming the slaps was taken seriously too. The Morning Call went to the set in 2007, via Looper, and Jason Segel made a comment about how they shoot the moments, saying backhanded slaps were not allowed. The Shrinking star continued, saying:

The commitment to the bit and the detail put into pulling off the Slap Bet on How I Met Your Mother from everyone in the cast and crew is commendable, and I honestly love how seriously they took this silly premise. To this day, the gag is remembered as a highlight of HIMYM, and I know I certainly think about it just about anytime the show is mentioned. 

If you are looking to go back and watch How I Met Your Mother, and the eight slaps in all their glory, all you need is a Hulu subscription. 

Spoilers below for the latest episode of Celebrity Family Feud, if that’s the kind of thing that puts a bee in your bonnet. 

Following its ninth season premiere, which brought together both generations of Yellowjackets’ ensemble cast for its first half, the Steve Harvey-fronted Celebrity Family Feud delivered another episode devoted to a specific series: Hulu’s reality competition Drag Me to Dinner. The 2023 newcomer boasts Neil Patrick Harris and hubby David Burtka as executive producers and judges, and the pair were joined on stage by a selection of the show’s standout drag queens, not to mention drag king Murray Hill. The episode was a total scream from end to end, but it was when fruit started coming out of wigs where things reached must-watch heights.

As seen in the highlight reel below, Celebrity Family Feud host Steve Harvey made it all the way to the second face-off before his mind melted before audiences’ eyes. All thanks to contestant Willam Belli having the unpredictably brilliant idea to bring some potassium to the podium. Check out the video below to see how it all plays out. 

As if Willam and Burtka's signature handshake wasn't enough to send a befuddled Harvey over the edge, he didn't even have a chance to start asking the survey question before Willam reached up and maneuvered that exquisite hairpiece in such a way that he pulled out a banana. And this was no mere prop banana. It was sustenance!

Family Feud is not the kind of game show where contestants regularly engage in chowing down in the middle of an episode — not a big push for that across all of game show-dom, really — so I feel pret-ty safe in assuming this is the only time two hopefuls shared a banana while Steve Harvey stared forward into the abyss. All the style points go to Willam for pulling the gag off without breaking, even as Burtka was cackling on the opposite side of the podium. But then I don't know how anyone can keep a straight face after causing Harvey's to go completely slack like this:

Arguably the best thing about all this is that Willam seemingly went through the intro and a full round with that banana sitting on top of his head. The sacrifices entertainers go through for us, the audience, amirite? I do wish that became a running gag where he has other items to pull from his wig depending on what the question was, such as a giant Looney Tunes-esque mallet. Or, alternatively, if someone would have pulled off a magnifent pratfall by slipping on the banana peel that Willam tossed behind him.

And if all that weren't enough, Willam followed it up by making a "banana in my wig, but I was just happy to see you" joke, and then nailed what would probably be a Top 10 most extreme Family Feud guess if it didn't get completely censored. When asked to name something a dog does that a person might do while making love, the Drag Me to Dinner star offered up a blurred-out response that addressed canines' known habit of using their tongues on themselves. It's no wonder Steve Harvey was so hilariously hesitant to hear it. 

At least Harvey was able to rise to the occasion himself, as it were, whenever the contestants were asked to name a phrase that ends with the word "Daddy." Symone's guess of "Big Daddy" inspired the host to bring up how much he may or may not be deserving of that particular phrase. At some point this show should drop unedited episodes on streaming for fans to choose if they so wish.

Anyone who wants to check out Drag Me to Dinner doesn’t need to use any fruit-based methods to prove their worth. It just takes a Hulu subscription to stream the ten-episode entirety of Season 1, which debuted on May 31. That’s also where viewers can stream eps of Celebrity Family Feud the day after they air, and I think we can all agree this particular ep belongs in the Rewatch Regularly folder. 

Hulu’s How I Met Your Father is currently airing its second season, and already there was a major HIMYM cameo. Neil Patrick Harris reprised his role as Barney Stinson in the Season 2 premiere of the Hilary Duff-led series, adding to the list of HIMYM cameos on HIMYF. The big question now is, will we ever see the return of Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby? Duff opened up about the possibility and recalled the exchanges she has had with the actor.

Josh Radnor has spoken about a possible return as Ted on How I Met Your Father, he even revealed that he and Hilary Duff had some nice exchanges via email. Now the actress is proving that those sentiments are true, as she told E! News that the two of them have kept in touch over email, and he’s also somewhat passed the torch to her:

It’s definitely sweet that Radnor and Duff have exchanges with each other, as I’m sure doing a reboot of a beloved series can be a bit overwhelming. It does make me wonder how much, if at all, they’ve discussed Radnor visiting the set and portraying Ted again. Since it sounds like the two have been getting close, the door is always open.

Meanwhile, as Hilary Duff’s friendship with Josh Radnor continues, it wouldn’t be surprising if even more HIMYM alums visit. Like many, the singer is a fan of the original series, which ran on CBS for nine seasons. She praised the cast and their characters, sharing her hopes of having everyone come on the Hulu series at some point:

Since Season 2 of How I Met Your Father is in the beginning of its run, and the season has twice as many episodes as it did for Season 1, there is plenty of time to round up some more original stars. Luckily it’s been looking like a lot of the original HIMYM cast have shown interest in reprising their fan-favorite roles; it’s just a matter of when and how. Fingers crossed that it continues to happen, and maybe we'll even see Ted give Sophie advice on her love life because he definitely understands what she’s going through. 

Meanwhile, HIMYM cameos are not the only guest stars that fans will be looking forward to this season on one of Hulu's hit series. Meghan Trainor appeared in the second episode as a woman about to give birth whom Sophie is photographing. This also coincidentally aired around the same time Trainor announced her IRL pregnancy. There will also be a Raise Your Voice reunion when John Corbett, who portrayed Hilary Duff’s mentor in the early 2000s teen drama, makes an appearance on HIMYF as the actress’ love interest. 

Make sure to watch new episodes of How I Met Your Father every Tuesday with a Hulu subscription to see if more HIMYM alums return. Also, be sure to check out CinemaBlend’s 2023 TV schedule to see what else is coming soon.

Netflix has never hesitated to cancel a show but, in some respects, it feels like we’ve seen a significant amount of one-season series get the axe from the streamer just over the past few months. Back in January, the entertainment conglomerate canned 1899, a sci-fi series that debuted to relatively receive positive reactions. That same month saw animated production Inside Job become another casualty. Fans were especially unhappy about that decision given that the comedy had previously been handed a renewal. Amid all of this though, there are certain occasions when a production is saved from cancellation by finding another home. And that’s just what happened to the freshman dramedy Uncoupled, as it’s been picked up by Showtime. 

Related: Trending On Netflix: The Top 10 Lists For Movies And TV

The one-season series was cancelled by Netflix in January and, at the time, the streamer didn’t provide details on the decision not to move forward with a second season. Well, at its new TV home, the series is going to get that and possibly additional seasons, according to Deadline. This move furthers the professional relationship between the network and series co-creator Darren Star, who has an overall deal with parent company Paramount Global. 

This pickup comes amid a flurry of changes for the well-known cable offering. Showtime and Paramount+ are set to be merged into a single entity known as Paramount+ with Showtime. This has also led the streamer to cut original content from Jordan Peele and others as the transition takes shape. At the same time, the premium channel is looking to change up its programming strategy, and its decision to pick up Uncoupled figures into that plan. Per the trade, the company is looking to place its content offerings into one of three categories. One of these, according to head honcho Chris McCarthy, is “Metro Cultures,” and that  encompasses “ culturally diverse takes. This is where the newly acquired sitcom will reside.

Co-created by Sex and the City and Emily in Paris’ Darren Star and Modern Family’s Jeffrey Richman, Uncoupled centers on Michael Lawson, whose world is turned upside down after his longtime partner (Tuc Watkins) suddenly dumps him. Shaken but determined to move forward, Michael embraces the single life in Manhattan. But as he soon discovers, the gay dating scene has changed significantly in the 17 years since he entered his relationship. The series also features a strong supporting cast composed of Tisha Campbell, Brooks Ashmanskas, Emerson Brooks and Marcia Gay Harden. 

The former Netflix production received mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences. The show sought to balance camp with other elements, a detail that Neil Patrick Harris and Brooks Ashmanskas spoke to. The cast has also been praised and, based on comments from Tisha Campbell and Marcia Gay Harden, they learned a lot from each other. One can also note – as Tuc Watkins and Emerson Brooks did – that the show avoids tropes and aims to create layered gay characters.

Uncoupled should be a firm addition to Showtime’s stable of content, and it sounds like it could have a bright future with the network. Fans are likely glad to hear that it’s coming back, especially considering that the first season ended on a major cliffhanger. It’s also been reported that this iteration of the series will be a bit edgier than its original incarnation, probably due to the creative allowances of its new home. One can only speculate as to what the producers have planned for Michael and his friends’ next chapter, but it’ll be intriguing to find out.

While you wait for new episodes, check out the first season of Uncoupled using a Netflix subscription, and take a look at CinemaBlend’s 2023 TV schedule for release info on new and returning shows.

Kids, in the Fall of 2023, just a couple months after How I Met Your Father concluded its second season, Hulu decided to pull the plug. For people who enjoyed the sitcom like myself, this cancellation really was a bummer, especially because it meant that we would not see anymore How I Met Your Mother cast members reprising their original roles.

One of the things that made Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger’s spin-off fun — outside of the likable actors in the cast and bursts of clever wit — is when the show provided evidence that it existed in the same universe as its long-running predecessor. The return of fan-favorite How I Met Your Mother characters were the most satisfying hints. The following is a look back at all the cameos we saw. 

Alexis Denisof (Sandy Rivers)

How I Met Your Father provided fans with life updates for two of Robin Scherbatsky's former coworkers — the most recent of which was TV news reporter Sandy Rivers. He made his first Season 2 cameo while interviewing Jesse (Christopher Lowell from the Promising Young Woman cast) and his pop star girlfriend, Meredith (former Gossip Girl cast member Leighton Meester), as they promote their concert tour on his morning show.

The former anchorman would reappear in the two-part Season 2 finale reporting the weather, which he mentions is his latest demotion due to many, unspecified, allegations against him, reminding us once again how much of a scumbag he is. In real life, however, Sandy is played by HIMYM star Alyson Hannigan's real-life husband, Alexis Denisof.

Neil Patrick Harris (Barney Stinson)

The Season 2 premiere of How I Met Your Father featured a flash-forward in which Sophie (Hilary Duff) gets into a minor fender bender with a sharply dressed stranger, whom HIMYM fans immediately recognized as Barney Stinson (five-time Emmy winner Neil Patrick Harris). The exciting cameo was paid off in the mid-season finale, in which Barney initially assumes Sophie is exacting revenge on him for his past as a serial womanizer (for which we learn he is treating himself with shock therapy).

The characters then discover they have a few things in common -- namely commitment issues and growing up without a father. After Barney shares his experience meeting his real father (John Lithgow) and the life-changing birth of his daughter, Ellie, it inspires Sophie to search for her own father, whom she was actually afraid might be her then-boyfriend (John Corbett). This marks yet another wonderful instance of a HIMYM vet helping the spin-off's central character when she needed it the most.

Cobie Smulders (Robin Scherbatsky)

In How I Met Your Father’s Season 1 finale, we were treated with a sighting of Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky, whom Sophie reveals she is a “fan” of. Just like how the character's former husband, Barney, would in the next season's final episode, Robin bumps into Sophie at just the right time.

The TV news star helps Sophie realize that she should not allow herself to make decisions based on fear, which is essentially what she did when she ran away from a long-awaited chance at romance with Jesse. I would have loved to see more of Robin in a future episode, especially for the chance to see more references to her past as a teen pop star in Canada.

Joe Nieves (Carl)

Sophie actually meets Robin at a place that the latter is very familiar with — MacLaren’s Pub — and catches her attention after she spectacularly fails to order a whiskey. The bartender who turns around to let her know that “up, neat, and on the rocks” is “not an order that make sense” is the bar’s owner, Carl — played by Joe Nieves.

Carl is one of the most recognizable recurring characters from How I Met Your Mother, and even played a pivotal role in many of the series’ best episodes, such as when he served Ted (Josh Radnor) five shots of “Red Dragon” in “The Pineapple Incident.” It would have been cool to see another sighting of him at McLaren's on How I Met Your Father, perhaps with a few other original cast members.

Kyle MacLachlan (The Captain)

Before Ted met Tracy, one of his former girlfriends was a woman named Zoey Pierson (Jennifer Morrison), who was actually married when the two first met. Her then-husband’s real name is George Van Smoot, but he is better known by his preferred title: “The Captain,” who is one of Kyle MacLachlan’s most famous TV roles, outside of leading the Twin Peaks cast as Special Agent Dale Cooper.

The eccentric aristocrat made a hilarious surprise return in How I Met Your Father’s debut season, which revealed that he actually has a connection to Sophie, being the owner of the boat that her Tinder date, a marine biologist named Ian (Daniel Augustin), worked on while in Australia. However, we learn after said reveal that the boat will no longer belong to The Captain, but to his now ex-wife, who is also a very familiar face.

Laura Bell Bundy (Becky)

I think I just have to say three words to jog the memory of any How I Met Your Mother fan who may not initially recognize Becky: “Boats! Boats! Boats!” Played by Laura Bell Bundy (who originated the role of Elle Woods in the Broadway production of Legally Blonde: The Musical), this fellow former girlfriend of Ted’s initially rose to fame as the energetic and a bit childish spokesperson for a boating expo in Farhampton before becoming Robin’s co-host on Come On, Get Up New York! It seemed like a match made in heaven when, near the end of HIMYM’s run, Becky was revealed to be engaged to someone who loves boats, The Captain.

However, we would witness their marriage come to an end in the first season of HIMYF, when our first sighting of The Captain’s return reveals he was having an affair, immediately prompting Becky to demand a divorce. During the proceedings, she negotiates ownership of all of his “boats, boats boats,” including the one Ian was working on in Australia, which allowed him to return to New York. So, I guess we can thank Becky for, at least, giving Sophie the chance to reconnect with him.

Josh Radnor previously teased the idea of coming back as Ted Mosby at some point, having discussed the idea with Duff himself. We also would have loved the chance to see Shrinking cast lead Jason Segel and former Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast member Alyson Hannigan as Marshall and Lily, too, but it looks that will not happen on HIMYF. I am at least happy to say that this spin-off was fun while it lasted.

Spoilers for How I Met Your Father’s Season 2 premiere ahead.

It was a brief moment, but an exciting one nonetheless, as Neil Patrick Harris made a legendary, and shocking, return to the How I Met Your [insert significant other] universe as Barney Stinson. As the second season of How I Met Your Father gets going, it sounds like this small appearance from the legendary character will not be his only one, as the show’s creators recently broke down his cameo and NPH’s future on the Hulu spinoff. 

The show's creators Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger broke down the shocking final minutes of the episode when Sophie reveals that she thinks she’s dating her dad, and then gets into a fender bender with Barney with TV Line. It’s been made clear by the creators that they want to bring back HIMYM characters, and they also have specific goals for when they ask an OG actor to come back to the universe, Aptaker explained their reasoning and the big cameo:  

It will be so fun to see how Barney fits into the greater How I Met Your Father story. I’m sure he’ll bring all the fun jokes and shenanigans back, however, it’s also clear that the more problematic aspects of the character have been left in the past. 

When it came to bringing Barney back, Berger explained that they did talk about how the character’s actions on HIMYM would not fly these days. She said that was something they talked about with Harris, and they ultimately were able to bring back his character in a faithful way, while leaving some of his “antics” -- as Harris called his character’s questionable actions according to TV Line -- in the past. 

Also, while we don’t know much about Barney’s storyline just yet, one thing we know for certain is he’s not Sophie’s dad. The creators were quick to rule that out as an option, partially because Harris' character would have been a teen when Hilary Duff’s character was born. However, they really didn’t reveal much else about how Harris’ character fits into Sophie’s world. Although, Aptaker did tease: 

So, unlike Cobie Smulders’ brief cameo, it sounds like Harris is joining the How I Met Your Father cast for a bit longer than one episode, which is very exciting. Along with Smulders and Harris, Josh Radnor also said he's willing to return if asked, so now all we’d need is Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan, and we could have the whole gang back together. Hopefully, this all happens someday, but for now, we luckily will get more of Barney Stinson as new episodes of HIMYF drop every Tuesday according to the 2023 TV schedule, and all you need to tune in is a Hulu subscription.   

When I first learned that The Late Late Show with James Corden was coming to an end because Corden was stepping down as host of CBS’ talk show after nearly a decade on the job, I knew the announcement would be met with some differing reactions from the public. However, all that went through my mind was the question of whom the English Emmy and Tony Award winner would be passing the torch to when he officially leaves in the spring of 2023.

Later, I heard from Variety that CBS was considering abandoning the single-host format and replacing the actor with a whole panel. I will certainly keep that exciting idea in mind as I present a few people I think would make for a great new Late Late Show host (or hosts, perhaps).

Neil Patrick Harris

Like James Corden, Neil Patrick Harris has won multiple Emmy Awards and a Tony Award and has hosted a few award ceremonies to great acclaim, including the Oscars in 2015. Of course, that information just barely scratches the surface as to why the multi-talented and effortlessly charming former How I Met Your Mother cast member would kick serious butt as the new face of The Late Late Show.

Tig Notaro

Acclaimed stand-up comedian and Army of the Dead cast member Tig Notaro once hosted an online talk show called Under a Rock, which sheds light on her inability to immediately recognize celebrities by challenging her to guess the name of her guest in each episode. I think the experience might have served as great preparation for her to take on a job like hosting The Late Late Show, which would also give her the opportunity to become a little more in tune with pop culture.

Samantha Bee

Someone with experience hosting a late night show and whose own Emmy-winning program was recently and suddenly cancelled after seven seasons on TBS is Samantha Bee. I believe the Full Frontal host deserves to be given another chance to have her bold, unfiltered voice heard as the headliner of another show and I like the idea of her following her fellow former Daily Show correspondent — Late Show host Stephen Colbert — every night.

Nish Kumar

A comedian known for hosting the United Kingdom’s own equivalent to The Daily Show, The Mash Report, from 2017 to 2020 is Nish Kumar, who is severely underrated and underexposed in the United States. Because James Corden was also not very widely known to American audiences before taking over as host of The Late Late Show, maybe the gig could help the British-Indian comic — who already deserves another show, in my opinion — achieve greater status here.

Richard Ayoade

Another supremely talented British comedian I thought of to replace Corden (and I promise the amount of fellow U.K. natives on this list was purely coincidental) is Richard Ayoade, whom most probably recognize as Maurice Moss on one of the funniest British comedies on Netflix, The I.T. Crowd. He has brought his signature, subversive wit to various hosting gigs over the years — i.e. his Oscars Slap joke at 2022’s British Academy Television Award — and I believe it deserves a more stable home for American audiences to bear witness to on a nightly basis.

Matt Berry

Ya know, if The Late Late Show does become a panel talk show, I think it would be a great opportunity for Ayoade to reunite with fellow The I.T. Crowd star Matt Berry as co-hosts. Yet, that being said, the star of FX’s series adaptation of What We Do in the Shadows (and Toast of London, to name just a few) — with his velvety, booming voice and impeccable comedic talent — would be a more-than-perfect choice on his own, too.

Keegan-Michael Key

Ever since he and Jordan Peele brought their beloved, eponymous sketch comedy series to a close in 2015, Keegan-Michael Key has been busy doing a bunch of stuff, from poking fun at musicals with Cecily Strong on Apple TV+’s Schmigadoon! or doing the same with Hollywood’s obsession with reboots in the Reboot cast for Hulu. The Emmy winner has also tried his hand at hosting the likes of game shows, awards ceremonies, and even daytime TV (with a guest host gig on Live with Kelly and Ryan), but not late night, which I think he would be a fantastic candidate for. 

Tiffany Haddish

Tiffany Haddish has also been a guest-host on Live with Kelly and Ryan, as well as Ellen, in addition to hosting TBS’ movie presentation lead-in talk show, Friday Night Vibes, for 13 episodes and winning an Emmy for hosting Saturday Night Live in 2018. Let alone the fact that she is one of her generation’s most renowned comedians and versatile talents, she certainly has the right experience to show that she is ready to take on a gig like hosting The Late Late Show.

Aziz Ansari

Since he and the rest of the Parks and Rec cast had their final curtain call, Aziz Ansari has been up to a lot of different things — such as creating and starring on the Emmy-winning Netflix comedy, Master of None, and working on his feature-length directorial debut, Being Mortal — but “host” is not a title he has added to his resume since the 2010 MTV Movie Awards. I think we should change that, because The Late Late Show could use someone with the unique, comedic perspective that he has shown in some great stand-up specials over the years.

Billy Porter

I am not sure if there is anything that Billy Porter cannot do, based on his Emmy Award win for his starring role as Pray Tell on Pose, multiple Tony Award wins, and reputation for consistently employing the most entertaining presence in whatever project he is involved with — such as in Amazon Prime’s Cinderella cast, for instance. Therefore, even if he was not brought on as the sole host of The Late Late Show, his lively, infectious, flamboyant personality would easily make him the most memorable member of the panel.

Craig Ferguson

Do you remember when Conan O’Brien took over The Tonight Show for an astoundingly brief seven months and people got pissed when the person he replaced, Jay Leno, came back to host it afterward? I think that if Craig Ferguson — the person James Corden replaced — were to come back to The Late Late Show, it would have the opposite effect, because the Scotsman remains, in the eyes of many, the most beloved host in the show’s history.

Especially if the multi-host format becomes a reality, the possibilities of who could take The Late Late Show to new heights in its next era are endless.

While Neil Patrick Harris makes headlines a lot these days for being an awesome gay dad who takes his kids to Disney World and on other fun adventures, for a lengthy period of time he was more known for playing Barney Stinson on CBS’ hit comedy How I Met Your Mother. It was no secret that Barney would not let anything get in the way of him chasing tail, but now a funny blooper is running around from filming the series and it’s a case of priceless timing. 

It wasn’t uncommon for NPH’s character Barney to sit next to Cobie Smulders’ Robin when the gang was hanging out at MacLaren’s Pub during episodes of the show. In one scene from later in the series (Robin and Barney were dating later in the show), the two had a discussion in a booth about playing video games naked. The characters mutually consented to said activity, and then Harris reached back to help Smulders out of the booth and accidentally grabbed her chest instead, leading to laughter from the rest of the cast. 

Thanks to FB Reels it’s running around again, but you can see an original look at one of How I Met Your Mother's big behind-the-scenes moments, below. 

This sort of incident may not always be funny, but given the accidental context --he's reaching for her hand -- and what the characters were talking about just prior, it led to a lot of giggles, here. It’s clear this was a blooper, though the timing couldn’t have been any funnier given the context of the dialogue the two actors were attempting to get through to wrap the episode. Even Smulders seemed amused by what accidentally transpired, making a face at the camera as if to say, “what just happened?!"

I love when moments from the making of TV shows go viral because they give fans a little insight into how long days of filming can be. The actors do the same bits of dialogue over and over in order to capture the right camera angles and the right cadences and sometimes goofy stuff ends up happening. Recently another BTS blooper from the making of Friends also ran around. In that one, Aniston took a real phone call during a Friends scene, and it led to another amusing moment.

As for Neil Patrick Harris and Cobie Smulders, the two have left their HIMYM days behind, but they are probably still filming some classic bloopers on occasion. NPH has an exciting Doctor Who episode coming up and Smulders is still doing a ton of work for Marvel, including upcoming gigs in Secret Invasion and Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. 

Should the two cross paths onscreen again, there will likely be no accidental groping… but one can hope there would still be a lot of laughter. But the bloopers should certainly live on as Hulu is set to premiere the second season of the classic sitcom's sequel, How I Met Your Father. Let the accidental errant moment continue when episodes of that series hit the TV schedule for those with a Hulu subscription on Tuesday, January 24. 

Two months ago, Jodie Whittaker’s run as the Thirteenth Doctor came to an end on Doctor Who, with the final minutes of “The Power of the Doctor” showing her regenerating into the Fourteenth Doctor. However, rather than a new face gracing the screen, fans were treated to the return of David Tennant, who previously starred as the Tenth Doctor from 2005 to 2010, and then popped back up in 2013 for the 50th anniversary special, “The Day of the Doctor.” Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor is now primed to lead the three special episodes celebrating Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary in November 2023, and on Christmas Day, the first full-length trailer for this special event premiered, which you can watch below.

This trailer delivered a nice appetizer of what’s to come during Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, including looks at Catherine Tate back as Donna Noble and Neil Patrick Harris’ mysterious villainous character. But needless to say there’s still plenty of mystery surrounding this next chapter of Doctor Who that’s being spearheaded by returning showrunner Russell T. Davies. So before 2022 is over and we enter 2023, let’s go over the big questions we have about the 60th anniversary after watching the trailer, starting with the star of the show.

Why Does The Fourteenth Doctor Look Like The Tenth Doctor?

Up until “The Power of the Doctor” premiered, there was a chance that David Tennant could have been returning to Doctor Who as the Tenth Doctor. But no, instead Tennant is involved as a new form of The Doctor, and to be fair, there is some precedence for this. Remember when Tom Baker’s mysterious Curator told the Eleventh Doctor in “The Day of the Doctor” that “in years to come” he might find himself “revisiting” a few faces, “but just the old favorites.” 

But if Doctor Who was willing to come up with an explanation for why the Twelfth Doctor looked like Peter Capaldi’s previous Doctor Who character, Lobus Caecilius, then surely there has to be a specific reason for why the Fourteenth Doctor looks like the Tenth Doctor, right? It’s unlikely this is just pure chance like most previous regenerations have been, so could some outside force have influenced this regeneration? Is this directly tied into the 60th anniversary’s main story or is it a side puzzle? Even though we won’t spend much time with David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor since Ncuti Gatwi’s Fifteenth Doctor is trailing close behind him (more on that later), I’m eager to learn what caused this form of The Doctor to come into existence.

How Does Donna Noble Become Able To See The Doctor Without Dying?

The last time we saw Donna Noble on Doctor Who, she’d just gotten married to Karl Collins’ Shaun Temple (who’s also back for the 60th anniversary, as is Jacqueline King’s Sylvia Noble and the late Bernard Cribbins’ Wilfred Mott), and she still had no clue about The Doctor’s existence. Remember that in “Journey’s End,” The Doctor was forced to erase Donna’s memories of him so that the Time Lord knowledge she’d absorbed wouldn’t destroy her mind. As a result, if Donna were to remember see The Doctor again, her mind would burn up.

The Doctor Who 60th anniversary trailer shows that a decade and a half later, Donna has a feeling that she once had something “lovely” in her life that’s missing. Well, that “lovely” thing is about to come back into her life, with her and The Doctor’s paths crossing for the first time since “The End of Time.” There’s even a humorous moment in the trailer where Donna’s mother tries to block the Fourteenth Doctor from her view, and yet we’ll evidently hit a point in the 60th anniversary when Donna is able to look at the Time Lord without her head combusting. So what changes? Perhaps more importantly, will Donna still be able to see and remember The Doctor once the events of the 60th anniversary are over, or will she return to her previous oblivious state?

Seriously, Who Is Neil Patrick Harris Playing?

When Neil Patrick Harris was announced to be appearing in Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, Russell T. Davies said that the Doogie Howser, M.D. and How I Met Your Mother alum is “playing the greatest enemy the Doctor has ever faced.” From there, popular guesses for the identity of this character included The Celestial Toymaker and The Master, and while the trailer reaffirmed that this antagonist has a flair for theatricality, the BBC is still keeping who this individual is under wraps.

That being said, this character’s blatant eccentricity and multiple costumes, as well a shot of someone stepping into a toy and games store called Mr. Emporium, makes it even more likely that this will be The Celestial Toymaker. Previously played by Michael Gough in the First Doctor adventure “The Celestial Toymaker” broadcast in 1966, this villain only ever made the one televised appearance. In the years since, this role has been criticized for having a white actor play an Asian caricature, so if Neil Patrick Harris is indeed playing The Celestial Toymaker, perhaps this portrayal will be just the thing to improve the villain’s reputation.

What Are Those Robotic Menaces?

Along with Neil Patrick Harris’ character causing trouble in Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, the Fourteenth Doctor will also have to contend with a group of unnamed robotic menaces that look like insect humanoids. The trailer shows these mechanical adversaries fighting UNIT soldiers, and they’re clearly not lacking for firepower. But are these menaces serving Harris’ character, or are they allied with him in some way? What’s their endgame? Could they become recurring Doctor Who foes, or are they a one-time only deal?

Who Is Ruth Madelyn’s Shirley Anne Bingham?

Following Neil Patrick Harris, the next brand-new face to Doctor Who lore to account for in the 60th anniversary is The Level and The Rook actress Ruth Madelyn playing Shirley Anne Bingham. Unfortunately, the name is the only piece of information that’s been revealed about this character, leaving us to speculate for the next year about how she fits into this story. Maybe she’s a UNIT officer who gets looped into this latest round of craziness bombarding the United Kingdom. Maybe she’s someone connected to Neil Patrick Harris’ character, and is either helping him or ignorant of his true intentions. Who knows, maybe this will lead to her becoming a recurring character on Doctor Who.

How Does Beep The Meep Fit Into The Story?

Yes, that furry creature we briefly see in the Doctor Who 60th anniversary trailer is an established character, though not from the TV side of this franchise. Beep the Meep started out appearing in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip and later appeared in various audio dramas from Big Finish Productions. So the 60th anniversary marks Beep’s live-action debut, but if this is indeed the same Beep from those other projects, then don’t let that cute exterior fool you, because Beep is an evil being that won’t hesitate to kill anyone who stands in its way of conquering everything in site. However, if that demeanor remains intact, though that then begs the question of how Beep is tied to Neil Patrick Harris’ character and those robotic menaces.

When Will The Fifteenth Doctor Arrive, And Where Exactly Is He?

Whatever unfolds in Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, by the time it’s over, Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor will be on the scene, and from there he’ll start traveling across time and space in the TARDIS with his new companion Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson. Oftentimes a new Doctor debuts at the end of their predecessor’s final adventure, but I can’t help wondering if the 60th anniversary will throw a curveball by having Gatwa appear earlier on. 

But even if that’s not the case, here’s something else to consider: Russell T. Davies informed Doctor Who Magazine (via CBR) that the above stormy sky background was only used for these 60th anniversary previews, as the “actual location” we find the Fifteenth Doctor in “would give away too much!” What could be so spoilery about this location? The first thought that comes to mind is that he’s back on Gallifrey, which was a nuked wasteland the last time we saw it, but that’s just one of a handful of guesses on the table for the foreseeable future.

Most, if not all of the answers to these questions will come when the three Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary episodes air in November 2023. Next year will also mark the show’s shift to streaming exclusively on Disney+ in the United States and everywhere else in the world aside from the UK and Ireland, where it will continue to air on BBC One.

The dust is still settling from the massive behind-the-scenes shake-up at The Walt Disney Company that saw CEO Bob Chapek removed and replaced by Bob Iger, the man he had originally replaced. A lot of Disney fans have been vocal that they’re happy about the change, Iger was a popular head of the company, and Chapek failed to win some over. That would seem to include noted Disney fan Neil Patrick Harris, who took a moment during this weekend’s Candlelight Processional at Epcot to take a shot at the former CEO.

The Candlelight Processional at Epcot sees different celebrity narrators lead an evening show where they tell the story of Christmas. Neil Patrick Harris, who is well  known for his Disney fandom, has appeared for several years in the past and returned last week to perform for several nights. A video (via @RopeDropLife) is now going viral where Harris takes a bit of a shot and the embattled former CEO. Check it out. 

If you’re a serious Disney fan then it’s difficult to not have an opinion on the recent change in leadership, and so honestly you expect Neil Patrick Harris to have feelings on the topic. Having said that, you probably don’t expect to see him reveal those feelings into a live mic in front of a crowd at Epcot. Although, considering his audience, it seems unlikely he would hear anything but agreement. 

No, the C in Epcot does not stand for Chapek, and certainly never will now. If you’re curious, the acronym in question stands for Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow. Epcot the theme park was inspired by Walt Disney’s plan to build an actual prototype city where people would live and work within the grounds of Walt Disney World. Unfortunately, Disney died before he could see that particular dream become a reality. 

The biggest changes that we’ve seen since Bob Iger took over as CEO once again has nothing to do with Disney Parks and is all about the media side of the company. Bob Chapek’s biggest initiative was the creation of the Disney Media and Entertainment Division (DMED) which reorganized everything from Walt Disney Studios to Disney+ into a single vertical. 

This took a significant amount of decision making out of the hands of studio executives, which reportedly made a lot of those people unhappy. Kareem Daniel, the person in charge of DMED was let go as one of Bob Iger’s first official acts. A new group has been put together within the company that will realign the media side, likely into a structure similar to the way things were previously.

Bob Iger will run The Walt Disney Company for two years. In that time he is expected to find and train a successor. Hopefully he'll find somebody that won't become the butt of jokes. 

Doctor Who is not far off from celebrating another decade on television, and just like it did with the 50th anniversary, The BBC is planning to do big things for the 60th. Former Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies will return, and he’s bringing two major stars from the past, David Tennant and Catherine Tate, along for the ride. Anniversaries like this are always loaded with talent, but who can we expect to see when the celebration is finally here? 

With only months to go before the start of the specials, it looks like the cast list is pretty rounded out for now. Check out who is on the list for the 60th below, and be sure to check back, as this list will be updated as more names are announced for the big event. 

David Tennant

David Tennant is considered by many to be the best Doctor of all time, so it’s always a treat to hear when he’s involved in the Doctor Who franchise. It’s a rare sight to see him in the actual show these days, but considering he reprised his role for the 50th, some might’ve suspected he’d have some role in the 60th anniversary. 

However, I’m sure few didn’t know David Tennant would be announced as the first Doctor to be a part of the fun! As far as why or how Tennant’s Doctor returned, that’s still a topic of much speculation. We do know for a fact, though, that Tennant is being called the 14th Doctor, meaning that the 13th Doctor's regeneration wasn't a reversion back to the 10th or anything like that. As for the other details, we'll likely have to wait until the special premieres. 

Catherine Tate

Catherine Tate stole the hearts of many fans with her performance as Donna Noble in Doctor Who, but her exit was one of the saddest of The Doctor’s companions. Donna absorbed some Time Lord DNA during their journey, and thanks to an electrical shock, it activated and made her just as brilliant as The Doctor himself. Unfortunately, the fun was short-lived, and Donna and The Doctor soon discovered that if they didn’t do something, Donna would die from being unable to cope with the Time Lord DNA. 

The Doctor was forced to erase Donna’s memories of their adventures, which makes one wonder how she’s tied to this upcoming adventure in Doctor Who. This is a sci-fi show, so there’s never any shortage of explanations to how that part of the story will be retconned. Ultimately it’s just exciting to see Catherine Tate in the show and a part of such an important anniversary celebration.

Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris has played a few doctors in his career, though it’s unlikely that’s who he’s playing when he comes to Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary special. Neil Patrick Harris comes into the fun as one of the greatest enemies The Doctor ever faced, but there’s not much more we know beyond that. It seems like Harris might be playing a familiar villain from The Doctor’s past, but who that could be, we can only speculate. 

The most popular Doctor Who-related speculation was that Neil Patrick Harris will play the Toymaker, and it turns out those people were right on the money! The BBC did confirm Harris' role as Toymaker ahead of the airing, though they might be trying to deceive us and he's playing both the Toymaker and someone else. We'll just have to wait and see!

Yasmin Finney

Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary is loaded with tons of returning stars, but there are a few fresh faces as well. Joining the cast for the 60th is Yasmin Finney, who will also be one of the first transgender actresses to appear in the franchise. Finney will come into the special to play Rose, a name with quite a bit of history in this show. With all the theories about a multiverse working its way into the story, is it possible that there’s some connection with Billie Piper's Rose Tyler? 

That remains to be seen, but returning showrunner Russell T. Davies has already pointed to the significance of there being two people named Rose in Doctor Who. It’s entirely possible he’s just having a bit of fun or throwing some red herrings out there to draw fans off of more obvious origin of the character, such as the popular theory that she's playing the daughter of Donna Noble. 

Jemma Redgrave

Another prominent Doctor Who character will return, though we've seen this actress way more over the years than we've seen David Tennant or Catherine Tate. Jemma Redgrave will return to the franchise once again to portray the head of UNIT Kate Stewart. Kate is likely one of the most resourceful humans on Earth with the knowledge and manpower to handle intergalactic threats, so she should be of great service to the Doctor in this adventure. 

Bernard Cribbins

Bringing back Catherine Tate and David Tennant was definitely a treat, but bringing back Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott is the cherry on top. Wilfred is Donna Noble's grandfather and proved instrumental in a few adventures. It wouldn’t feel right to have an adventure with this duo and him not be involved in some way, so good on Doctor Who for bringing him in for a performance we can’t already see with an HBO Max subscription. 

Unfortunately, the upcoming 60th anniversary of Doctor Who will serve as one of Bernard Cribbins final acting roles, as he died after filming his scenes. At the same time, the fandom is blessed with the fact that Cribbins was able to suit up one final time as his character and get to be a part of such a major celebration in the franchise before his death. Hopefully Cribbins is honored further with a dedication or some sort of title card when the special airs as a tribute to all he’s given the series over the years.

Jacqueline King

Such as the case with Bernard Cribbins, it’s equally as distressing to think of a Donna Noble adventure where actress Jacqueline King isn’t in the mix. King portrayed Donna’s mother, Sylvia, in the series, and she was always a character that had a nuanced relationship with the Doctor. She, of course, harbored some resentment towards him after The Doctor was forced to remove a chunk of Donna’s memories, though that seems like a reaction par for the course that any mother would have. 

As for what Sylvia will be up to in the special, my guess will be looking out for Donna’s best interests. Most mothers would be concerned if the man that almost killed their daughter suddenly came back into their life, so I’d expect Sylvia to have some of that fear, even if she did gain some respect for The Doctor years ago.

Ncuti Gatwa

Ncuti Gatwa will take over as The Doctor after David Tennant's return in the 60th anniversary, so it makes sense that the 15th Doctor will have some presence in the specials. We've seen Gatwa in the promotional materials for the specials, seemingly confused on what is going on. 

Right now, we can only speculate on how he'll come into the story. Whether his appearance will happen right at the end as Tennant's latest Doctor regenerates, or if he's in the waiting place introduced during Jodie Whittaker's run where Doctors hang out we don't know. All I know is I'm excited to see him, and glad he found time away from the set of Barbie to film. 

Ruth Madeley

Ruth Madeley will come into Doctor Who as the character of Shirley Anne Bingham. We know very little about the character, though her inclusion is one being celebrated by many fans far and wide. 

Madeley's appearance in the 60th anniversary will likely be another step forward for disabled characters in major franchise projects. Madeley, who uses a wheelchair due to spina bifida, has often played roles that flip the usual narrative on characters with disabilities in pop culture. Here's hoping Doctor Who continues that trend, though I feel pretty sure it will. 

Miriam Margolyes

Harry Potter veteran Miriam Margolyes will come into Doctor Who, in the weirdest role in the 60th anniversary. Margolyes will play Meep, the freaky little creature from the trailers that gets poked in the eyeball. To be clear, Margolyes is only voicing the character, but it will be great to have such an icon involved in any way she can be.

Karl Collins

Karl Collins didn’t have a massive role in Doctor Who his first outing, but his character Shaun Temple was integral to the story all the same. Shaun was the man who Donna eventually married, and they're likely still together during the 60th anniversary. Seeing Collins return as Shaun will be a treat, and maybe this go around, he’ll be more aware of The Doctor and what he’s about. 

There’s an interesting bit of Doctor Who trivia about Karl Collins that likely isn’t relevant to the 60th anniversary but worth bringing up all the same. Collins’ character never crossed paths with Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor, but they’ve both shared the screen in the Black Mirror episode “The Entire History Of You” and appeared in the movie Attack The Block. It doesn’t seem like Whittaker will be around for the 60th, given her regeneration episode precedes it, but perhaps we’ll see them reunite again if her casting ends up being announced. 

One thing readers should note is that David Tennant has hinted that not all the surprises for the 60th anniversary are publicly known (via Radio Times). Most of the castings announced were done so because the actors were spotted by onlookers during the public filming sessions. It's entirely possible there were some actors who filmed on a closed set, and there'd be no one who could leak their appearance without some sort of penalty. I'm crossing my fingers for some surprises, and that we'll see at least one more Doctor in this massive special. 

Doctor Who’s 60th-anniversary special is due out in 2023, with some thinking it’ll arrive in November to coincide with the official anniversary month. We’ll have to wait and see, and binge our favorite episodes of the series on HBO Max in the meantime. 

When it comes to modern day shows, there are plenty that excel at casting great guest stars, and one of my personal favorites is Glee. Though there have been other shows with awesome guest stars, such as 30 Rock, or The Office, I really don’t think any other modern television show was as good as Glee (created by TV royalty, Ryan Murphy) at giving us great guest appearances.

While the show had its good and not-so-good moments, the guest stars were always some of the best parts of the series. Today, we’re going to go over the twelve best Glee guest stars that we seriously can’t stop thinking about, even more than a decade after the show debuted. 

Neil Patrick Harris

I have to put Neil Patrick Harris on here first, because he's one of my favorites to speak about. In the Season 1 episode of Glee, “Dream On,” Harris shows up as a former rival to Will Schuester, and wow what a performance. I always knew Harris was talented in musical theater and singing - as he has starred on Broadway and done other amazing things - but his time in Glee was something else. 

He managed to go toe-to-toe with Matthew Morrison while singing a cover of “Dream On” and jeez, I still listen to it years later, because I just can’t believe that Neil Patrick Harris hit that high note. He ended up winning an Emmy Award for his guest performance, so you know it was good. Such a talented star.

Kristin Chenoweth 

Another Season 1 guest star was Kristin Chenoweth. The actress is a Broadway legend, and has currently been in many things on television such as Disney’s Descendants series, as well as being a part of the Schimigadoon! cast. But watching the Season 1 episode, “The Rhodes Not Taken,” was something else, and hearing her version of “Maybe This Time” is just astounding. 

Her character, Amber Rhodes, would return for subsequent episodes, but nothing beats her first appearance on the show. 

Britney Spears

Talk about a legendary guest star. In one of Glee’s more popular episodes, “Britney/Brittany,” the pop princess herself, Britney Spears, ended up making an appearance in several of the kids' dream sequences as they were getting their teeth done and were put on laughing gas. 

While Spears didn’t have many lines, just seeing her show up in these musical sequences alongside the rest of the Glee cast was truly amazing, and I loved the moments where she would have interactions with the others. I wish she'd spoken more. 

John Stamos 

Also appearing for the first time in “Britney/Brittany” was legendary TV actor John Stamos. You might know Stamos from his iconic role as Uncle Jesse in the family sitcom, Full House, but in Glee, he ended up playing Carl in Season 2, a love interest for Emma (Jayma Mays). He doesn’t have many singing scenes, but there’s no denying that his charisma is there in full effect, and I loved it so much. 

He would also show up in later episodes, as well, until his relationship with Emma ended, but what a time to be alive and watch him on Glee. 

Idina Menzel 

Idina Menzel has been famous since her starring roles in hit musicals like Maureen Johnson in Rent and Elphaba in Wicked, the latter of which she won a Tony Award for. She later gained even more fame when she voiced Elsa in both Frozen and Frozen 2 and annoyed parents everywhere as their children kept listening to “Let It Go.” Let’s hope a Frozen 3 happens.

However, for her guest role on Glee, she actually played Rachel’s (Lea Michele) biological mother, Shelby Corcoran. She first showed up in the Season 1 episode, “Hell-O,” and while the beginning of them getting to know each other was rocky, as Idina Menzel was literally coaching Rachel’s competitors, they did end up on the right foot eventually. 

Together, they performed several amazing songs together. My personal favorite was “Poker Face,” where it’s not as fast as the original song by Lady Gaga, but a slow ballad that seems to blend both their powerhouse voices so well. Menzel did appear in several episodes – and even had a relationship with a student in Season 3 that I don’t want to talk about – but after that, she was nowhere to be seen. 

I still wish she had come around again during Seasons 5 or 6 when Rachel was having problems in her life, but it’s not the end of the world. I know she was out doing star-studded things. 

Demi Lovato 

Season 5 of Glee was, ah, something. 

It’s funny, because I was never a big fan of the show when it was at its height. I actually binged the first three seasons on Netflix and became a fan around Season 4
– and I really liked Season 4, just for the fact that I was a New Yorker and liked that they took the show there. But Season 5 was, um…not as great. 

However, the guest stars in Season 5 of Glee were top notch, and while I could talk about one who really rocked my socks off, Adam Lambert, I’m going to instead devote this section to Demi Lovato’s guest role, Dani. 

While Lovato wasn’t in the show for super long, her character was essential to Santana’s (Naya Rivera) development after she'd just broken up with Brittany in Season 4 and needed to move on with her life and try and find new experiences  – and Dani was that new experience. Their cover of “Here Comes The Sun” always gives me chills. 

Season 5 wasn’t super great, but that cover most certainly was. 

Olivia Newton-John

It’s sad as I write this because Olivia Newton-John, who is primarily known for her role as Sandy in the Grease cast and her astounding music career, passed away in 2022. However, I can still look back on her best roles and think that her guest spot in Glee was truly iconic. 

She first showed up in the Season 1 episode, “Bad Reputation,” where I got to see her do the best cover of her song “Physical” ever, alongside the one and only Jane Lynch. But, she also shows up again as a judge in “Journey to Regionals” at the end of the season, still looking just as great as ever. It’s always fun to rewatch her role on the show.

Gwyneth Paltrow 

Gwyneth Paltrow first showed up in the Season 2 episode, “The Substitute” as Holly Holliday, and forever changed my life. While she was subbing for Will Schuster for the glee club when he was sick, her cover of “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)” had me screaming in joy as a kid and I loved watching her perform. 

Her character was so loved that she ended up making an appearance at the live Glee concerts they were doing at the time. She also won an Emmy for her role in the show  – one she very much deserved. 

Kate Hudson 

Like I said, I actually really enjoyed Season 4 of Glee. And I feel like a lot of people don’t give Kate Hudson’s time on the show enough credit, because this woman performed her butt off. Playing Rachel’s overbearing and condescending dance instructor at NYADA, Cassandra July, Hudson was able to bring just the right amount of sass and boldness to match Rachel’s energy, and I loved it. 

Seriously. Her cover of “All That Jazz” with Rachel is one of my personal favorites. She may not be everyone’s favorite guest star but I truly enjoyed her time on the show. She appeared in several episodes in Season 4, but I wanted to see her again. 

Whoopi Goldberg

The legend, Whoopi Goldberg, decided to grace Glee fans with her presence in both Season 3, Season 4, and Season 5 in sporadic guest roles throughout. She played Carmen Tibideaux, the Dean of Vocal Performance at NYADA and the person who gave Rachel a chance to come to the school after she bombed at her college audition in Season 3, and then got in thanks to their Nationals-winning performance. 

Carmen, while hard on people at first, is someone I could totally respect, because she truly cared about the art of music. She wasn’t about to let in anyone who didn’t deserve it, and she made sure everyone knew. The ones she did let in would work their butts off to try and impress her. I mean, it’s Whoopi Goldberg, how can you not try and impress her? I’ll always be upset they never brought her back, but once Rachel left NYADA, I suppose it's understandable that we never saw her again. 

Sarah Jessica Parker

In my personal opinion, Sarah Jessica Parker was always one of the guest cast members who felt underutilized on Glee, because I actually did enjoy her part on the show. Parker, who is known for plenty of roles, including her famous lead part in the Sex and the City cast, plays Isabelle Wright, an executive at Vogue who gives Kurt a job as an assistant.

While the idea of Kurt getting a job as a fashion assistant at Vogue with no prior experience is laughable, there’s no denying that Parker is amazing in her role here. She was amazing in the cover of “The Way You Look Tonight/You’re Never Fully Dressed,” and I loved her performance of “At The Ballet.” She was a great special guest star. 

Ricky Martin

Last but not least, we have a singing legend, Ricky Martin. This singer showed up in the Season 3 episode, “The Spanish Teacher,” who was acting as Will’s night-school teacher so he could learn better Spanish. But, Will took him to the glee club that week when he decides to give the songs a Spanish music theme. 

Let me tell you, you have not lived until you've heard Ricky Martin, of all people, sing LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It,” partially in Spanish. This was an awakening for me  – and an ick at the same time, because I did not need to see Finn try to do a body roll. Either way, it was an experience to remember and one that I’m sure I’m not going to forget for a long time. 

Glee aired its last episode seven years ago, which still feels crazy to think about, and the cast has now done many other things. But, I can still look back on this show and think of all the fun I had with these guest stars – and enjoy the heck out of their covers on my playlist. 

As someone who has viewed so much television and so many movies in my nearly twenty-four years of living, I have to say that one of the most versatile actors I have ever seen on screen is Neil Patrick Harris. Truly, this man has range when it comes to acting, whether it be drama, comedy, a musical, or anything else. 

And not only that, but Harris can sing and dance and perform his butt off. He is seriously the definition of what I would consider a triple threat. But Harris has been around in the industry for many years, and today, we’re going to go over the best Neil Patrick Harris movies and TV shows, and how you can watch them streaming, or how to rent them. 

Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989-1993)

If you’re looking for a (mostly) '90s dramedy, check out Doogie Howser, M.D. In this series, we follow Doogie Howser, a seemingly normal teenager with a big brain and a gifted genius. But even if he has to deal with the normal everyday issues of growing up, there’s also a catch - he’s a licensed physician. 

For those who don’t know, this was Neil Patrick Harris' first big role, and just the start of a big career. But even then you can tell that he was made for television with his acting skills, and his natural charisma that he emitted as Doogie. Such a charm to watch him when he was young and to see him now, especially with all these other doctors shows out like Grey’s Anatomy or E.R. 

Stream Doogie Howser M.D. on Hulu.

How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)

Probably one of the most famous Neil Patrick Harris roles was his part as Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother. In this popular sitcom, a man recalls the story of how he met the mother of his children, detailing his personal life and love life that was always constantly changing, as well as his friends. 

Harris received acclaim for his portrayal of Barney Stinson. While the rest of the How I Met Your Mother cast is great, there’s nothing quite like Barney hitting on ladies or saying some ridiculous quote that will make you literally snort out your drink because you’re laughing so hard. He’s just legen -- wait for it -- dary. And you can’t stop him no matter what. I would straight-up watch a spinoff of just him years later. 

Stream How I Met Your Mother on Hulu.

Gone Girl (2014)

This amazing psychological thriller, directed by David Fincher and based on the novel of the same name by Gillian Flynn, is one of the best out there. Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, tells the story of a man whose wife goes missing, but in turn, he ends up becoming the biggest suspect. Now, he has to prove that it wasn’t him – but nothing is quite as it seems. 

While Neil Patrick Harris is known for many of his great comedic roles, he also had an amazing role in Gone Girl as Desi Collings, the ex-boyfriend of Amy (Rosamund Pike). His scenes in the movie were so amazing and he really showed off just how skilled he is as a dramatic actor as well. I wish he was in more roles like this because he truly shined. 

Rent/Buy Gone Girl on Amazon.

The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent (2022)

Released in 2022 as part of the 2022 movie premiere schedule, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, starring Nicolas Cage, follows a fictionalized version of himself as he travels across the world to spend time with a megafan after he is paid millions of dollars, but this trip turns into something a whole lot more chaotic. 

While the main stars of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent are Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal (as they should be, since they were so funny and ridiculous), Neil Patrick Harris had some pretty unforgettable moments that reminded me of his time in the Harold and Kumar films (which we’ll get into in a bit). He was sarcastic, overly-sexual, and just pure chaotic energy and I loved every second he was on the screen. 

Rent/Buy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent on YouTube.

Starship Troopers (1997) 

Next up on the list, we have Starship Troopers, a military sci-fi film that was released in 1997. In this movie, we mainly follow Johnny Rico, a young man in the Mobile Infantry in a time that is much different than ours, as they fight in a war that is truly out of this world against giant green bugs known as Arachnids. No, not those arachnids  -- literal aliens. 

This film is a ridiculous ride from beginning to end and is quite funny in some ways, and at the time, it had some pretty badass visual effects (for a 1997 film, so it’s not like it’s a CGI-fest). Neil Patrick Harris, as part of the cast, played Carl Jenkins, who was a psychic and used his powers for the military, and he was a fun addition to this colorful cast of characters that made this action film so ridiculously crazy and yet so much fun. 

Rent/Buy Starship Troopers on Amazon.

His Glee Appearance (2010)

While Neil Patrick Harris didn’t make numerous appearances in Glee like many other guest stars, his one time on the show was so memorable that, years later, I still sing his version of “Dream On.”

For those who don’t know, Glee was a popular musical-comedy that followed the Glee club at a high school in Ohio, and how the students, as well as the leader of the group, try their hardest in order to build themselves up from zeros to heroes and somehow become popular and win Nationals. 

In the Season 1 episode, “Dream On,” Harris played the character Bryan Ryan, a rival of Will Schuster’s (Matthew Morrison) back in the day. These two battle it out throughout the episode, ultimately culminating in one of the best song covers on the show, “Dream On,” where Harris really got the chance to show off his singing talents on television. This dude is talented as heck, and he won an Emmy Award for his guest role in the show, so you know it’s good. 

Stream his Glee appearance on Disney+.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008)

Created by Joss Whedon, this is a pick that you should watch if you like Neil Patrick Harris' singing talent. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog stars Harris as Dr. Horrible, a supervillain with his own personal video blog, who is trying to join the Evil League of Evil, but through every attempt, no matter how hilarious, he is foiled by Captain Hammer each time. 

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog got a great audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, showing just how popular it was with fans. And who wouldn't want to see Neil Patrick Harris as an eccentric villain once again? He just does it so well. That, paired with his natural musical talent, makes this a great pick. 

Buy Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Amazon.

The Harold And Kumar Movies (2004-2011)

In this fun film trilogy, we follow the titular characters, Harold and Kumar, on ridiculous adventures together. In Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, the duo gets high and decides to go to the fast-food restaurant together but run into much trouble along the way. In the sequel, Harold and Kumar Escape Guantanamo Bay, they do exactly that -- try to get out of the island when they are trapped. And in the third film, A Very Harold and Kumar 3-D Christmas, we get to see them on a holiday adventure. 

Probably one of the first times I ever saw Neil Patrick Harris was in the Harold & Kumar movies. I know, what a way to get introduced to him as an actor, but it made its impression on me and I love him in these movies because he plays the complete opposite of who he is in real life. As a womanizing, disgusting pervert, somehow, someway, his character always gets himself tangled up in Harold and Kumar’s adventures and it’s just ridiculous. There’s nothing quite like a fictionalized version of himself. 

Rent/Buy Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle on Amazon.

A Series Of Unfortunate Events (2017-2019)

Next up on this list, we have A Series of Unfortunate Events. This three-season Netflix series follows the Baudelaire children after they lose their parents and are taken under the care of Count Olaf as they are moved between foster homes, while he just wants them for their incredible fortune. As time passes, they learn more about who their parents truly were. 

I was so upset that this series only lasted for three seasons. I wanted this show to go on for so much longer because Neil Patrick Harris was honestly amazing as Count Olaf. He was dramatic, funny, and just the right amount of evil where you really believed his performance, and truly, if he ever returned to the role, I would be down to watch him again. He definitely holds a candle to Jim Carry’s version as well. I think he might even be better. 

Stream A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix.

8-Bit Christmas (2021)

Moving on, we now have a fun Christmas film that I know you’ll enjoy. Released on HBO Max, we take a look at 8-Bit Christmas, a movie that tells the story of a man who is recollecting on the time of his childhood when he was obsessed with video games, and how this led to a crazy Christmas season in the late 1980s. 

This movie is just pure nostalgia fun, for someone like me who grew up playing games and especially for the whole family that was around when video games were just starting to gain traction in modern-day culture. It’s heartwarming in the best way, and it’s partly because of Neil Patrick Harris’ electric performance as the lead character, Jake Doyle, and his chemistry with his on-screen daughter, Sophia Reid-Gantzert. They’re great, but the story as a whole is so cute. 

Stream 8-Bit Christmas on HBO Max.

Uncoupled (2022-)

Last but not least, we have the latest addition to Neil Patrick Harris’ line-up of TV shows, Uncoupled. This series, from Sex and the City creator, Darren Star, follows a man who was suddenly broken up with by his long-term partner after seventeen years, and now has to navigate the dating world in his forties, which includes the ever popular idea of online dating. 

If you like Darren Star and his other shows, such as Sex and the City or Emily in Paris, then you’ll enjoy Uncoupled, but really, it’s Harris that steals the show. He was the perfect choice for the main role as Michael Lawson, because truly, he is just out of this world funny. And honestly, seeing him return back to his comedy show roots is always fun after watching him on How I Met Your Mother for years. 

Stream Uncoupled on Netflix.

No matter what you pick from this list, I’m sure you’re going to find something that you truly enjoy and will love to watch over and over again. For me, I’m just going to go and re-watch all of How I Met Your Mother again. 

Neil Patrick Harris' character is ready to start over in his new Netflix series, called Uncoupled. The 8-episode gay rom-com comes from Beverly Hills, 90210 and Emily in Paris creator Darren Star and follows Harris’ recently dumped character starting over with the dating scene for the first time in nearly 20 years. Now the How I Met Your Mother vet is opening up about Netflix’s support of gay content.

Netflix has a wide variety of content, some of which centers on LGBTQ+ characters. Heartstopper was a smash hit, although the recent cancellation of First Kill marked the abrupt end of a show with a lesbian relationship. Neil Patrick Harris discussed Netflix’s support of Uncoupled with ET, praising the streamer for giving the series a platform:

Even though Netflix has gained a reputation for cancelling even popular shows after just one season, Neil Patrick Harris had good things to say about the streamer. Uncoupled hasn't yet been officially confirmed for a second season, but it is currently in Netflix's Top 10 TV shows after less than a week's availability. 

While Netflix supported the series, Neil Patrick Harris was still worried about how fans would react. There aren’t many shows that depict a gay man of – to quote the actor – "a certain age," but Harris was glad to be part of it:

Harris might have been uncertain about how viewers would react to the series, but Uncoupled is trending on Netflix as of August 3, 2022, so it appears that the show is a hit with subscribers. We can always use more relatable content out there, and with someone like Neil Patrick Harris as the lead, you know that the show is in good hands in front of the camera.

Meanwhile, as Uncoupled has plenty of elements ranging from drama to comedy and just about everything in between, the series also has a decent amount of camp. Ahead of the show’s premiere, Neil Patrick Harris spoke to CinemaBlend about balancing camp with other elements on Uncoupled, and even he was curious about it initially. The actor gave props to the Uncoupled cast, writing staff, Darren Star, and Jeffrey Richmond for the great balance of elements.

It's hard to tell whether Netflix’s support of gay content will continue with another season of Uncoupled, but since the show did just drop, it may be a while until the streamer announces any news. So in the meantime, fans will just have to watch Harris on the new series to keep busy and make sure that it stays on the top of Netflix’s charts.

Watch Uncoupled now on Netflix, and be sure to check out the 2022 Netflix show schedule to see what else to look forward to!

As Doctor Who prepares for its 60th-anniversary celebration in 2023, there’s been a lot of talk about the beloved series as of late. Audiences are excited to see David Tennant and Catherine Tate reprise their roles, but there are many questions still being asked as the release date draws ever nearer. For example, many are still unsure if or how incoming actor Ncuti Gatwa will debut as The Doctor – though we now might have gotten an answer thanks to Neil Patrick Harris. 

Doctor Who’s Russell T. Davies has been very cryptic about how David Tennant’s Doctor returns and when we’ll see Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor in action. Well, after incoming guest-star villain Neil Patrick Harris shared his thoughts on the Doctor, it’s possible we might have a better idea of when he’ll appear.

What Doctor Who's Neil Patrick Harris Had To Say About Ncuti Gatwa

Unlike Ncuti Gatwa, Neil Patrick Harris has been confirmed to appear in the 60th anniversary Doctor Who special in 2023, and he recently spoke to Variety about the Sex Education star playing the show's new titular character. Harris showered Gatwa with compliments and had nothing but kind things to say about the actor, who is also starring with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in Barbie. Said Harris,

It sounds like Neil Patrick Harris is a hundred percent on board with Ncuti Gatwa as the new Doctor, but there’s something curious about that statement that I’d love to know more about. Did he inadvertently tip the fans off to when they’ll see Gatwa premiere as The Doctor? 

Do Neil Patrick Harris' Comments' Allude To The New Doctor's Debut?

Neil Patrick Harris stated that he had some time to meet Ncuti Gatwa, which raises questions about where the two had a chance to interact. Admittedly there are probably many chances for Hollywood actors to rub shoulders, especially when someone like Doctor Who’s showrunner Russell T. Davies is there as a common link. With that said, I wonder if Harris slyly revealed that Gatwa was on the set of the 60th anniversary production and will be involved in the special. 

For the moment, Doctor Who fans aren’t entirely clear whether or not Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor will appear in the 60th-anniversary special. Under normal circumstances, one would assume Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor will transform into Gatwa’s version following her final episode, but most of the public filming we’ve seen thus far has only shown David Tennant, Neil Patrick Harris, Catherine Tate, and recently departed actor Bernard Cribbins.

Without an unofficial or official sighting of Ncuti Gatwa in any public places Doctor Who filmed, Neil Patrick Harris’ quote might be the closest thing we have to allude to Gatwa’s involvement in the 60th anniversary. Even then, that’s a vague quote that doesn’t tell us anything beyond the fact that the two actors met, so it’s not like it's a confirmation either. We’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled for any clues or potential announcements about the new Doctor’s involvement and any other guest stars who might appear. 

Doctor Who is on a long break before Jodie Whittaker’s final episode, which will air in the fall, but anyone with an HBO Max Subscription can stream the series in the meantime. Now might be a good time to revisit Jodie Whittaker’s run and remember her greatest moments in the role before her goodbye later this year. 

Throughout his career, Darren Star has created classics like Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, and Sex and the City, as well as more recent shows like Emily in Paris, all of which feature incredible casts made up of fabulous actors. These actors, and the characters they portray, have created some of TV and streaming’s most iconic moments and memories one way or another. And now it looks like Star is doing that yet again with the new rom com series Uncoupled, which made its Netflix debut Friday, July 29.

The 2022 Netflix show, which follows Neil Patrick Harris’ recently dumped character as he tries to his hand in the dating scene for the first time in nearly 20 years, looks like it has another remarkable Star cast. So, if you have watched the show or are thinking about giving it a spin, here’s where you’ve seen the Uncoupled cast before…

Neil Patrick Harris (Michael Lawson)

Neil Patrick Harris leads the Uncoupled cast as Michael Lawson, a recently dumped 40-something New York real estate broker who is looking for a new life companion.

A household name since his days on Doogie Howser, M.D., Harris has continued to find success on shows like How I Met Your Mother, various hosting duties including the Tony Awards, Academy Awards, and Primetime Emmy Awards, and film projects like Starship Troopers, Gone Girl, and his incredibly funny cameo in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.

Tuc Watkins (Colin McKenna)

Taking on the role of Michael’s ex Colin McKenna on Uncoupled is Tuc Watkins, who is no stranger to the medium of TV himself.

Throughout his career, Watkins has landed memorable roles on shows like Desperate Housewives, Black Monday, Parks and Recreation, and a couple dozen other one-off roles on everything from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to Melrose Place, another Darren Star creation. He has also appeared in movies like The Mummy, The Good Shepherd, and The Boys in the Band, in which he reprised his role from the original Broadway production.

Tisha Campbell (Suzanne Prentiss)

Tisha Campbell shows up on the Uncoupled cast as Suzanne Prentiss, Michael’s business partner and close confidant who helps him in his reentry into the dating world.

Ever since making her on-screen debut in 1986’s Little Shop of Horrors, Campbell has appeared in the House Party movies, Boomerang, Blindspotting, and most recently The J Team. However, Campbell is probably mostly known for her TV contributions which include major roles on shows like Martin, My Wife and Kids, Empire, Last Man Standing, and Dr. Ken.

Brooks Ashmanskas (Stanley James)

Brooks Ashmanskas shows up on Uncoupled as Stanley James, a New York art dealer and one of Michael’s closest friends, one who is also trying his hand at dating in the fierce scene.

Over the years, Ashmanskas has appeared in movies like Julie and Julia and Better Nate Than Ever and well as TV shows like The Good Wife and The Good Lord Bird, but the majority of his work has been done on Broadway. Going back to a 1995 production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, the Tony Award nominee has appeared in everything from The Producers to Something Rotten! and Present Laughter to The Prom.

Emerson Brooks (Billy Burns)

Taking on the role of Billy Burns on the Uncoupled cast is Emerson Brooks, who brings to life the charismatic weather man and one of Michael’s friends in the dating world.

Throughout his career, Brooks has landed roles on shows like The Last Boat, Arrested Development, and All My Children in addition to appearing on The Lincoln Lawyer cast. He has also appeared in movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and Super 8. A lot of his career has been spent providing voice-over work for a list of games that includes Grand Theft Auto 5, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and multiple others.

Marcia Gay Harden (Claire Lewis)

Marcia Gay Harden shows up on the Uncoupled cast as Claire Lewis, a wealthy divorcee who is working with Michael to figure out her next step in life after nearly 30 years of marriage.

Harden, who won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Lee Krasner in Pollock in 2001, is probably one of the best known actors to appear on the new romantic comedy series, and brings with her decades of experience in film, TV, and the stage. Over the years, Harden has appeared in Coen Brothers movies, various animated and family-friendly movies, and even Stephen King adaptations. Add in shows like The Newsroom, The Education of Max Bickford, and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, and you have yourself a remarkable career.

André De Shields (Jack)

Living theater legend André De Shields appears on Uncoupled as Jack, Michael’s sympathetic neighbor who is there to help out the recently-dumped real estate broker.

Over the course of his career, De Shields has received Tony Awards for performances in musicals like Play On! and Hadestown as well as a Primetime Emmy for the TV adaptation of Ain’t Misbehavin’ and a slew of other accolades. And although he’s mostly known for his stage work, De Shields has also appeared on shows like Sex and the City, Law and Order, and Rescue Me. And he also had a brief appearance on the Tick, Tick… Boom cast in late 2021.

Nic Rouleau (Tyler)

And then there is Nic Rouleau, who plays Michael’s young coworker Tyler on Uncoupled.

Like several other members of the Uncoupled cast, Rouleau made a name for himself as a stage actor in productions of The Book of Mormon, Hello, Dolly!, and Legally Blonde: The Musical. And while most of his TV appearances have either been on variety shows or as himself, Rouleau did have a brief turn on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

This about catches us up with the main portion of the Uncoupled cast, and what a great collection of actors it is. All eight episodes of Darren Star’s new show starring Neil Patrick Harris are currently available but only if you have a Netflix subscription. 

Stream Uncoupled on Netflix.

Neil Patrick Harris is back on the small screen in a show that’ll be available for Netflix subscribers. The fan-favorite actor stars in Uncoupled, a new dramedy from the minds of Darren Star and Jeff Richman, that centers on a newly single gay man re-entering the dating world after his partner of 17 years leaves him. The show has everything, including humor, drama and heart and, of course, it also has camp. That fourth element is a powerful tool and, if used too much, it could overpower a show. On that note, Harris and co-star Brooks Ashmanskas discussed how their new series balances camp with other elements. 

I think it goes without saying that Neil Patrick Harris has had more than his fair share of experience with the cheesy and sometimes over-the-top vibes that come with campiness. After all, Harris has hosted the Oscars, portrayed Count Olaf in A Series of Unfortunate Events and played the Music Meister on DC’s The Flash. However, when I asked him how he and his colleague during the junket for Uncoupled, he admitted that he was unsure as to how the producers would balance camp with some of the other aspects of the series: 

The star brings up a valid point in terms of how the balancing of these elements mirrors reality. In life, there are ebbs and flows, and that’s incredibly appropriate for Uncoupled, given the story it’s telling with Neil Patrick Harris’ Michael Lawson. Crafting a tale like this can be tricky (and takes a village), but it’s definitely sweet when one can master it. 

Brooks Ashmanskas, who plays Michael’s longtime best friend Stanley James, also has plenty of experience with camp. The seasoned actor has done work for the screen and stage, with productions of The Producers and Bullets Over Broadway being some of his biggest credits in the latter category. When sharing his own thoughts on camp, he stressed the importance of an actor’s commitment to it, in addition to other elements:

The cast does indeed balance the comedy, drama, campiness and more quite well. And if I do say so myself, Neil Patrick Harris and Brooks Ashmanskas are particularly great when they’re on screen together. They’ll give you laughs, heartache and yes, a nice serving of camp. 

Uncoupled debuts on July 29 as part of Netflix’s 2022 TV schedule and, of course if you’re looking for additional options, check out CinemaBlend’s 2022 TV schedule.

Doctor Who is hard at work filming its 60th anniversary, and fans are continually amazed by the announcements for it. Former Doctor Who stars David Tennant and Catherine Tate are back in the fold, and we’ll have a new Doctor replacing Jodie Whittaker, played by Ncuti Gatwa. If all that wasn’t exciting enough, the franchise blew more minds recently when it announced a new actor for the special, Neil Patrick Harris. 

The “legendary” How I Met Your Mother actor is a great addition to Doctor Who. Incoming and returning showrunner Russell T. Davies teased Harris as “the greatest villain The Doctor has ever faced,” which obviously got fans thinking. Given that this is will be 60th anniversary, it feels possible Harris will play an iconic villain that longtime fans know well. Right now, there are three intriguing possibilities on who he might play worth discussing. 

The Celestial Toymaker

The Celestial Toymaker appeared in the seventh serial of Doctor Who Season 3, which aired way back in 1966. The character took on William Hartnell’s Doctor and forced him and his companions into a series of games they had to participate in. If they failed, they became his play things for all of eternity. What made it extra dastardly is the Celestial Toymaker intentionally rigged the games in his favor in order to better trap any unwitting subjects, so he didn't even play fair! 

Many Doctor Who fans on the internet are thinking Neil Patrick Harris will play the Celestial Toymaker. It’s a theory that I think is plausible, though it’s worth noting the character suffers from a bit of controversy. The name “Celestial Toymaker” might sound like some MCU villain in modern times, but back in the ’60s, “Celestial” was a slur for Asians. Additionally, the Toymaker wore traditional Asian attire, despite being played by white actor Michael Gough. It’s hard to imagine Doctor Who drudging up a character with so much controversial baggage unless the character was heavily retooled. 

With that said, Neil Patrick Harris’ character doesn’t really resemble classic depictions of The Celestial Toymaker. Additionally, fans spotted a toy shop during the filming of Doctor Who’s 60th in Bristol, England (via Twitter). There’s definitely a case to be made here that Harris is playing the classic Doctor Who villain, but I wouldn’t say it’s definitive. After all, this show loves to make things appear one way and then flip the script when fans least expect it. Can we really be sure Russell T. Davies isn’t leading us to believe it’s the Celestial Toymaker?

Dr. Who

No, that wasn’t a typo above, there was once a Dr. Who. In the mid-'60s, actor Peter Cushing starred in a couple of films about a character named Dr. Who. The character is not a Time Lord, but rather an eccentric inventor who created a TARDIS in his backyard. Much like the actual Doctor, Dr. Who had some encounters with the Daleks and even eventually found his way into the universe’s canon. In the novelization of “The Day of the Doctor,” the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors note they’re fans of the Dr. Who movies and are friends with actor Peter Cushing. 

Curiously enough, the first image of Neil Patrick Harris in Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary special bore a striking resemblance to Peter Cushing’s Dr. Who. Including him as a character in the 60th would certainly be a great callback to the past, even if the character isn’t wholly related to The Doctor and hasn't really gotten a lot of mentions from the franchise over the years. 

The main problem with this theory is that Russell T. Davies described Neil Patrick Harris' character as the greatest villain the Doctor ever faced. Perhaps when it comes to identity theft, Dr. Who could be a threat, but he’s not exactly ever presented as someone directly opposed to the Doctor. In fact, his taking on the Daleks seemingly indicates he’d be a great ally if called upon. Of course, a great mind like Davies could find a way to twist the character around and spin some entertaining web, so I’m not ruling it out. 

The Master

Look, you know we had to throw The Master into the mix. When it comes to the most iconic villains in the Doctor Who franchise, The Master is at the top of the list. I’m not sure The Doctor faced a greater enemy in the modern era, so it’s easy to think that he’d come along and ruin the 60th anniversary for The Doctor. Neil Patrick Harris would make a terrific Master, but is that what is happening here? 

It’s worth noting that Doctor Who already has an actor currently playing The Master, and that’s Sacha Dhawan (who had an incredible debut you can watch with an HBO Max subscription). With that said, it seems like there’s something wonky going on in the 60th anniversary so far, as we’ve seen a lot of David Tennant’s Doctor, but haven’t heard much about Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor outside of his casting. There are theories out there something is amiss with The Doctor that could explain this, namely that it’s possible The Doctor reverted to a previous incarnation. If that’s possible, is it also possible that The Master might revert to a previous incarnation? 

That’s a possibility, and it’s also a possibility The Doctor could encounter a prior or even previously unseen Master. The good thing about Doctor Who is that the timeline and rules are mostly fluid. If the story wants Neil Patrick Harris’ character to be The Master, there are enough avenues in past stories for that to happen with ease. When it comes to large-scale adventures and high stakes, it’s hard to think of many other Who villains who can shoulder a story quite as well. This is a safe and even great bet, but like with the other choices, it’s impossible for us to know with certainty. 

Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary celebration will kick off sometime in 2023 on BBC America, but we’re getting plenty of reveals in the meantime. So much so that it’s hard to remember fans still need to watch Jodie Whittaker’s final episode, which may unlock some of the mystery surrounding what’s happening in the upcoming special.

We’re still several months away from Jodie Whittaker’s run as the 13th Doctor concluding, but many Doctor Who fans are already looking ahead to what’s in store for the 60th anniversary. With Russell T. Davies sitting back in the showrunner’s chair following his time in that position during the 9th and 10th Doctor eras, there’s already a handful of goodies that have been announced for next year’s special event, including both David Tennant and Catherine Tate returning to the BBC series. Now today brings word that Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary has added a major American star who’s also well known for playing a doctor: Neil Patrick Harris.

Yes, the man who shined in his adolescent years as  Doogie Howser, M.D. is currently filming for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary. In the official statement from BBC Studios, Russell T. Davies wasn’t willing to disclose just yet who Neil Patrick Harris is playing, but we do know how his character will look. See for yourself below!

Initially I had two chief guesses about Neil Patrick Harris’ character in Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary: either he’s a new iteration of the title Time Lord or some kind of mad toymaker, although I wasn't so sure about this being a new version of the Celestial Toymaker. However, Russell T. Davies later said on Instagram that Harris is "playing the greatest enemy the Doctor has ever faced," so we can rule out a different incarnation of The Doctor, and the odds of this being the Celestial Toymaker have likely risen. It’s also probably safe to assume that Harris’ character will be eccentric in some way. 

Neil Patrick Harris is also especially famous for starring in How I Met Your Mother as Barney Stinson, who would frequently exclaim something was “legend… wait for it… dary!” That explains this official Doctor Who tweet following up one someone’s correct prediction from last fall.

Neil Patrick Harris is arguably the biggest American actor who’s been recruited in the modern Doctor Who era. The only other person who comes to mind in this category is Sex and the City and The Equalizer star Chris Noth, whose character, business mogul Jack Robertson, crossed paths with the 13th Doctor twice. It’s unclear whether Harris’ character will sound like he hails from the United States or have an accent of some kind, though given how he looks in the above image, I’m putting money on the latter for now.

Plot details for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary are being kept locked up tighter than the TARDIS when The Doctor and their companions are out on an adventure, but along with David Tennant, Catherine Tate and Neil Patrick Harris’ involvement, Yasmine Finney has been cast as someone named Rose, although it hasn’t been clarified yet if this will be a different version of Rose Tyler or simply a new character with that name. It also remains to be seen if Tennant is popping back in as the 10th Doctor, or if the 13th Doctor will regenerate into this familiar form before then turning into the new Doctor being played by Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa.

CinemaBlend will keep passing along news about Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, but as already mentioned, Jodie Whittaker’s final 13th Doctor adventure packed with both former companions and enemies will precede it. Take a look through our 2022 TV schedule to see what other shows will premiere in the near future.

Back in 2011, Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka threw a party. The event would not have gone down in the annals of history except an image leaked from the Halloween-themed party of a buffet spread that was meant to look like Amy Winehouse’s corpse. Winehouse had died from alcohol poisoning at the age of 27 earlier that year. Now, years later, the How I Met Your Mother star has publicly apologized for the cake. 

Why is a story like this resurfacing after more than a decade? Interest in Amy Winehouse has remained high over the years and, as often happens on the Internet, a viral tweet led to more tweets which led to more awareness of the part that happened back in 2011. In recent days NPH has been taking quite a bit of flack from the Internet for “The Corpse of Amy Winehouse” sign that had leaked from the party so many years ago, so he addressed the incident, apologizing for “any hurt” his actions have caused (via EW):

At the time the party happened, Neil Patrick Harris was in the middle of a big moment thanks to the success of How I Met Your Mother, his CBS sitcom which began running in 2005 and had a memorable ending in 2014. Guests at the 2011 event were notable and included Jesse Tyler Ferguson's husband Justin Mikita, who allegedly took the photo of the platter of meats meant to resemble Amy Winehouse's dead corpse. 

Her beehive hairdo and tattoos were both noticeable in the images, but even if they hadn't been, signage clearly showed the platter intended to mimic the late singer's corpse. A separate sign mentioned the platter included beef ribs, pulled pork, and chicken sausage in a spicy BBQ sauce. 

Years later, the image resurfaced and had been blowing up online in a big way before Neil Patrick Harris ultimately apologized for the incident. The actor is currently promoting his upcoming Netflix series Uncoupled and has been taking some meat platter-related flack online from various social media users since the incident resurfaced, with an example below.

Uncoupled is from Emily in Paris and And Just Like That's Darren Star (who is no stranger to controversy) and  Jeffrey Richman and won't be available streaming until later this summer, joining Netflix's schedule on July 29. Uncoupled already dealt with controversy over a character that was deemed "offensive" by an individual who had auditioned for the show. The character was later cut from the series. 

There have been plenty of great meta movies released over the years, with everything from Being John Malkovich to Last Action Hero and even Adaptation coming to mind. Well, now we can add another title to that list with the long-awaited release of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, the new action comedy from Tom Gormican that features Nicolas Cage playing himself, or at least a fictionalized and over-the-top version of himself.

If you have either seen it, or plan on seeing one of the craziest 2022 movies, you may be wondering exactly where you’ve seen the members of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent cast before and why they look so familiar. Well, look no further, because we’re about to break it all down now, starting with the man himself: Nicolas Cage.

Nicolas Cage (Nick Cage)

No shocker here, but Nicolas Cage shows up in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent as Nick Cage, a comedic take on himself who appears to be up there with any of the wild characters the Academy Award winner has played in the past. He even shows up as an imaginary character named Nicky Cage, as seen in the film’s red band trailer on YouTube.

Depending on when you started watching movies, you either remember Cage from films like Wild at Heart and Moonstruck, or The Rock and Con Air, or The Wicker Man and Drive Angry. This is just to say that Cage has been in just about and every type of movie there is, which has resulted in the actor appearing in more than 100 movies throughout his career, and it doesn’t look like he’s going to slow down any time soon.

Pedro Pascal (Javi Gutierrez)

Pedro Pascal shows up in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent as Javi Gutierrez, a mysterious billionaire who pays Nick Cage a whopping $1 million to attend his birthday party, but looks can be deceiving.

Although he is one of the actors who has played two different characters in the Law & Order franchise, Pascal is probably best known for his portrayal of Din Djarin, a.k.a. “Mando” on The Mandalorian and later in The Book of Boba Fett. He also appeared on shows where his face is shown, like Game of Thrones, The Good Wife, and Narcos. His film work includes everything from Wonder Woman 1984 to We Can Be Heroes, and Kingsman: The Golden Circle to If Beale Street Could Talk.

Neil Patrick Harris (Richard Fink)

Neil Patrick Harris joins The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent cast as Richard Fink, Nick Cage’s agent who convinces him to take the birthday party gig at Javi Gutierrez’s massive estate.

Harris, who got his big break as the titular character on the medical series Doogie Howser, M.D., has gone on to have a successful career in show business, with series like How I Met Your Mother, Glee, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and several others. His film career has been just as notable with Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Gone Girl, 8-Bit Christmas, and The Matrix Resurrections, to name only a few. 

Tiffany Haddish (Vivian)

Taking on the role of Vivian, a CIA agent who tries to convince Nick Cage to provide information on Javi Gutierrez in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, is Tiffany Haddish.

For the better part of the past decade it has been almost impossible to escape Tiffany Haddish, as the comedian-turned-actress has appeared in everything from Keanu to Girls Trip and Like a Boss to Bad Trip, and everything in between. And, that’s even before you factor in shows like The Carmichael Show, The Last O.G., and Tuca & Bertie. Haddish is set to star in the upcoming Haunted Mansion reboot.

Ike Barinholtz (Martin)

Ike Barinholtz shows up in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent as Martin, another CIA operative hoping to use Nick Cage as an inside source for an ongoing investigation into Javi Gutierrez’s dealings.

Best known for his portrayal of Morgan Tookers on The Mindy Project, Barinholtz has also had notable roles on shows like Eastbound & Down, Bless the Harts, Madtv, and The Afterparty, which also featured co-star Tiffany Haddish. His film work includes The Disaster Artist, Neighbors, and Blockers.

Alessandra Mastronardi (Gabriela)

Taking on the role of Gabriela in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is Alessandra Mastronardi.

Throughout her career, Mastronardi has appeared in movies like To Rome with Love, The Fifth Wheel, and Lost in Florence, as well as shows like Titanic: Blood and Steel, Medici, and Master of None, where she played Dev’s (Aziz Ansari) love interest Francesca in the Netflix show’s second season.

Jacob Scipio (Carlos)

Jacob Scipio shows up in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent as Carlos, one of Javi’s trusted henchmen.

If Scipio looks familiar it is probably because of his portrayal of Armando Aretas in Bad Boys for Life, a character who provided for quite the revelation in the 2020 buddy cop movie. His other film roles include The Outpost, Without Remorse, and Last Looks. He will soon appear in two of the most anticipated action movies in recent memory — Batgirl and The Expendables 4.

Lily Sheen (Addy)

Taking on the role of Addy, Nick Cage’s daughter in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, is Lily Sheen, the daughter of Kate Beckinsale and Michael Sheen.

Over the years, Sheen has appeared in movies like Everybody’s Fine, Click, and Underworld: Evolution, in which she played a younger version of her mother’s character, Selene.

Sharon Horgan (Olivia)

Sharon Horgan shows up in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent as Olivia, Nick Cage’s ex-wife.

To some, Horgan will be most recognizable for her portrayal of Sharon Morris on the romantic comedy series, Catastrophe, which she also wrote and created alongside co-star Rob Delaney. Her other TV credits include Pulling, Women on the Verge, and Disenchantment, to name a few. Her film credits include Game Night, How to Build a Girl, Dating Amber, and Death of a Superhero.

Paco León (Lucas Gutierrez)

Paco León takes on the role of Lucas Gutierrez, one of Javi’s closest allies who doesn’t trust Nick Cage in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. 

Throughout his career, León has appeared in mostly Spanish films like Queens, Kiki, Love to Love, and 7 Años, as well as a list of TV shows that includes Blowing Kisses, The House of Flowers, and Arde Madrid, to name only a few.

This is just a portion of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent cast as there is no point in ruining some of those big surprises for those who have yet to watch the movie. If you want even more of the man of the hour, check out some of Nicolas Cage’s best (and worst) movies. 

We all love a good cameo by a celebrity appearing as themselves for a brief, but fun, little moment. However, what I have always found more amusing is when a famous person portrays themselves in a more prominent starring role from a movie, or in a TV guest appearance that serves as the main focus of that episode (or episodes), or even as the lead of the whole story. With Nicolas Cage playing himself in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, we wanted to take a look at our picks for some more of the best performances by athletes, musicians, or actors who played themselves.

Neil Patrick Harris (Harold & Kumar Movies)

Future How I Met Your Mother cast member Neil Patrick Harris was still best known as the star of Doogie Howser M.D. when he stole the show in the 2004 stoner comedy classic Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle as a highly dramatized version of himself. The Emmy nominee would reprise the role in two sequels that more heavily blend the actor’s reality with increasingly absurd fiction, including getting kicked out of Heaven by Jesus in A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas after he was previously gunned down by prostitutes in Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. 

Cate Blanchett (Coffee And Cigarettes)

Every vignette in Coffee and Cigarettes - Jim Jarmusch’s 2003 anthology of short films starring celebrities as themselves - is gold, but Cate Blanchett leads one of the more unique and thought-provoking of the bunch called “Cousins.” The segment is, additionally, one of the most profound testaments of the two-time Oscar winner’s chameleonic talent, as she makes it so easy to forget she is playing both herself and her brunette relative, Shelly, who struggle to relate to each other while catching up in a hotel lobby.

James Van Der Beek (Don’t Trust The B**** In Apartment 23)

In 2012, James Van Der Beek made his big return to TV as a series regular on Don’t Trust the B**** in Apartment 23 in a role very close to his heart: James Van Der Beek. The actor brilliantly pokes fun at his post-leading the Dawson’s Creek cast career and predicts his future Dancing with the Stars stint as the famous best friend of Krysten Ritter’s Chloe - the title character of ABC’s short-lived, but much-acclaimed, comedy.

Bill Murray (Zombieland)

Most people would consider Bill Murray’s surprise appearance in Zombieland to be one of the greatest cameos of his career (and there are several incredible examples to choose from). However, with only four other characters in the main cast of the classic 2009 zombie comedy, I think we can justifiably count the Oscar nominee’s iconic, hilariously dead-pan portrayal as his post-apocalyptic self as a starring role despite lasting mere minutes. 

Keanu Reeves (Always Be My Maybe)

Another example of a relatively brief appearance that still earns the right to be called a starring role occurs in 2019’s Always Be My Maybe when Marcus (Randall Park) is shocked to learn that his childhood friend (and crush), Sasha (Ali Wong) is dating none other than Keanu Reeves. The John Wick star pulls no punches in his partially improvised portrayal of a wonderfully absurd version of himself in the Netflix original rom-com, in which, during a restaurant double-date, he shows up wearing glasses with no lenses and asks the waiter for a dish that plays with “the concept of time.”

Heather Langenkamp (New Nightmare)

After playing Nancy Kerrigan in two Nightmare on Elm Street movies made her one of the top Scream Queens of the 1980s, Heather Langenkamp would give, arguably, her best performance in the franchise when she returned - not as Nancy, but as herself - in 1994’s New Nightmare. The cleverly meta thriller, in which the actress is taunted by a demon assuming the appearance of Freddy Krueger, also stars fellow horror icon Robert Englund as this new take on the iconic villain and himself as well as writer and director Wes Craven.

The Beatles (A Hard Day’s Night)

The cinematic phenomenon of famous musicians offering a fictionalized peek into their lives off-stage (such as Nick Cave in 2014’s quasi-documentary 20,000 Days on Earth or Foo Fighters in the horror-comedy Studio 666 more recently) arguably began with The Beatles. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr exhibit solid comedic timing and profound athleticism while running from a swarm of screaming fans in 1964’s A Hard Day’s Night - the first of a number of dramatized films the Fab Four made together.

LeBron James (Trainwreck)

Pro basketball star LeBron James has portrayed himself onscreen several times and most recently in 2021’s Space Jam: A New Legacy - a sequel to the hit Michael Jordan/Looney Tunes collaboration from 1996. However, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Small Forward received the most acclaim of his acting career so far for playing himself in Trainwreck - star and writer Amy Schumer’s 2015 rom-com which depicts him and Bill Hader’s “sports doctor to the stars” as best friends.

Stan Lee (Mallrats)

Before his heartbreaking death in 2018, Stan Lee perfected the art of the cameo by appearing in countless Marvel movies. One of his first and most prominent acting gigs (for which he was actually mentioned in the opening credits, too) was as himself in Kevin Smith’s 1995 Clerks follow-up, Mallrats. The comic book icon makes you a “true believer” in his acting ability when he shows up for a couple of scenes to give comic book-obsessed Brody (Jason Lee) some much-needed relationship advice. 

Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)

It is no secret among die-hard Seinfeld fans that Jason Alexander’s deeply neurotic and troublesome character, George Costanza, was heavily inspired by the personality and life experiences of co-creator Larry David. On his follow-up to Seinfeld - the long-running, HBO original comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm - David has earned several Emmy Award nominations for playing a version of himself who makes George look like a saint, burning bridges with Hollywood heavies and alienating friends and average bystanders at every turn.  

Kate Winslet (Extras)

Star and co-creator Ricky Gervais’ Hollywood satire Extras is chock full of amazing celebrity guest appearances, but Kate Winslet made a damn good case to be considered the funniest in the Emmy-winning comedy’s history. The British Titanic star is seen playing a nun on the set of a film about the Holocaust (which she admits she agreed to star in purely to win an Oscar, having not yet won for The Reader) before later proving herself to be a master in double entendres when offering fellow extra, Maggie Jacobs (Ashley Jensen), phone sex tips.

John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich)

It is a bit rare for an actor to appear in a movie as him or herself while also playing the title character, but 1999’s Being John Malkovich - from from writer Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze - is also a rare kind of movie, and in many ways, too. The two-time Oscar nominee is understandably shocked and frightened by the discovery that a Manhattan puppeteer (John Cusack) has been using a magical portal to be able to take a walk in his shoes for 15 minutes at a time in this wildly creative comedy.

Bruce Campbell (My Name Is Bruce)

Another rare example of an actor playing themselves in the titular role of a film is Bruce Campbell in My Name is Bruce, which is also the last film the B-movie icon directed himself. Campbell is hilarious in the 2007 horror-comedy as a boozy, washed-up version of himself who is forced to channel his iconic Evil Dead character, Ash Williams, in order to defeat a demon wreaking havoc on a small town in Oregon.

Oprah Winfrey (30 Rock)

Another example of a memorably, and often awkwardly, hilarious guest appearance on an acclaimed TV comedy is Oprah Winfrey on Season 3 of 30 Rock. Liz Lemon (star and creator Tina Fey) is delighted to find the larger-than-life media mogul seated next to her on an airplane and cannot help but seize the opportunity to received a dose of wisdom, but who could really blame her for that?

Kevin Garnett (Uncut Gems)

As much as I agree that Adam Sandler deserved greater awards attention for his lead performance in the relentless 2019 thriller Uncut Gems, I think we should be more angry at the fact that former NBA player Kevin Garnett received no awards attention at all. I would go so far as to say I’m glad the Safdie Brothers did not get the athlete they originally wrote the part for (the Knicks’ Amar’e Stoudemire) because Garnett is electrifying as himself (circa 2012), whose interest in a rare opal sets off a series of increasingly dire circumstances for the Sandler as self-destructive jeweler, Howard Ratner.

The This Is The End Cast

The whole point of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s 2013 directorial debut This is the End is to watch the entire cast (including Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, and many, many more) as hilariously exaggerated versions of themselves who struggle to endure the Apocalypse and a merciless barrage of gags at their expense. Highlights also include an excruciatingly vain (and demonically possessed) Jonah Hill; a lewd, coke-snorting Michael Cera; an axe-wielding Emma Watson; and Channing Tatum employed by a cannibalistic Danny McBride as his sex slave.

You've got to love seeing a famous person let loose and introduce a different, completely fictional side of themselves to the world on screen. I cannot wait to see more examples of actors playing themselves in the future.

Mystery is a key portion of what makes The Matrix film series work as a mind-bending action blowout. Returning to that franchise for the first time in almost 20 years, co-writer/director Lana Wachowski still has that understanding in her work, thanks to the fact that aside from Keanu Reeves’ Neo and Carrie-Anne Moss’ Trinity, we don’t know that much about the new cast involved. That’s about to change, as this winter’s The Matrix Resurrections may have confirmed three mysterious character identities, as well as given a huge hint to another actor’s potential role, and this could be massive.

Priyanka Chopra Is, In Fact, Playing Sati

The first huge confirmation we’ve gotten, thanks to Warner Bros. Korea’s Instagram marketing, is that Priyanka Chopra is in fact playing Sati. Why this is so important will be discussed in a moment, but let’s first look at what confirmed this casting. If you take a look at that Instagram post, it shows off a recent poster that depicted Ms. Chopra’s character. Translating the caption from Korean to English, here’s what this message roughly says:

A crucial character in the later installments of the Matrix trilogy, we last saw Sati as a young girl with promising power, resurrected after Neo’s final fight with Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving). The path for her character is still unknown, with Enter The Matrix’s big message from The Oracle (Mary Alice) stating that she will be very important to the future of machines and humanity. Scratching one question off of The Matrix 4 wish list, we can now begin to look at the other characters being teased in a similar fashion.

Jessica Henwick’s Character Is Named Bugs

Looking further down the line of the posters that also gave us our best look at the new Morpheus, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, The Matrix Resurrections’ marketing campaign has also confirmed another figure that we've known about for roughly several months. Jessica Henwick’s mysterious character is part of this same marketing run, and quite fittingly, she’s named Bugs, which is a sort of double-edged name in this world of simulated freedom fighting. The most obvious facet is that, much like any digital system has bugs that fundamentally alter things, Henwick’s character is doing just that by aiding Neo. 

It wouldn’t be The Matrix if there wasn’t another level of meaning though, and “Bugs” is also a fitting name for this new figure because of an easter egg she possesses from the original films. Just as Thomas Anderson followed the white rabbit to become Neo, his newly reincarnated self will have to repeat that history, thanks to Bugs having that exact tattoo on her shoulder. As it turns out, Warner Bros.' brand synergy works outside of Space Jam legacy-quels and fighting games; and this new character seems to be on the same level of importance as Morpheus, seeing as we've known about the two of them for approximately the same amount of time.

Meet Neil Patrick Harris, A.K.A. Analyst

Here’s where things get a little murky, but still very much intriguing. Throughout the teases to Neil Patrick Harris’ piece to the Matrix puzzle, we’ve seen him operate as a therapist to Thomas Anderson/Neo in this new world. So the name “Analyst” shouldn’t come as a surprise, as it fits his job description to a tee. Thinking a little harder on that title, and the past history of The Matrix Resurrections’ predecessors, another theory starts to arise. What if all of these intimate scenes between “The Analyst” and Thomas reveal that this supposed therapist is really “The Architect 2.0”?

Introduced in The Matrix Reloaded, The Architect (Helmut Bakaitis) met Neo at a crucial phase in his journey as The One, and laid out the concept of The Matrix and his involvement in its inner workings. After which, The Architect gave Neo a choice: wipe the slate clean for a new round or potentially crash the entire Matrix and exterminate humanity. Maybe in his new form, which also seems to involve constantly sitting and moderating/monitoring Neo’s choices, The Analyst is the key to keeping both sides of the fence in line? 

There’s A Matrix Character Poster That’s Conspicuously Missing

All of the information that’s come from this new source of clues to The Matrix Resurrections has highlighted an interesting absence in the lineup. Most of this was already shared throughout international markets, as we’ve seen in the domestic campaign for the next adventure. Comparing the two sources however, one character is conspicuously missing from these revelations: the mysterious presence played by Jonathan Groff. Taking a look at the photo evidence below, there’s an obvious theory as to why he’s MIA: 

What kind of caption or character name to you use to accompany that poster that would even begin to hide the intent of Mr. Groff’s would-be antagonist? Though come to think of it, even with this poster giving off a serious vibe that we saw with Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith teaser poster for The Matrix Reloaded, there’s still room for argument. Seeing as this fresh man of mystery also gets to reenact a key moment in Neo’s Matrix journey, the path isn’t exactly clear. 

Why These Characters Could Be Massive Pieces In The Matrix Resurrections

While previous announcements have leaned heavily on 1999’s The Matrix as the key to this new saga, the sequels are clearly in play thanks to Sari’s presence. Also, seeing figures like Morpheus and The Merovingian either totally reskinned or altered tremendously means that we’re not just going back to relive that first movie. They weren’t kidding when they said this isn’t merely a sequel, as The Matrix Resurrections seems to be an upgraded version of the original. 

The Matrix is literally rebooted, with figures, events and even footage from the first installment playing a key part in whatever this new puzzle happens to spell out. Whatever happens next is taking into account the entire trilogy that came before it, which speaks to the changes that have been made. And for once, Neo might not be the key to the future, as Sati’s return and The Oracle’s cryptic prophecy of her importance might be fulfilled, should those potential sequels happen.

We’ve still got some time before The Matrix Resurrections hits theaters and HBO Max on December 22nd. That’s a lot of space to be filled with ads from all over the world, slowly revealing secrets in bite sized pieces that string together to make... something. What that is probably won’t be the entire truth, as much like a good Christmas gift, you should only give enough hints to get everyone sitting around the tree. 

In the scope of Neil Patrick Harris’ career, How I Met Your Mother is undeniable in its significance. The actor signed on to the sitcom in the wake of his beloved cameo in Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle, and for nine years he starred as suit-loving lothario Barney Stinson – appearing in over 200 episodes. That’s obviously a lot of time to commit to one project… and yet he was totally surprised earlier this month when I pointed out a link between the show and his newest movie, 8-Bit Christmas.

In the new family comedy, Neil Patrick Harris plays the adult version of protagonist Jake Doyle, and at the start of the film he is featured in the present taking his daughter (Sophia Reid-Gantzert) to his childhood home in Chicago for Christmas. It’s a circumstance that leads him to tell her a story about a particularly eventful holiday season from when he was a kid – and while that doesn’t really describe Harris’ role on How I Met Your Mother, it most certainly does describe the part of the narrator on the CBS show, played by Bob Saget.

The whole structure of the series is based on a father telling his children the story of how he met their mother (hence the title), but Neil Patrick Harris didn’t make that particular connection until I recently pointed it out during the 8-Bit Christmas virtual press day. Chuckling at the observation, he said,

Of course, further differentiating the movie from the TV show is that 8-Bit Christmas’ main narrative is set in the 1980s – centering on the attempts by young Jake Doyle (Winslow Fegley) to get a brand new Nintendo Entertainment System. Rather than being about 30-year-old hijinks and romantic relationships, the movie centers on a cast of pre-teen characters who do everything they can to get the year’s ultimate Christmas present.

Considering the link, Neil Patrick Harris continued by throwing a wonderful complement at his How I Met Your Mother co-star, adding,

Co-starring Steve Zahn, June Diane Raphael, and David Cross, 8-Bit Christmas is arriving on HBO Max this Wednesday, November 24. To discover more movies that are scheduled to arrive both in theaters and on streaming between now and the end of December, head on over to our 2021 Movie Release Calendar.

In this day and age, Hollywood has been making serious efforts to become more inclusive when it comes to the kinds of people being featured in films and TV series. This, ideally, means showing multidimensional characters who don’t fall into long-used stereotypes or clichés. Though in recent years, some productions have still received backlash for using such tropes, and Neil Patrick Harris’ upcoming Netflix show is the latest to receive criticism. Veteran actress Ada Maris recently complained about an offensive character she discovered and, now, the streamer is apologizing and the show itself, which is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and JAX Media, is removing the character. 

Ada Maris received sides for a role in the upcoming show and recently explained that she was not happy with the character, who apparently used broken English when speaking. Per her comments to Variety, this was especially disappointing given the progress that’s been made with Latinx representation: 

Ada Maris was originally being considered for the role of Carmen on Uncoupled. The Neil Patrick Harris-led comedy centers on a professionally accomplished man who must start over after his husband of 17 years leaves him. Carmen was reportedly meant to be the housekeeper of Harris’ character, Michael. In one scene, she calls her employer hysterically following what appears to be a robbery and says, “Mister, I just get here and they stole,” before later adding “They stole! They rob you! I don’t know how they get in.”

In the other scene, the character apparently grabs a glass from her boss, which he’d just washed out at his sink. After doing so, Carmen apparently says, “No, I do that. You don’t clean good, you always leave a ring.” 

Sometime after the veteran star’s complaints, Netflix responded, addressing her audition experience. And as previously mentioned, the streamer also confirmed the character’s current status: 

Ada Maris has a career that spans nearly four decades, during which she’s starred and appeared on notable shows like Nurses, The Brothers Garcia, Star Trek: Enterprise and Mayans M.C. While speaking with the trade, Maris also seemed surprised that Neil Patrick Harris and show creator Darren Star, who she refers to as “modern gay men,” would find the Carmen character acceptable. As of this writing, neither Harris nor Star have commented on the matter, and it’s unclear if Maris’ comments are the true reason for the decision to drop the role.

The actress’ sentiments on representation absolutely ring true, and such a character is honestly disappointing in this modern age. If shows like On My Block and bilingual dramedy Gentefied (both Netflix productions) have proven anything, it’s that there are complex stories to be told, which feature layered Latinx characters.

Like clockwork, every holiday season sees one undeniably popular gift item become the most coveted item that children want and parents fear. For ‘80s kids, one such holy grail was the Nintendo Entertainment System: the dawn of the video game console’s hold on the holidays. Now, just in time for this holiday, 8-Bit Christmas is going to have Neil Patrick Harris narrating what looks like a new spin on A Christmas Story. Except you could probably substitute a Red Ryder Carbine Action BB gun for its video game equivalent, the ever popular Zapper.

Through what looks to be an extended flashback told by Neil Patrick Harris’ character, Jake Doyle, 8-Bit Christmas focuses on 10-year-old Jake (Nightbooks’  Winslow Fegley) and his quest for the hallowed NES. However, this HBO Max original has a very familiar pitfall, as Jake’s parents (Grace and Frankie’s June Diane Raphael and The White Lotus’ Steve Zahn) forbid the digital box from even entering their home. Of course, that’s not going to stop Jake and his friends from hatching some top-secret schemes to get it for themselves; which is where the real fun should really begin.

Based on author Kevin Jakubowski’s book of the same name, 8-Bit Christmas looks like a holiday romp that’s in the same vein as Bob Clark’s 1983 classic. Though instead of Ovaltine ads and references to other titles in the HBO Max library like The Wizard of Oz, Jake Doyle and his friends will be enamored with The Karate Kid, expeditions to the local mall, and of course, all things Nintendo. And yes, that includes the infamous Power Glove...or something that looks extremely close to that movie friendly peripheral.  

8-Bit Christmas absolutely owes a debt to A Christmas Story, and both Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema seemingly understand that. Dubbing the film as “the next great Christmas story” may not be subtle, but it’s a respectful signal that acknowledges how much that time honored classic laid the groundwork for 8-Bit Christmas. Not to mention, another in-house holiday classic is mentioned in the marketing, as New Line Cinema’s Elf gets a hat tip as well. 

Much like Disney+’s Home Sweet Home Alone, another holiday classic is about to be reinvented for a new generation to discover. However, unlike that legacyquel, 8-Bit Christmas is merely nodding to its predecessor, rather than existing in the same world. Though that could change slightly, as a surprise cameo or two from one of the surviving members of A Christmas Story’s cast could always crop up. And if 8-Bit Christmas is this sweet on its inspirational predecessor, it’d be foolish to rule that possibility out before seeing the finished product. Until then, let’s just soak in all the ‘80s goodness of the trailer, and the absolutely retro poster that was also released: 

Get ready to plug into 8-Bit Christmas, as the film will stream exclusively on HBO Max, on Thanksgiving Eve, November 24th. If you want to get a jump on planning out the movies you’re looking to watch during the Thanksgiving holiday, in-between appropriately themed episodes of Friends, we’ve got just what you need. No need to insert a coin or blow on a cartridge, just head over to the 2021 release schedule, and you’ll be able to seek out the next level of entertainment at the movies. 

Every few years a science fiction movie arrives in theaters and changes the film world as we know it. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s that was definitely The Wachowski’s Matrix trilogy. Luckily fans will be able to jack back into the property with The Matrix Resurrections, and Keanu Reeves with the rest of the cast recently reflected on the franchise’s legacy.

Moviegoers were delighted to learn that The Matrix was returning to the big screen for a fourth movie, with Lana Wachowski bringing a mysterious new story and a ton of new actors into the fold. The Matrix Resurrections cast recently spoke about how the original trilogy has remained part of the pop culture lexicon. Keanu Reeves himself addressed how it felt on the original movie’s set, saying:

The man wasn’t wrong. The cutting-edge technology used to film and edit The Matrix blew the collective mind of moviegoers. The Wachowskis’ style is one that countless projects emulated, with slow motion and bullet-time effects still being used to this day. So there’s no telling what new innovations will come with The Matrix Resurrections. 

Keanu Reeves and the rest of the cast of The Matrix Resurrections talked about the franchise’s ongoing legacy in a video promoting the upcoming sequel. While being careful not to actually reveal anything about the new sequel, it’s clear that the original trilogy meant a great deal to those involved in the newest installment. And that includes the myriad newcomers making their debut in the fourth installment.

One familiar face who will be debuting as a new player in The Matrix Resurrections is none other than Neil Patrick Harris. In the trailer he was seemingly a therapist for Neo, and fans are eager to see what the How I Met Your Mother icon will bring to the mysterious blockbuster. NPH spoke about how the sci-fi property changed the film world, saying:

When one stops and thinks about it, there are a ton of Matrix lines that have ended up being adopted as common colloquialisms. For instance, people will say “there’s a glitch in the Matrix” when something goes wrong. And that’s only one example of how the franchise has continued to have an influence on pop culture.

Hamilton star Jonathan Groff will also appear in The Matrix Resurrections, and in the trailer he also seems like he might be Neo’s therapist. The Mindhunter actor went so far as to say that he can barely remember what it was like before the first Matrix arrived in theaters back in 1999. As Groff put it,

Given this legacy, it should be fascinating to see exactly what Lana Wachowski has up her sleeves for The Matrix Resurrections. The world, our relationship with technology, and Wachowski herself have changed quite a bit, which should presumably change the way the material is approached. The first trailer rates more questions than it answered, you can check it out below,

Luckily for the generations of fans out there, The Matrix Resurrections is slowly approaching its release this winter. And as such, we should be treated to more footage and information about the movie ahead of its arrival in theaters. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all shakes out, and exactly how Neo and Trinity will continue despite their apparent deaths in the last movie.

The Matrix Resurrections will arrive December 22nd. In the meantime, check out the 2021 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.

In the era of reboots and spinoffs, one premise that is finally getting a second chance is How I Met Your Mother. Following some failed attempts at a spinoff, How I Met Your Father will the light of day on Hulu as production is currently ongoing. Though how does the original cast feel about the reboot? Neil Patrick Harris shares his thoughts.

How I Met Your Father stars Hilary Duff and follows a similar concept to How I Met Your Mother, with Duff’s character in the future telling her own kids the story of how she met their father going back to the year 2021. HIMYM’s Neil Patrick Harris, who played serial playboy Barney Stinson, spoke to Insider about his hopes for the new series as he brought up the previous attempts at a spinoff or reboot:

It’s nice knowing that Neil Patrick Harris supports the reboot, considering he wasn’t too fond of at least a revival idea a few years ago. In March 2018, the actor admitted that while he looks “back on that chapter with great fondness” he didn’t feel like there was anything else needed with the characters. How I Met Your Father includes all new characters, but maybe there’s still a chance that How I Met Your Mother characters could make an appearance since the spinoff is set in New York.

How I Met Your Father was first announced in April 2021 with Hilary Duff set to lead. Hulu ordered ten episodes of the reboot and filming started in August. While things did take a bit of a turn when Duff tested positive for COVID, production started back up once the former Disney star recovered. There is no set date for HIMYF as of yet but as long as the series keeps going and Hulu is ready to go, original series fans won’t have to worry about this one not sticking.

Maybe since Neil Patrick Harris supports the reboot, he would also be on board for a possible appearance, even as just a cameo? Seeing Barney once again would be legendary, as he would say. But in the meantime, fans can rewatch How I Met Your Mother in full on Hulu in anticipation for How I Met Your Father. Hopefully more information will come out about the new series soon to whet the appetites of excited subscribers.

2020 was a wild year, which made a lasting impact on the entertainment industry. Sets around the world were shut down for months, and a number of movies were pushed back as a result. This includes Lana Wachowski's The Matrix 4, which will see the return of franchise favorites like Keanu Reeves. The cast is filled out by a number of familiar faces, including the talented Neil Patrick Harris. And he recently explained why the massive blockbuster still felt intimate.

Principal photography on The Matrix 4 wrapped months ago, with the cast and crew reportedly having a wrap party overseas. The movie's contents and premise are a complete mystery, as the cast has been keeping their cards close to the chest. Still, Neil Patrick Harris recently explained what it was like filming the hotly anticipated sci-fi movie. In his words,

Well, this does indeed feel intimate. While The Matrix 4 is expected to have plenty of wild action and stunts, the set still felt small to Neil Patrick Harris. This may be partly due to the strict COVID health guidelines, or simply the way that Lana Wachoski is approaching her return to the iconic property.

Neil Patrick Harris' comments to Variety are sure to be encouraging for moviegoers who might be nervous about The Matrix 4. It's been a long time since audiences jacked into the franchise, and the narrative was seemingly brought to a conclusion with The Matrix Revolutions. But if Harris found the filming experience to be so unique, perhaps it'll result in especially strong performances.

The original Matrix movie changed the film world forever, as the Wachowskis debuted cutting edge cinematography that has been emulated countless times in the years since. The allegorical battle against machines remains part of the pop culture landscape, and it should be interesting to see exactly what's brought to the table all these years later.

Later in his same interview, Neil Patrick Harris opened up about a perceived shift to Lana Wachowski's work on The Matrix 4. As he continued explaining the unique nature of the set, the Tony and Emmy winning actor shared:

It sounds like its going to be a very different Matrix when the franchise comes back to the big screen. While Neil Patrick Harris has been able to speak about the experience of filming on set, fans are eager for any indication of the plot. And considering the film is meant to arrive in theaters later this year, audiences are already fiending for footage.

Neil Patrick Harris is one of the many notable actors will be making their debut in The Matrix 4. Other newcomers include recent Emmy winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen), Jessica Henwick (Game of Thrones), Jonathan Groff (Hamilton) and Priyanka Chopra (Batwatch).

The Matrix 4 is currently expected to arrive in theaters and HBO Max on December 22nd. In the meantime, check out our 2021 release list to plan your next movie experience.

Nicolas Cage has had a… shall we say, unique career in Hollywood. The man’s clearly talented, as demonstrated by his numerous accolades (including winning both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Leaving Las Vegas), but he’s also delivered a lot of weird, and in some cases downright bonkers performances over the years. Well, we’ll soon be getting what may be his weirdest performance ever, as Cage playing a fictional version of himself in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

For those of you who are just hearing about The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent for the first time, the movie follows a version of Nicolas Cage who’s creatively unfulfilled, struggling financially and eager to work with Quentin Tarantino. This paves the way for Cage accepting $1 million to attend a super fan’s birthday party, but when danger rears its ugly head, he’s forced to embody some of his most iconic and beloved characters in order to save his wife and daughter. So who’s making up the cast of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent? That’s what we’re here to go over, and let’s start off by talking a little more about the main man himself.

Nicolas Cage

Most of Nicolas Cage’s credits in recent years might not be as high profile as his body of work from the 1990s and 2000s, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less interesting. From voicing Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to starring in off-the-wall live-action features like Mandy and Color Out of Space, Cage has not had any issues picking projects that effectively stretch those acting muscles. Needless to say it’ll be interesting to see how the fictional Cage differs from the real-life one, but more importantly, just imagine how crazy things will get when he starts embodying roles from years past.

Pedro Pascal

Many of you are currently seeing Pedro Pascal playing The Mandalorian’s eponymous protagonist on Disney+, with his other notable credits of late including Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The Equalizer 2, Triple Frontier and the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984. For The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pascal is playing Javi, the billionaire super-fan who hires Nicolas Cage to come to his birthday party and read his script. As it turns out though, Javi is also a drug lord, so Cage is recruited by the CIA to gather intelligence about this criminal, even as the actor’s family is put in danger.

Sharon Horgan

In real life, Nicolas Cage has been married four times, while in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Universe, he has at least one ex-wife. Sharon Horgan will play his former spouse who gets drawn into these crazy events, and while no specific details about her character have been revealed yet, one can reasonably assume this won’t be a fictional version of someone like Patricia Arquette or Lisa Marie Presley. Horgan is arguably best known for starring in the TV shows Pulling and Catastrophe, as well as creating HBO’s Divorce.

Lily Sheen

When things go south in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, not only will Nicolas Cage’s ex-wife be put in danger, but so will his daughter, played by Lily Sheen. The daughter of actors Michael Seen and Kate Beckinsale, Lily Sheen appeared in a few movies as a child, including Underworld: Evolution (as seen above), Click and Everybody’s Fine, but Unbearable Weight will mark her first cinematic appearance in over a decade.

Tiffany Haddish

Ever since she stole the show in 2017’s Girls Trip, Tiffany Haddish has been keeping incredibly busy on both the film and TV fronts, with her recent body of work including Night School, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Like a Boss, Tuca & Bertie and The Last O.G. For The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Haddish is reportedly playing Vivian, described by THR as the “eccentric, rogue government agent” who forces Nicolas Cage to go undercover as part of an off-book operation to bring down one of the world’s largest criminal organizations for good.

Neil Patrick Harris

Nicolas Cage won’t be the only actor on The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent who’s played a fictional version of themselves. Most of you likely know Harris best for playing Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother, or maybe you have fond memories of him from projects like Doogie Howser M.D., Starship Troopers and A Series of Unfortunate Events, but let’s not forget his run from the Harold and Kumar movies as an unhinged NPH. Harris has joined The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent as Nicolas Cage’s talent agent; whether he’ll be directly drawn into the actor’s insane adventures remains to be seen.

Along with the above actors, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is being directed by Tom Gormican, who also co-wrote the script with producer Kevin Etten. Right now, Lionsgate intends to release the movie on March 19, 2021, but if that date changes, we here at CinemaBlend will let you know. Find out what other feature films are coming out next year by scanning through our 2021 release schedule.

While there had been rumors of a new Matrix movie in recent years, nobody was expecting to see a film that was actually a direct sequel to the original trilogy. That story seemed to have come to a close, and now that we know it hasn't, that basically throws everything we thought we knew about The Matrix up in the air. The only thing we thought we knew about The Matrix 4, was that it would look and feel like a Matrix movie. Except based on recent comments from Neil Patrick Harris, maybe not?

Neil Patrick Harris is one of the new cast members joining the franchise along with the returning Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss. We don't know anything about the character he's playing. He could be hero, villain, or anything in between. However, Harris did reveal something about The Matrix 4 in a recent interview with SiriusXM. While talking about how much he likes working with writer, director and Matrix co-creator Lana Wachowski, Harris seemingly indicated that the visual style of The Matrix 4, is unlike anything she has done before, which would mean it's unlike the first three Matrix movies. According to Harris...

The Matrix trilogy certainly wasn't lacking in style. Of course, most of that style was in the form of people wearing leather while doing wire-fu, but it was also the first time most people had seen "bullet-time" visual effects. It was a look unlike anything we'd really seen at the time and the style became a big part of the identity of those films. Certainly, to some extent, I expected The Matrix 4 to capture that same look and feel but now it sounds like maybe that won't be the case.

Neil Patrick Harris doesn't go into any further detail about how the visual style has shifted, beyond saying it has changed in an "evolved way" so the film we're going to see likely won't feel like a radical departure, just a step forward. And certainly, time has passed, both for the real world and, one assumes, in The Matrix itself. That Matrix trilogy style probably would feel a bit out of place in a modern movie, and so it makes sense that the style has evolved.

So, while we know we're getting a fourth Matrix movie, as the film is in production as we speak, we know even less about it than we might have thought. While it will probably still feel familiar as far as being a Matrix movie, the hallmarks of the original trilogy may be gone. Of course, that means we likely we will get something that feels as fresh and new as the original Matrix did in 1999, and that's quite exciting.

In the past five decades, Saturday Night Live has seen a stellar rotation of guest hosts – some of which have returned enough times to join the Five-Timers Club. However, some classic SNL hosts still have a while before they can qualify for that honor and even have yet to headline a second time.

Since we are currently in SNL Season 50, I would say it is about time that some of the most successful and hilarious members of the One-Timers Club be considered to return for what would very likely be another slam dunk episode. The following are some celebrities who deserve the chance to prove lightning can strike twice in Studio 8H.

Pedro Pascal

With his Emmy-nominated performance in The Last of Us, his legion of Gen-Z fans, and plenty of other fandoms he is a focus of, Pedro Pascal is the type of actor who appeals to all ages, which is part of why his Season 48 episode became an instant classic. He would return less than a year later to cameo alongside host Bad Bunny and reprise his “Protective Mom” character, whom I know fans would love to see return by the time The Last of Us Season 2 premieres or when he shows up in the upcoming Marvel movie, The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Quinta Brunson

Quinta Brunson achieved Emmy-winning success as the creator and star of Abbott Elementary (one of the funniest TV shows on Hulu) before making her hosting debut in Season 48, for which she brought back the same energy she demonstrated on HBO’s acclaimed sketch comedy TV show, A Black Lady Sketch Show. A performer with her charisma and sharp sense of humor was made for a show like SNL and as long as her ABC sitcom is a hit (and even beyond its ongoing tenure), I believe she deserves plenty more chances to rock it at Studio 8H.

Travis Kelce

Many professional athletes have appeared on SNL as hosts and one of the more recent and surprisingly successful of the bunch is Travis Kelce, who was an absolute riot as a far too old American Girl Doll Cafe patron in one funny bit. Having made a cameo not long after his Season 48 episode in a sketch poking fun at the NFL’s attention to his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, it’s clear that SNL likes the Kansas City Chiefs player, who has dabbled in more acting since, which means there could be more reasons to bring him back even if he were to hang up his helmet sometime soon.

Natasha Lyonne

SNL’s Season 47 finale was a bittersweet episode – bitter because it was the last to feature heavy hitters like Kate McKinnon and Pete Davidson in the cast and sweet because it was headlined by a supreme talent like Emmy nominee Natasha Lyonne. She is one of the most versatile and naturally funny actors of her time and I would say that promoting the upcoming Poker Face Season 2 would be a great reason for her to come back, not that she really needs one as far as I am concerned.

Robert Downey Jr.

SNL’s 11th season is considered the worst year in the show’s history, as well as a career low for then-cast member Robert Downey Jr., who luckily went on to achieve greater things, such as playing Iron Man in the Marvel movies and becoming the first former SNL actor to win an Oscar (for Oppenheimer). Still, the beloved actor has only come back to host the show for one, totally solid, episode, but I cannot help but feel he deserves more time to shine at Studio 8H.

Taylor Swift

Any doubt that the aforementioned Taylor Swift had acting ability was quelled by her November 2009 SNL episode, in which she poked fun at herself with her “Monologue Song” and did a killer Shakira impersonation. That wasn't even her first time appearing in sketches (she played Little Orphan Annie in a bit about Broadway during her first musical gig) and not her last either (she showed up in Please Don’t Destroy’s “Three Sad Virgins” video, for instance). Yet, while T Swift qualifies for the Five-Timers Club for musical guest appearances and has made a few jaw-dropping cameos on SNL, she has only been a host once, but will hopefully get another well-deserved double shift.

Neil Patrick Harris

Taylor Swift's first musical SNL gig was also Neil Patrick Harris' sole hosting appearance, during which he appeared in a hilarious SNL Digital Short that recreated the Doogie Howser, M.D. theme with an eclectic variety of instruments. The former How I Met Your Mother cast member’s impeccable talent, which has since earned him countless other hosting gigs, made it a really fun show. Perhaps the actor and producer is just too busy for SNL these days, which, to me, means they should just try harder to get him.

Kerry Washington

Emmy winner Kerry Washington hosted Saturday Night Live in 2013, at a time when the cast lacked women of color, which the show hilariously self-indicted itself over by having the Django Unchained star play Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Beyonce in the cold open. That does not even scratch the surface of the comedic prowess she exhibited for her one-time hosting gig, from her Scandal-ous monologue to a gut-busting "What Does the Fox Say?" parody with Jay Pharaoh. Washington has said she has wanted to quit acting on several occasions, only to be pulled back in by something extraordinary, which makes me wonder if a really clever SNL episode could do the trick.

Bryan Cranston

We tend to forget how funny the man who won five Emmys for playing Walter White can be, and if Malcolm in the Middle does not provide a fitting example, perhaps his 2010 bid as Saturday Night Live host will. The episode – featuring a monologue explaining his long career without household name status and a brilliant Billy Ray Cyrus impersonation in the first-ever "The Miley Cyrus Show" sketch – was hilarious, but the actor’s only return so far is a surprise cold open cameo as his Breaking Bad alter ego in 2016. I am still anticipating the day he could reprise the character, and others, on SNL as a host for his second time.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

At the peak of Hamilton's success on Broadway, its creator took the stage of Saturday Night Live as host for a 2016 episode that served as a perfect way to show the vast extent of his talents. In fact, behind-the-scenes footage revealed Lin-Manuel Miranda to be an amazing pre-show host as well, by surprising audience members lined up outside 30 Rock with pizza. The Tony winner cameoed as Alexander Hamilton in a Season 50 cold open (and struggled to keep a straight face next to James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump) but that was the last we saw of him at Studio 8H… for now, hopefully.

Bradley Cooper

Months before The Hangover made him a household name, Bradley Cooper proved his worth as a comedic actor – with a biting impression of his future American Hustle co-star Christian Bale, for instance – on his sole SNL episode in February 2009. He has since returned for a few cameos (including a particularly memorable one opposite Betty White at the 40th Anniversary special) and obtained permission to film scenes in Studio 8H for his directorial debut, A Star is Born. However, it would be really nice to see him headline a show again.

Donald Glover

This multi-talented, award-winning artist both hosted Saturday Night Live and performed as his rapper alter ego, Childish Gambino, in 2018. The episode, which also saw Donald Glover's official debut as Lando Calrissian prior to Solo: A Star Wars Story, featured the Community cast member and Atlanta mastermind showing he "really can do anything," proving himself a natural for sketches and earning the right to a second hosting gig, which has yet to be secured. It makes you wonder how he could have possibly failed to make the cut when auditioning for SNL, even if it might have been for the best.

Awkwafina

In her SNL monologue, Awkwafina shared that her first visit to Rockefeller Center was as a child who just "wanted to be near the building" when Lucy Liu made history as the show's first host of Asian descent in 2000. The second to do so, 18 years later, was the Golden Globe-winning comedian turned rapper and Crazy Rich Asians star, who also displayed her penchant for dancing to classic game show theme songs in, arguably, the funniest sketch of the night. Hopefully, the actor makes her return to SNL soon because we are convinced there is still much more we have yet to learn about her.

Andy Samberg

Why would I like to see more of Andy Samberg on SNL? Other than how he and The Lonely Island basically changed the show forever with classic pre-recorded bits like "Lazy Sunday,” the guy is just really funny and the fact that he has only hosted once, two years after leaving the cast in 2012, is surprising. Based on his stint of cameos as Douglas Emhoff for Season 50, Samberg clearly does not even need to plug something like his dramatic performance in 2024’s Lee to earn another hosting gig, because just another idea for a Justin Timberlake collaboration would suffice.

Anna Kendrick

While she never became a cast member, Anna Kendrick is somebody tailor-made for the world of Saturday Night Live, which she proved in her sole hosting gig in 2014. In just her opening monologue, she was able to show off how well her comedic timing comes through in her astonishing singing voice, before lending it to a song about international "dong" admiration. In fact, I would support the idea of bringing her on as both host and musical guest for her return and just give her anything to sing. Whatever it is, she'll nail it.

Conan O’Brien

At one point, seeing former SNL writer Conan O'Brien host for the first time since 2001 seemed pretty unlikely, considering his strained relationship with NBC after an awkward, premature Tonight Show exit in 2010. However, after making an epic cameo in Season 47, it does not seem like much of a stretch for the beloved former late night talk show host to reclaim his place at Studio 8H. Not to mention, with new superhero movies still popular, there is no better time for him to reprise the overenthusiastic superhero, Moleculo: The Molecular Man.

What do you think? Do these celebrities deserve a second Saturday Night Live hosting gig, or, perhaps, are they better off not trying to repeat themselves?

Like every other movie production around the world, The Matrix 4 had shut down production for a time due to global health concerns. This delay in filming caused a ripple effect and forced them to move the release date almost an entire year. But things are looking up, as it looks like The Matrix 4 has resumed filming.

That’s right. Photos from TMZ have surfaced, showing Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and Neil Patrick Harris in Berlin on the set of The Matrix 4. In one photo, a long-haired, bearded Keanu Reeves is holding what looks like a shopping bag on set. All three actors are presumably headed to the trailers in each photo. In another photo, Keanu Reeves is laughing on set with a backwards baseball cap while standing next to girlfriend Alexandra Grant.

This is welcome, and somewhat surprising, news for fans of The Matrix. The last we heard, director Lana Wachowski planned to start filming again on July 6th. So, it’s hard to say if they’ve started rolling the cameras or if they’re prepping to do so soon. Either way, they’re getting started over a week early, which is great for the generations of fans out there.

While it’s not much of a surprise that Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss would be on screen together in The Matrix 4, the addition of Neil Patrick Harris has raised some eyebrows and questions, specifically who his character is and what prominence he will play in the story. He's one of many newcomers joining the cast in the upcoming sequel.

As for the remaining cast, Lambert Wilson’s The Merovingian will be returning. It was also reported Jada Pinkett Smith will return as her character Niobe, but it’s unknown if Laurence Fishburne will return as Morpheus. Additionally, there were previous reports that the movie could feature a younger version of Morpheus and Neo.

Before shutting down, The Matrix 4 started production hot and heavy not long after their announcement that it would include Keanu Reeves. They were able to do some intense scenes in San Francisco, including low-flying helicopters and actual explosions that caused damage to city property. So, at least they were able to start filming with a bang before closing up shop.

Notably, The Matrix 4 isn’t the only production resuming filming. The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, has geared back up into production as well as Avatar 2. These sets are all outside of the United States, and must undergo rigorous safety procedures.

Originally, rumors of a new Matrix move swirled around the internet, and many thought it might be a full on reboot. To set the record straight, writer Zak Penn shot those rumors down on Twitter. The Matrix 4 won’t be a remake or a reboot, but a continuation of the The Matrix trilogy.

It’ll be interesting to see how The Matrix 4 develops as they resume filming. Hopefully, we’ll get more definitive details on the story and the cast soon. Be sure to check back for the latest news.

The Matrix has now joined the ranks of properties and franchises that Hollywood has decided to resurrect and/or revitalize. Although there’d previously been talk several years back about returning to this sci-fi world through a spinoff or prequel, it was announced in August that a direct follow-up, i.e. The Matrix 4, is officially in the works. And while a release date hasn’t been set just yet, The Matrix 4 is on the fast track, with production scheduled to begin in early 2020.

Because Warner Bros is so eager to get the ball rolling on The Matrix 4, there’s already a solid lineup of actors that’s being assembled for this highly-anticipated project, whether they were officially confirmed or revealed through reports. Here’s everyone who’s either signed on for or is in talks to join The Matrix 4.

Oh, and there will be SPOILERS for the first three Matrix movies ahead!

Keanu Reeves

Although Neo sacrificed his life at the end of The Matrix Revolutions to destroy the Agent Smith virus, resulting in the machines leaving the human-filled city of Zion, the Oracle mused to the program Sati that she thought they’d see Neo again. That is definitely the case, as Keanu Reeves will reprise Neo in The Matrix 4. What’s still unclear is if he’ll actually be brought back to life in this next movie (even if it’s only through the Matrix) or if his scenes will be limited to flashbacks. I suspect the former so that Reeves has a meaty enough role, but regardless, given the Keanussance that’s unfolded in recent years with the John Wick movies, Toy Story 4, Always Be My Maybe and plenty of other projects, now the actor gets to return to arguably his biggest franchise.

Carrie-Anne Moss

Like Neo, Carrie-Anne Moss’ Trinity perished during The Matrix Revolutions, and just like with the main protagonist, we don’t know yet if a full-blown resurrection is on the table for her or if we’ll be looking back at a time when she was still alive. Whatever the answer is, Carrie Anne-Moss will be portraying Trinity again. In recent years, she’s kept busy with projects like The Bye Bye Man, Jessica Jones and Tell Me a Story.

Jada Pinkett Smith

Unlike Neo and Trinity, Niobe, one of the most skilled pilots among the rebels, was still alive at the end of The Matrix Revolutions, seen embracing Morpheus as the Sentinels left Zion. So then it stands to reason that when we see Jada Pinkett Smith playing the character again in The Matrix 4, assuming the actress works out a deal, it’ll be a ‘present day’ version of her, though don’t take that as being 100% confirmed just yet. Smith’s notable credits post-The Matrix Revolutions include the Madagascar movies, Magic Mike XXL, Girls Trip, Hawthorne and Gotham.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Now we come to the first of the individuals who are brand new to The Matrix franchise. Yahya Abdul-Mateen has risen to prominence through appearances in The Greatest Showman, Aquaman and Us, and he’s also one of the main cast members on HBO’s Watchmen. His fame will rise even higher when people see him in The Matrix 4, although as with the following two individuals on this list, we don’t know yet who he’s playing. That said, there’s speculation that Abdul-Mateen could be playing a younger version of Morpheus, the role previously occupied by Laurence Fishburne (who, by the way, is not attached to The Matrix 4… at least, not yet).

Neil Patrick Harris

You know him from TV shows like Doogie Howser, M.D., How I Met Your Mother and A Series of Unfortunate Events, and he’s also contributed to genre fiction like Starship Troopers and various animated DC Comics adaptations. Now Neil Patrick Harris is boarding The Matrix 4, and it’ll be interesting to see whether he plays a protagonist or antagonist in the movie.

Jessica Henwick

Then we have Jessica Henwick, who is arguably best known for playing Colleen Wing in Iron Fist and is being eyed for one of the lead roles. According to Deadline, Henwick “performed quite strongly during the audition process,” and it’s possible she’s being tapped to play a "female-like Neo character." The actress has also starred in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong.

Jonathan Groff

If you haven’t seen Jonathan Groff on the Broadway stage or in TV shows like Glee and Mindhunter, then you likely have at least heard him as Kristoff in the Frozen movies, shorts and more. Now Groff is making the jump to sci-fi with The Matrix 4, and just like the other newcomers, no details about his role were provided. Nevertheless, Groff now has the opportunity to leave his mark on another iconic franchise, only this time we’re fairly certain his character won’t be talking to reindeer.

Toby Onwumere

Having previously worked with Lana Wachowski on Sense8, Toby Onwumere is now getting the opportunity to work with her again through The Matrix 4. Onwumere appeared in the Netflix series’ Christmas special and second season as Capheus, taking over the role from Aml Ameen. The actor also recurred as Kai on the Fox series Empire. And yes, we don’t know who he’s playing yet either.

Max Riemelt

Another Sense8 star who’s taking part in The Matrix 4 is Max Riemelt, who played Wolfgang Bogdanow on the Netflix show and announced that he’s re-teaming with Lana Wachowski on his social media accounts. Other than Sense8, the majority of Riemelt’s acting work has been in German productions, so on top of The Matrix 4 being his biggest American project yet, needless to say that it’ll introduce him to a lot of folks who didn’t check out the sci-fi series.

Eréndira Ibarra

What a Sense8 reunion this is turning out to be! Eréndira Ibarra played Daniela Velázquez in the Netflix series, and while she has plenty of Spanish-language productions under her belt, The Matrix 4 will provide the opportunity for more American audiences to get to know her. What am I gonna say next? That’s right, nothing about who Ibarra will play was revealed.

Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra was already a huge Bollywood star by the time she started starring in American productions like the Baywatch reboot, Isn’t It Romantic? and the TV series Quanitco. Now she’s in talks to join The Matrix 4, according to Variety. Whoever Chopra ends up playing, not only will it boost her already notable profile up even higher, she’ll also have the opportunity to leave an even bigger mark on the action genre. Chopra would also film The Matrix 4 concurrently with the Amazon series Citadel, which co-stars Richard Madden and hails from MCU superstar directors Joe and Anthony Russo.

Andrew Caldwell

While Andrew Caldwell has had parts in movies like Transformers, All About Steve and Haunt, the majority of his acting work has been on TV. He popped up in numerous Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows over the years, and iZombie fans will recognize him as Harley Johns, who recurred in Season 3. It goes without saying that The Matrix 4 will be a huge platform for him to shine on, and perhaps it’ll lead to him getting more film work as his career continues.

Brian J. Smith

The Sense8 fun continues. Brian J. Smith, who played Will Gorski on the Netflix series, has boarded The Matrix 4 in an undisclosed role. Smith has also appeared on shows like Stargate Universe, Gossip Girl and Treadstone, and he also scored a Tony Award nomination in the 2013 revival of The Glass Menagerie. At this point, it’s probably just worth asking which Sense8 actors won’t be in The Matrix 4.

Ellen Hollman

Most of you probably know Ellen Hollman best for her role on as Saxa on the latter two seasons of the TV show Spartacus, known respectively as Vengeance and War of the Damned. More recently, she’s recurred on shows like Into the Badlands, NCIS: New Orleans and 9-1-1, and now she’s been added to The Matrix 4 cast. Considering that Hollman is a Jiu Jitsu martial artist, it’s a good bet we’ll see her show off her fighting moves within the Matrix.

Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates concerning The Matrix 4, but for now, plan your trips to the theater with our 2019 release schedule and 2020 release schedule.

For years it was thought that the Matrix film series would never extend past the conventional trilogy, and then it was officially announced in August that The Matrix 4 is in the works. Fast-forward to today, it’s being reported that Neil Patrick Harris has signed onto the highly-anticipated project.

Alas, because The Matrix 4 is keeping plot details close to the chest, Variety did not learn any details about who Neil Patrick Harris will be playing. He is the fourth actor to signed on to the movie, following behind Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, who will obviously be reprising Neo and Trinity, respectively, and Aquaman star Yayha Abdul-Mateen II, whose role is also being kept secret.

While Neil Patrick Harris is best known for his starring roles on TV shows like Doogie Howser, M.D., How I Met Your Mother and A Series of Unfortunate Events, he’s also no stranger to working in sci-fi and overall genre fiction. His credits in that sphere include Starship Troopers, Justice League: The New Frontier, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Quantum Leap and Spider-Man: The New Animated Series. So The Matrix 4 will be somewhat familiar, albeit more intense territory for him.

Again though, it’s anyone’s guess at this point about how Neil Patrick Harris will fit into The Matrix 4. Maybe he’ll be an ally to Neo, Trinity and the other protagonist, or maybe he’ll an adversary to them, perhaps serving as an Agent Smith-like figure. Regardless, as noted by Variety, The Matrix 4 marks Harris’ “first tentpole at a major studio,” and rather than simply cameoing/making a minor appearance, it’s expected he’ll have an integral role.

While no official information about The Matrix 4’s story has been disclosed to the public yet, supposedly it will involve the inclusion of younger versions of Neo and Morpheus. This has resulted in speculation that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will fill the latter role (previously played by Laurence Fishburne, though there’s no word yet on if he’s involved in this new movie), but considering that Neil Patrick Harris is only nine years younger than Keanu Reeves, we can logically rule out he’ll portray Neo earlier in life.

Behind the camera, Lana Wachowski is returning to co-write and direct The Matrix 4, having previously overseen the last trilogy with her sister, Lilly. Lana is working on the script with David Mitchell and Aleksander Hermon, both of whom she and Lilly previously worked with on Sense8.

Of course, it’s no secret that while the first Matrix movie is a beloved sci-fi classic, its two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, were not met with nearly as warmly by critics or fans. Still, with Keanu Reeves riding high on the success of the John Wick movies, and various producing rights issues being handled, Warner Bros felt now was time to bring the franchise back. Fingers crossed Neil Patrick Harris’ presence can help with making sure this Matrix movie shines like the one that started it all.

The Matrix 4 doesn’t have a release date assigned yet, but production is set to begin in early 2020. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on its development. For now, keep track of what’s already on the calendar with our 2019 release schedule and 2020 release schedule.