With all that Neil Patrick Harris has accomplished in 2009, his celebrity status has gone from respectable to legen—wait for it!—dary. Or at least that’s what Barney Stinson, the womanizer played by Harris on the CBS comedy “How I Met Your Mother” would say.

From hosting the Tony Awards in June and the Emmy Awards in September to lending his voice to the Oscar-nominated animation Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Harris, 36, has had a busy year—and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

In early November, Harris signed on to help voice the half-hour animated program “Yes, Virginia” that will air Dec. 11 on CBS, UPI reported. Next July, Harris will star in Beastly, a modern-day take on Beauty and the Beast, with Vanessa Hudgens and Mary-Kate Olsen, according to imdb.com. The 3D digital animation Rio set to premiere in April 2011 features the voices of Harris, Anne Hathaway and Rodrigo Santoro, VNU Entertainment News Wire reported.

Harris began his career early. As a child actor discovered by playwright Mark Medoff at a drama camp in Las Cruces, N.M., Harris said when he appeared on the five-minute talk show Anytime with Bob Kushell. At age 16, he was cast as a teenage doctor on “Doogie Howser, M.D.” and did not have any other big roles, aside from performing in Broadway shows such as “Sweeney Todd” and “RENT,” until he was cast as Stinson in “How I Met Your Mother,” now in its fifth season. Harris has received three straight Emmy nominations for the role since 2007, according to IMDB.com.

“I think his acting is pretty good,” sophomore civil engineering major Jay Schaefer said. “He’s definitely good at comedy. The character of Barney is basically the sex icon of “How I Met Your Mother,” which is hilariously ironic because [Harris] is openly gay.”

Harris officially came out as a gay actor in a 2006 People magazine article, and because of his support for the LGBT community, will be presented with The Trevor Life Award Dec. 6 by The Trevor Project, the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among LGBT youth.

Harris used his Broadway experience in 2008 when he starred in “Prop 8: The Musical” with several other celebrities who aimed to speak out against the controversial California gay-marriage legislation. The same year, Harris also broke out as the title character in cult favorite, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.”

“I absolutely adore “Dr. Horrible.” I actually bought songs from it and put them on my iPod,” said sophomore psychology major Caroline Lockard. “I thought [Harris] was perfect for the role. Funny and musical: What more can you ask for?”

Harris also served as a guest judge in a Magic Castle-themed episode of “Top Chef: Masters” earlier this year. The actor is also a talented magician who serves on the board of directors at The Magic Castle, the Los Angeles clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts, Inc, an organization which encourages the study of magic and its history.
Harris will also appear as a guest judge in the audition stages of the upcoming season of “American Idol” in January.

By Gabby Siskind (Unwind Contributor)

Anyone that watches reality TV- and let’s face it, who doesn’t? - can’t get enough of the drama, the fights and the relationships. Watching people in their 15 minutes of fame is entertainment at its best.

Shows like “Survivor,” “The Bachelor” and the “Real World” are filled with strong personalities. Who could forget Richard from the first season of “Survivor,” Omarosa from “The Apprentice,” or Tonya from “Real World: Chicago”?

But what is being a reality TV star really like and what actually goes on during those dramatic scenes? One of reality TV’s most memorable, Kenny Santucci—who was first seen on the “Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat,” breaks down the reality television stereotype.

Santucci grew up in New Jersey and had never dreamed of being on a reality show. He was dating a girl who wanted to be on the show and went with her to the interview. He was not allowed in unless he interviewed, so he decided to give it a shot. A year later he was chosen to be on the show.

“It just happened,” he said.

Although Santucci says this season of “The Ruins” is not exactly like how it appears to be on TV.

“They skew the story and what really happens,” he admits.
On this season, Tonya was portrayed as the insane girl who everyone loved to make fun of. However, that is not actually true.

“We’re always joking around and she loved hanging out with us,” Santucci said.

In fact, Tonya even played jokes on them.

“This one time I was lying in bed and Tonya poured a bottle of water on me, but they don’t show that because it doesn’t go with the story line,” he said. “People will ask me ‘How did that happen?’ Well it didn’t actually happen like that.”

Reality TV stardom definitely has its perks and it is a lot of fun, but Santucci complains that he might be famous, but he doesn’t have the bank account to back it up like movie stars do.

Santucci may not have dreamed of being on reality TV, but it has changed his life.

“I can’t even go out to dinner without people saying something to me,” he said.

When he’s not on the show, Santucci is working on a t-shirt line with fellow teammate and friend, Evan Starkman called Suck Yeah (suckyeah.com). The two plan to launch their line on “The Ruins” reunion show.

Other stars might want to milk the reality TV scene for all the publicity they can, but Santucci doesn’t plan on it. He says he will continue doing the challenges as long as they keep paying him and he keeps winning, but he doesn’t want to be that 30 or 40 -year-old still on the show.

“I’d rather burn out than fade out,” Santucci said. “I want to bow out gracefully.”

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