Neil Patrick Harris has opened up about the staggering amount of money he made for How I Met Your Mother.
Acting can be a very difficult business to break into, with the vast majority having to take second jobs to fund their passion.
But for some lucky few, they become well known across the world and not only make a living, but gain quite a significant income.
Neil Patrick Harris is one actor who has achieved such financial success.
As one of the leading stars of the CBS sitcom, Harris, now 51, portrayed the charming womanizer Barney Stinson throughout all nine seasons of the show.
In a 2014 interview on The Howard Stern Show, Harris revealed just how much he was making per week by the end of the series.
When asked if he was satisfied with his earnings, Harris, seemingly in disbelief, responded: "Are you kidding? Yes, I was happy with that."
The staggering amount he earned?
A whopping $250,000 per week by the end of his time on the show.
Despite this substantial figure, host Howard Stern was skeptical, remarking that while $250,000 a week might seem extraordinary in most industries, it didn’t seem as impressive for a lead actor in television.
It’s also important to consider that the main cast of How I Met Your Mother likely received additional income from royalties and syndication in the later seasons, further boosting their earnings.
Harris also provided some insight into how the cast negotiated their salaries, emphasizing that his co-stars were all earning similar amounts.
"We'd gotten eight seasons out of it... this was an extra season, a fantastic final lap and why shouldn't we be reaping the benefits of that," Harris explained.
"And I feel like everyone has proven their worth on the show, everyone is providing and deserves to get paid well."
In his family life, Harris shares two children with husband David Burtka who were conceived via surrogate.
Their children, Gideon and Harper, are twins, but the parents have opted not to find out which of them is the biological father.
Speaking candidly about this choice during a 2014 interview with Barbara Walters, Harris expressed that even years later, he has "no interest" in determining the biological parentage of his twins.
The actor also explained the surrogacy process, detailing how they approached conception.
"We inserted one of my sperm and one of David's sperm into two eggs with the hope that they would both take, just because we both wanted to be dads biologically," he said. "Both took, miraculously."
As the children are fraternal twins - meaning they were conceived from two separate embryos and carried by the same surrogate - the egg donor’s identity remained anonymous throughout the process.
