Neil Patrick Harris rules out Barney Stinson return

Neil Patrick Harris doubts whether he would be able to reprise the role of Barney Stinson in ‘How I Met Your Father’.

The 48-year-old actor played the character in the comedy ‘How I Met Your Mother’ between 2005 and 2014 but thinks that the return of his alter ego in the spin-off would be difficult because of his brash, womanising personality.

Speaking to ‘How I Met Your Father’ star Hilary Duff in the latest edition of his newsletter ‘Wondercade’, Neil said: “As for coming on your show (insert joke here), I worry.

“Barney’s antics, his overt delusions of grandeur, would likely get everyone in trouble. So, unless he’s changed his ways or joined a nunnery (insert an insert joke here), not sure if it’s in anyone’s best interest.”

Hilary agreed with Neil’s sentiments about Barney and joked that he would likely be in prison in 2022 – although she did suggest that Francia Raisa’s character in ‘How I Met Your Father’ was inspired by the character.

The 34-year-old star said: “I’m not sure how you feel about this, but I’m pretty sure Barney would… be in jail in 2022.

“Since we’re living in the world of females coming into power, I’m assuming that’s why they made (Barney-esque character Valentina) a woman!”

Meanwhile, Hilary recently confessed that she was reluctant to take on the role of Sophie in the comedy spin-off.

She explained: “I got a call from my manager saying that there was this project they wanted me to chat about. Then I heard the title and I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? What?!’

“The original show is so, so beloved and was just so spot-on perfect, that I’m like, ‘Ohh, I don’t wanna do reboot.’ I was a little bit nervous about the sitcom of it all because I’ve never done multi-cam, but I read the script and it was just everything you want a comedy to be.”