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How Does Neil Patrick Harris Feel About His Kids Acting?

"Rejection’s a hard one to process, certainly as a kid."

Would Neil Patrick Harris want his adorable twin moppets, Harper and Gideon, to follow in his creative footsteps? Or would he and hubby David Burtka be more likely to push them toward college and sensible jobs—say in accounting?

"I would certainly encourage my kids to have a proper skill set that they could use as a foundation for whatever profession they chose," he tells NNN of his precious darlings, who turn 5 in October.

"I mean, those professions that are a little more arbitrary, that don’t require a lot of groundwork, I would be less excited by." (Good save, NPH.)

"But I’ve said it before, and I truly mean it, I want my kids to be able to be passionate about something without feeling shame from their parents—and then be able to follow that passion into whatever it is they want to do because they’re their own person."

That said, he'd be happier if they wanted to be behind the screen rather than in front of it.

"I’d rather them be in director/writer land, probably, than actorville, just because there’s so must rejection in acting. And rejection’s a hard one to process, certainly as a kid."

Harris told us his own childhood fantasies all involved performing in one way or another.

"I wanted to be a Universal Studios stunt performer in the theme parks for a long time," he recalls. "The Wild, Wild, Wild West stunt show, Miami Vice back in the day. They were awesome."

"And then I wanted to be a puppeteer," he added. "Still kind of do."

While NPH has yet to get his hands inside Kermit or Fozzy, he has been able to bring joy and wonder to audiences all over. "I always loved watching people’s reaction to being amazed by something and I’ve been lucky enough to just continue doing that."

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