25. NEIL PATRICK HARRIS
Given his predilection for prestidigitation, is it too convenient to call 2008 a ''magical year'' for Neil Patrick Harris? Maybe — he does now sit on the board of L.A.'s famed Magic Castle — but consider the evidence: He made an old-school star turn as the titular mad scientist in Joss Whedon's wildly successful online musical Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. He continued to mine the self-parody gold of ''Neil Patrick Harris'' in the Harold & Kumar franchise. He brought compelling depth to his role as Barney on CBS' How I Met Your Mother. By year's end, the 35-year-old had pulled off quite the trick: making the last remaining novelties of his Doogie childhood vanish as he blossomed into a versatile collaborator and an incredibly funny man. — Whitney Pastorek
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