Whenever a celebrity’s child starts to grow up, one of the biggest questions is whether they will follow in their parent’s footsteps or go in an entirely different direction. Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka’s twins, Harper and Gideon, have seen firsthand what life as an actor is like through their parents. Harris has been acting since he was a child, becoming world-famous through roles on “Doogie Howser, M.D.” and “How I Met Your Mother,” and is a five-time Emmy winner. Meanwhile, Burtka has acted across television, film, and Broadway.
But in June 2026, Harris and Burtka weren’t too sure the twins, at 15, were set on the Hollywood path. Harris told E! News on the Tony Awards red carpet, “they’ll probably be actor-adjacent. I hope they can do some proper studying. Go to college and actually study it and then perform.” Burtka agreed, adding, “They really love the theater, they love movies, they love TV … so I wouldn’t be surprised either.”
Burtka also confirmed that the twins have already caught the acting bug at school. “We’ve seen them in school plays and things like that,” he said. The twins and Burtka even had a small cameo in Netflix’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” in 2018, playing a family at a carnival. Harris starred in the series as Count Olaf, the show’s main villain.
Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka tied the knot after their children’s birth
Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka’s relationship began in 2004, but the couple kept much of their relationship private. This changed in 2007 when Harris decided to publicize his sexuality and their relationship. Around that time, the couple also got engaged, but kept it secret until 2011 when gay marriage was legalized in New York.
Before Burtka and Harris married, they took another step in their relationship and had two children together through a surrogate in 2010. This changed the urgency for their nuptials. “We’ve been together over 10 years, and I think when our kids got to the age … when they are asking lots of why questions, to have a clear-cut explanation of who their daddy is … it’s great [to say], ‘He’s my husband,'” Harris said on “The View” in 2014 (via E! News).
Harris and Burtka had an ultra-private wedding ceremony in Italy in 2014, which featured a performance by Elton John and a special role for each twin. “Harper was the flower girl. Gideon was supposed to be the ring bearer. He said, ‘I’m the orange boy.’ We said, ‘What in the world is an orange boy?’ He explained this whole thing that he comes down with a basket of oranges, and he hands the oranges to everyone,” Harris shared on “The View.” Since then, Harris and Burtka have kept a strong bond in their marriage.
