Neil Patrick Harris has been known as the iconic actor who portrayed the role of Barney (Legend ‘wait-for-it’ Dary) Stintson in the American sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Alongside this iconic role, Patrick Harris was also seen in David Fincher’s 2014 psychological thriller film Gone Girl.
Portraying one of Amy Dunne’s ex-lovers, Neil Patrick Harris and Rosamund Pike had to share a love-making scene when she proceeds to slash his throat. As per the reports, Harris had a hard time shooting the s*x scene since director David Fincher wanted perfection and they had to shoot that scene 30 times before the final take was shot!
When Neil Patrick Harris Had To Shoot The Iconic Scene 30 Times!
If it were Barney Stinson we were talking about, he would have been more than happy to shoot 30 takes of an s*x scene in the 2014 David Fincher movie. The actor, Neil Patrick Harris, however, was very scared and a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation.
When Rosamund Pike finds solace in Harris’ home, the two engage in some bedroom activity. Having already planned everything, Pike’s character of Amy Dunne slashes Patrick Harris’ throat and murders him just as he’s about to reach an o*gasm. Talking about shooting the intense and bleak scene, Neil Patrick Harris revealed that it was hard and freaky to shoot that kind of stuff.
“David Fincher wanted us to be doing everything exactly the same way every single take, so that when we flopped down on the bed, he wanted to make sure that we flopped down on the bed at pretty much the exact same position every time. Not three o’clock on the dial and then twelve o’clock on the dial, but exactly two o’clock on the dial, so that when he’s editing it, he has multiple options.”
This wasn’t the end of the tale, however, as the Gone Girl actor revealed that they had to have performed a specific number of “mouth thrusts” so that David Fincher would have something to work with.
When Neil Patrick Harris Had To Shoot Some “Mouth Thrusts”
In his interview, the actor further revealed that to get their facial expressions just right, he and Rosamund Pike had to shoot some “mouth thrusts” as per the orders of director David Fincher. Harris recalled that it was quite a freaky and challenging thing to do.
“And that was freaky and hard and a challenge, but kind of exciting,”
Neil Patrick Harris also revealed that since his character was going to die by a throat slit, he had to prepare for his character’s on-screen death. The actor recalled that he watched a bunch of animal videos that got their throats slit to prepare for his on-screen death.
“I don’t know how you get your throat slit. So, I watched a bunch of videos of animals who’d got their throats slit.”
Surely the preparation was worth ruining the mental health a little bit as Gone Girl received a rating of 8.1/10 on IMDB and 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. The David Fincher-directed movie is available to stream on Max in the U.S.
Source: Slash Film
