Neil Patrick Harris Goes His 'Five Stages Of Grief' In Uncoupled Netflix’s New Series

Neil Patrick Harris Ready To The Rug

At least that's what he signed up for in Uncoupled, Netflix's new romantic comedy series in which his character, real estate broker Michael, is blindsided when his partner Colin, a hedge fund manager, walks out after 17 years together. Suddenly, Michael is thrust into New York dating culture again.

Up until this job, I had spent a decade or so doing gigs that were as removed from myself as possible," Harris, 49, tells PEOPLE, name-checking previous roles like How I Met Your Mother's lothario Barney Stinson, his villainous Count Ola in A Series of Unfortunate Events and Broadway's Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Neil thought it was fun to play as many different versions of me that were nothing like me," he adds.

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Neil Patrick Harris Offered Opportunity

But Uncoupled, from co-creators Darren Star and Jeffrey Richman, offered Harris the opportunity to explore a life that looked much like his own.

Harris and his husband, David Burtka, 47, have been together 18 years and share 11-year-old twins, Harper and Gideon.

The notion "of playing a nuanced comedy version of a life that's very similar to my own in certain ways the same location as where I live, same length of the relationship that I'm currently in but now it's totally different" appealed to the New Yorker.

How would I, as Neil, in a subtler way, respond to a whole new world?" he asks.

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Grindr The Dating Apps

Heartbroken and still pining for his ex in the series, Michael grapples with how the world has changed in almost 20 years, including the creation of dating apps like Grindr.

Michael's going through the five stages of grief about his breakup, says Star. He's trying to move on but still carrying the pain of what happened, informing and coloring everything he's going through.

So while he can go out for a wild night and try to have a good time, the reality of his life kind of gut punches him in the end. The creators ultimately mined heartbreak borrowed from real life.

Darren and I knew of long-term gay relationships where one of the partners does what Colin does to Michael, says Richman. That seemed like a great launching point, jumping off place, to start a romantic comedy. The lowest possible place you could come from.

Still, Uncoupled doesn't let Michael wallow for too long. Helping him pick up the pieces are the protagonist's straight-shooting real estate agent partner Suzanne, celebrity weatherman Billy, and sensitive art dealer pal Stanley.

And a challenging new client arrives to distract: the bitter divorcee Claire, who puts Michael through the paces as he strains to sell her overpriced penthouse.

She stays in the stage of anger for her grief for a long time, which was so much fun to do, says Harden. The angrier she was, the better.

The show depicts how one couple calling it quits can destabilize an entire friend group.

The Couple Breaks Up

Ordinarily, in a breakup comedy, the couple breaks up, the ex is a jerk, and the hero moves forward and lives happily ever after 90 minutes later. But this is a different show, says Watkins, who plays Michael's ex. Uncoupled is about an uncoupling and all that goes along with that.

Star applauds Harris' go-for-it attitude on set, whether it was diving into a stunt falling backward while skiing in the Catskills to Michael's newly-single sex scenes.

Just as the character Michael is taking many crazy risks in his life that he's never taken before, he felt like Neil was doing the same thing in these scenes. And it wasn't about the sex; Neil was going on a limb on the show all the time.

For Harris, Uncoupled was about embracing the comedy that often walks hand-in-hand with tragedy.

When he has talked to friends who've watched it, someone said thoughtfully that that's what life is. You don't have a breakup, and it's just sad all the time.