X-Men's Live-Action Nightcrawler Was Nearly Played By A How I Met Your Mother Star

Casting the beloved characters from Marvel's "X-Men" comics was never going to be easy, but some choices were definitely trickier than others. After finding success with the first "X-Men" film in 2000, starring world-renowned thespians Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen as the at-odds mutant leaders Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto, 20th Century Fox set about a sequel with even more mutants. That included a fan-favorite that had to be absolutely perfect: Kurt Wagner, better known as the blue BAMF-master himself, Nightcrawler. 

While numerous actors auditioned for the role that would eventually go to Alan Cumming, one of the most surprising was Neil Patrick Harris. In an interview with the Just for Variety podcast, the "Doogie Howser, M.D." and "How I Met Your Mother" star revealed that he once auditioned to play Nightcrawler in "X2" (also marketed as "X2: X-Men United.") 

Alan Cumming had a nightmarish time with the "X-Men" franchise, so it's probably actually a good thing for Harris that he didn't end up getting the part. Instead, he ended up having a brilliant cameo in "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" a few years later, completely changing his image and kickstarting a new phase in his career.

While chatting on the podcast, Neil Patrick Harris revealed that he wants to do a superhero movie before he retires. Harris later voiced the superhero Spider-Man in a forgotten MTV animated series and a video game, but that's a bit different than actually portraying a superhero in live-action. When it came to his Nightcrawler audition, he explained that it was all a little uncomfortable, saying:

"I remember being in the audition room on my haunches. I remember feeling insecure in my own skin at that time to be heroic and animalistic at the same time."

Alan Cumming ended up doing a pretty great job with the duality of Nightcrawler despite difficult working conditions, enough so that fans are feeling pulled back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe just because his version of the character is joining. It's hard to imagine Harris pulling that off, and besides, if he had joined the "X-Men" franchise, it might have prevented him from playing Barney on "How I Met Your Mother," and that would have been the opposite of legen ... wait for it ... dary. Sometimes casting directors really know their stuff, and the team on "X2" really saved the day.