Neil Patrick Harris to Play Lit Uncle in Netflix's 'Series of Unfortunate Events'

Jim Carrey gets an upgrade.

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Complex Original

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Neil Patrick Harris, father extraordinaire, will continue his current creep streak for Netflix. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Harris will play Count Olaf, the evil, sadistic uncle of orphaned siblings Violet, Claus, and Sunny Baudelaire, in Netflix's upcoming A Series of Unfortunate Events series. The role of Olaf was pioneered onscreen by Jim Carrey in 2004's questionable film rendition of the first three books.

Daniel Handler, who wrote the A Series of Unfortunate Events books under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket, will executive produce the series, but he also co-wrote the movie, and we all know how well that turned out. In other words, Handler's involvement isn't a promise that the show will be good, but Harris' is encouraging.

It'll be interesting to see Harris transform from precious, three-piece-suit-wearing, smooth-talking Barney Stinson to a man who Handler describes as, "Very tall and very thin, unshaven, and rather than two eyebrows, like most human beings have, he had just one long one. His eyes were very very shiny, which made him look both hungry and angry." Whether or not overgrown cherub NPH can possibly look evil remains to be seen. Netflix picked up the series in 2014 but has yet to announce a premiere date.

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