Neil Patrick Harris says he's starting work in Missouri after Sunday's Emmys

Neil Patrick Harris, who has landed the supporting role of Desi Collins in 20th Century Fox's feature film "Gone Girl," said in an interview that the project is exciting and that he will be coming to Missouri on Monday for filming.

"It's a big-deal movie," he said last night on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." "David Fincher is probably my favorite director, and I've always admired him. I got to meet him and got cast in a part in 'Gone Girl.'"

Leno said that while he knew Harris had been in a "bunch of movies," his role in "Gone Girl" had to be his biggest one to date.

"It's a big movie," Harris responded. "I'm really excited. I go to Missouri to film it the day after I host the Emmys."

The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards are scheduled for 7 p.m. Sunday and will air live from Los Angeles on CBS.

Harris also noted during the interview that his "Gone Girl" co-star, model Emily Ratajkowski, had been seen in a clip during Leno's opening monologue.

"She's in the movie, too," Harris said.

"Makes me want to see the movie," Leno replied.

Harris, 40, has been a familiar face to television and movie audiences since the 1980s. He first attracted attention by playing a prodigy-turned-doctor on the TV series "Doogie Howser, M.D." from 1989 to 1993 and made big-screen appearances in 1997's "Starship Troopers" and the "The Proposition" in 1998. He has starred in CBS's highly rated sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" since 2005.

"Gone Girl," directed by David Fincher, is the adaptation of the best-selling thriller novel by Gillian Flynn, who also is writing the film's screenplay. The movie tells the story of Nick Dunne, played by Ben Affleck, who deals with the disappearance of his wife Amy Dunne, played by Rosamund Pike, and his possible role in her vanishing.

According to rollingstone.com, Ratajkowski, 21, has been cast as Andie, a college student who has an affair with Nick and later teams with Amy's parents in an attempt to prove Nick's role in her disappearance. Harris' character, Desi Collins, is Amy Dunne's ex-boyfriend.

Rollingstone.com has also reported that Tyler Perry is also on board as Nick's defense attorney, Tanner Bolt, and Carrie Coon will play Nick's twin sister, Margo. Kim Dickens and Patrick Fugit are set as detectives working on the case.

Filming of "Gone Girl" recently began in Cape Girardeau and a producer said it could last as long as five weeks. The film is scheduled for release in 2015.

klewis@semissourian.com

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