NPH Talks Hosting His First Academy Awards

With his turn as Oscars host fast approaching-- the 87th Academy Awards air Feb. 22--Neil Patrick Harris has had a lot of time to reflect on his own personal relationship with show biz's biggest night.

"When I used to watch the Oscars at home with my family, we would print out ballots, write down our predictions and see who won," Harris told T magazine. "As I got older, our viewing parties had more of a gambling slant -- same ballot, different stakes. Now they just involve more drinking, and when it's at my house, there's a lot of Velveeta and Pace Picante."

Though this isn't Harris' first awards show, having hosted the Tonys four times before, emceeing the Oscars is a notoriously tough gig--ask Jon Stewart or James Franco and Anne Hathaway. So Neil, rightly, has some pre-opening night jitters.

"I'll admit that I'm nervous to host, but it's much less pressure than being a nominee, having to go down a red carpet filled with prognosticators saying, 'I think it's your night! I can smell it!' "

Then you're sitting in your chair, your heart's pounding and you have 15 names that you pray to God you don't forget -- and your name's not called. Or, even stranger,, your name is called, and you're blinded by adrenaline and panic. That's much more nerve-racking to me than going out and saying, 'Our next two presenters are the stars of this movie, please welcome Brad and Angelina.' "

The 87th annual Academy Awards takes place Feb. 22.