Neil Patrick Harris talks ‘It’s a Sin,’ perfecting a ‘crisp’ British accent, and straight actors in gay roles

• Neil Patrick Harris spoke to Insider about his new TV series “It’s a Sin” from Russell T. Davies.
• Harris spoke about accents, straight actors in gay roles, and intimacy coordinators.
• “It’s a Sin” follows a group of gay friends during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Neil Patrick Harris has fulfilled something of a career dream with his latest role in Russell T. Davies’ “It’s a Sin,” the British series following a group of gay friends through the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.

The former “How I Met Your Mother” actor plays Henry Coltrane, who works in a Savile Row tailor and befriends Callum Scott Howells’ Colin.

Harris spoke to Insider about the “blessing” of “It’s a Sin,” which he says he is thrilled is as “entertaining” as it is “educational.”

The actor spoke about perfecting a British accent as an American actor – Harris slots in seamlessly in a cast full of British actors, led by Years and Years singer Olly Alexander. Meanwhile, Harris also touched upon straight actors in gay roles, as well as his joy at working with Davies.

Harris had trouble ‘British-izing’ his voice for ‘It’s a Sin’

Harris makes a big impression the first time he’s on-screen – most notably with a prim and proper English accent that is a far cry from the New Mexico native’s offscreen accent. The actor told Insider, while helping to launch Baileys Deliciously Light, a new cream liqueur from Baileys Original Irish Cream, that he enlisted the help of a dialect coach.

"The point of the accent, at least for an American, I think is to have it not be very noticeable and just be part of your character. So I didn't want it to be too affected," Harris said. "But there are certain syllables and consonants that Americans have trouble 'British-izing.' So I got some assistance on that."

The actor, who is now surely an expert in accents after his role as the nefarious Count Olaf in the Netflix adaption of "A Series of Unfortunate Events," cited James Bond actor David Niven as a particular inspiration for his voice.

"A Savile Row bespoke tailor implies to me a lot of elocution and specificity, so I wanted it to be crisp. And David Niven had a cool mustache, too."

Harris doesn't feel the same way as Davies does about straight actors playing gay roles

The show's writer, Davies, has recently had some press attention of his own after he suggested that straight actors shouldn't play gay roles. The writer told the Radio Times: "You wouldn't cast someone able-bodied and put them in a wheelchair, you wouldn't black someone up."

Harris, however, has previously taken a different stance to the writer, who he said he would have worked with on "anything." He recently told the Times: "I'm not one to jump on to labeling. As an actor you certainly hope you can be a visible option for all kinds of different roles."

But Harris doesn't think Davies was speaking as "bluntly" as some headlines suggest. Instead, Harris said that he thinks Davies was "speaking in the conversation of joyful inclusion." Currently, Harris said, we live in a time in our society where it is easier to cast LGBTQ people in a number of roles, making the representation of queer actors in the industry far mo than it previously was.

"I appreciate that he feels that way and that we live in a time where that's a super viable option. Getting to be a part of 'It's a Sin' with so many people who were standing so proud and acting with remarkable grace and talent was an absolute joy."

Harris wanted to work with intimacy coordinators on the show, but didn't get to

Every cast member gets their scene to shine in this series, but some have more intimate scenes than others. The show has been praised for it's realistic and genuine depiction of sex scenes between its gay characters, which are not in short supply.

Leading actor Olly Alexander spoke about one of his sex scenes in the show, and how everything was coordinated by intimacy coordinators like a "dance."

But Harris told Insider he was "remiss" that he "didn't get to film any sex scenes" himself as he would have liked to work with the intimacy coordinators on the show.

"What, what you see on camera being steamy, I think when they were actually filming was probably remarkably less so. So my hats are off to the actors, especially Olly, for making it look as tantalizing as it did."

While "It's a Sin" is offering escapism from our current 2021 woes, so, too, is Harris' partnership with Baileys. Thanks to their Light Breaks campaign, intended to encourage people to spend time with their friends, Baileys teamed with Cocktail Career, who are offering "custom light break packages" to send to a friend.

"I got to send one to a great close friend of mine, Michael, and it was so fun to see his reaction. It allows people to think about someone besides themselves and to send them something to make them smile and have a light break moment of their own," Harris.

"It's a Sin," already out in the UK to rave reviews, will hit the US on 18 February on HBO Max.

Watch the trailer for "It's a Sin" below: