Oscars 2015: Ellen DeGeneres Gives Neil Patrick Harris Advice On How To Be An Awesome Host, Can He Fill Her Shoes?

Neil Patrick Harris has some big shoes to fill this Sunday but luckily Ellen DeGeneres helped him out with some advice on how to rock hosting the Oscars 2015. Can Neil Patrick Harris deliver and even surpass Queen Host Ellen DeGeneres?

"We're right in the thick of it," Neil Patrick Harris, 41, told Ellen DeGeneres Wednesday while the two comedians compared notes on hosting the Oscars. "They started loading in the theater. They're doing all this stuff now there, at the theater, and my team of writers are thinking about jokes. And it's a tricky process with the content, as you well know. I should really ask you: What was it like for you a week, six, five days out?"

DeGeneres was happy to help Harris with some advice on how to bring down the house during the Oscars 2015 this weekend.

"Well, you write as much as you possibly can," she said. "And up until that day you're changing jokes and timing it in rehearsal. And really until that day. I mean, I was changing things an hour before it started."

What can we expect from Neil Patrick Harris on Sunday? Can he step up to Ellen DeGeneres' wildly-successful hosting gig last year?

According to USA Today, Harris' material has been carefully concocted with a team of writers, who sometimes lean towards edgy, bawdy humor.

"We have hilarious material. I tend to laugh and then follow it up with, 'We cannot possibly say that on the show,' " Harris said.

Harris, 41, also hinted at the type of host he will be at the Oscars 2015. His true inspiration is Billy Crystal, the Oscar mainstay he grew up watching. He won't be anything like previous Oscars host Seth MacFarlane or Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais.

"I skew kinder. I want to keep it a classy show," Harris said. "It's a night of celebration. All of these people worked so hard all year long, all career long to attend this night. To make jokes at them, that's just not my style."

We also know that there will be performances by Lady Gaga and Jack Black, but most of the details of the awards show are being kept under wraps.

And if everything goes wrong and his jokes just aren't getting any laughs?

"There's a streaker on standby. And his name is NPH," Harris said. "If things go bad, I can only go out big. If you know what I mean. ...That's a euphemism."

Harris has little to worry about: he's gotten plenty of experience hosting awards shows successfully, from the Tonys to the Emmys!

The Oscars 2015 will air Sunday, Feb. 22 at 8:30 p.m. ET.

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Oscars 2015
Neil Patrick Harris
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