‘No one loves the extreme more than me’: Neil Patrick Harris on ‘dad life’, desire and Doogie Howser

He avoided the pitfalls of childhood fame and became one of Hollywood's most versatile actors. He discusses controversial roles, the return of the Matrix, his friendship with Sondheim - and refusing to grow up

Neil Patrick Harris may be approaching 50, but to a generation he will always be the child prodigy Doogie Howser, the 14-year-old doctor he played as a teenager. It's a little bizarre that people - what is it, 30 years later? - still refer to me as that. People say: Hey, Doogie, I like your new show!' But hey, better than anonymity, I suppose."

It is a long time since Harris, 48, has been anonymous. He made his acting debut at 15, starring opposite Whoopi Goldberg as a disillusioned teen in Clara's Heart, a drama about a Jamaican woman who moves to Baltimore to become the housekeeper for a rich family. Since then, he has established himself as a versatile actor in musical theatre, film and TV (most notably the sitcom How I Met Your Mother) and a host and presenter of high-profile awards shows such as the Oscars. His CV is particularly impressive when you consider how often child actors struggle to establish adult careers, or find themselves traumatised by their formative experiences.