It’s a common misbelief that Neil Patrick Harris played Francis on Malcolm In The Middle – here’s why. Critically acclaimed Fox comedy series Malcolm In The Middle was one of the definitive sitcoms of the early 2000s. The show ran for seven seasons between 2000 and 2006 and followed a lovably dysfunctional family headed by dad Hal (a pre-Breaking Bad Bryan Cranston) and mom Lois (Jane Kaczmarek). Hal and Lois had three kids living with them at home; youngest son Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan), genius middle child Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) and their older dimwit brother Reese (Justin Berfield).
Topping off the Malcolm In The Middle brood was Hal and Lois’ eldest wayward son Francis who spent the first couple of seasons at a military school where he’d been sent for bad behavior. A good number of people thought Francis was played by Neil Patrick Harris who at that point in time was best known for playing the titular teen prodigy in dramedy Doogie Howser M.D., and Colonel Carl Jenkins in Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers.
Malcolm In The Middle’s Francis was actually played by Christopher Masterson who just happens to be a dead ringer for Neil Patrick Harris. It makes sense that people would confuse the two doppelganger celebrities - they’ve both got the same short blond hair, both have piercing blue eyes and they share similar facial features. Thinking about it a little more deeply, however, it doesn’t really add up. At the time Malcolm In The Middle began airing, Neil Patrick Harris was in his late twenties whereas the character of Francis was still in his teens. While Neil Patrick Harris is a youthful-looking guy, that’s pushing the bounds of believability just a bit.
Nevertheless, many Malcolm In The Middle fans still mistook Christopher Masterson for Neil Patrick Harris. The myth that Neil Patrick Harris played Francis is so widely believed that the How I Met Your Mother star has addressed the situation a couple of times himself. In a recent interview with BuzzFeed, Harris said the craziest rumor he’d heard about himself was that he was on Malcolm In The Middle and back in 2013, he tweeted the following in response to somebody who thought he played Francis:
So, to clarify, it was Christopher Masterson that played Francis on Malcolm In The Middle, not Neil Patrick Harris but it’s an easy mistake to make because the pair look so similar they could be related. Interestingly Christopher Masterson is related to a few other celebrity siblings, including Danny Masterson who played Hyde on That ‘70s Show and The Walking Dead’s Alanna Masterson but – funnily enough – they don’t bear as striking a resemblance to him as Neil Patrick Harris does.