Neil Patrick Harris To Host The Oscars 2015

Neil Patrick Harris will be taking up where Ellen DeGeneres left off and hosting The Oscars next year.

The How I Met Your Mother actor reveals the biggest gig of his life in a short video posted on Twitter by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

We’re glad to help our new #Oscars host @ActuallyNPH cross another thing off his bucket list. https://t.co/pSvnwRveKX

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) October 15, 2014

It sees him speaking on a mobile phone, saying "I'm in" and then smiling and commenting "nice" as he hangs up.

We then see him turn to a bit of paper with his "bucket list" written out, and he ticks off "Host the Oscars" beneath experiences including "become an imagineer", "fly in a hot-air balloon" and "saw a lady in half".

Commenting in an official release from the Academy, he said: "It is truly an honor and a thrill to be asked to host this year’s Academy Awards.

"I grew up watching the Oscars and was always in such awe of some of the greats who hosted the show. To be asked to follow in the footsteps of Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres, and everyone else who had the great fortune of hosting is a bucket list dream come true."

And show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron were equally upbeat and enthusiastic.

They commented: "We are thrilled to have Neil host the Oscars. We have known him his entire adult life, and we have watched him explode as a great performer in feature films, television and stage.

"To work with him on the Oscars is the perfect storm, all of his resources and talent coming together on a global stage."

The event will be held next February, in Hollywood of course.