NPH Wasn't Top Choice to Host Oscars

Everyone was pretty damn excited to hear that Neil Patrick Harris would host the Oscars in 2015. And when the news broke, everyone said in unison, "finally!"

Well almost everyone. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the openly gay actor wasn't the first choice to host the Academy Awards.

The report says that the show's producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron initially begged Ellen DeGeneres to return to her hosting duties after the Oscars saw an 8 percent increase in viewership over the prior year. There was also the selfie seen around the world, which dominated Twitter and is worth $1 billion in publicity.

DeGeneres refused to host the movie event for a third time, however.

Moving down the list, Zadan and Meron checked in on comic all-star Chris Rock, but a deal fell through.

Then the producers went with this mind-blowing pick: Julia Louis-Dreyfus. But sadly, the "Veep" star said no.

Finally, they settled on Harris, 41, who's no stranger to hosting award shows, emceeing the Tony Awards in 2009, 2011 and 2012 as well as hosting the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009 and 2013.

The Hollywood Reporter points out that hosting the Academy Awards has been on Harris' bucket list - in a video announcement, he crosses "host the Oscars" his list, which ends with "meet the president" and "have children."

"To be asked to follow in the footsteps of Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres, and everyone else who had the great fortune of hosting is a bucket list dream come true," Harris said in a statement Wednesday released by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.