‘COUNT’HIMIN

‘Unfortunate’ news: Harris back for darkly whimsical ‘Series’

NEIL Patrick Harris is a jack of all trades — serious actor (“Gone Girl”), comic relief (“How I Met Your Mother”), Broadway star, TV host and author. He’s also the star of “A Series

of Unfortunate Events,” back on Netflix for its second season in tracking the scheming, oftdisguised Count Olaf (Harris) and his pursuit of the orphaned Baudelaire siblings (he wants to get his greedy hands on their sizable inheritance).

“I like being able to not be known for just one type of thing,” says Harris, 44. “In trying to craft a career of longevity, you want to try and not be the go-to guy for just one specific flavor.”

“A Series of Unfortunate Events,” based on the best-selling book series of the same name, is a mix of Tim Burton’s dark whimsy and Wes Anderson’s retro visuals. It also has a definite end date, which is just fine with Harris. “This is only three seasons long; we’re not hoping this has as many seasons as possible,” he says. “We’re making a singular piece of art that will hopefully last and be respected the same way the books did.”

Each season follows the three Baudelaire orphans Violet, Klaus and Sunny (Malina Weissman, Louis Hynes and Presley Smith) as they’re shuffled between guardians and try to escape Count Olaf ’s evil clutches.

The 10-episode season is filled with obscure references and irreverent humor — but since the Baudelaires are children, it has wide audience appeal. “What I think is fun to do, as I get older and our kids get older, is to try and create content for people that everyone can watch, and ideally no one feels slighted,” says Harris, referring to the seven-year-old twins (Gideon and Harper) he has with husband David Burtka.

“Kids aren’t watching an adult show feeling like they shouldn’t be watching it, and adults aren’t watching a kid show where they feel like it’s been dumbed down for them,” he says. “In the same great way that Jim Henson was able to do that with ‘The Muppets,’ it’s fun to create content that can hit both demographics authentically.”

Although Harris’ acting career has been prolific, “A Series of Unfortunate Events” is one of the few shows he’s also produced, which means that he’s intricately involved behind the scenes.

“So I’m able to give opinions about casting choices or look at scripts without it just being a hollow empty narcissistic-actor rant,” he says. “It’s fun to have pride and ownership in something on a personal level — caring more about the end product as a whole than about how my particular piece fits in.”

Even though he’s enjoyed the chance to be in a show his kids can watch, Harris says his personal preferences are all over the map, often skewing towards the unexpected. “In my real life I have a pretty dark and acerbic sense of humor. I’ve always been drawn to Grimm’s fairy tales versus classic fairy tales with a happy ending,” says Harris, who references his role in “Gone Girl” (his character is viciously murdered). “I like questioning what [a story] is going to be. I like the ‘Gone Girl’ mentality where it seems like a romance and then someone gets their throat

slit.”