【1988 Archives】

NEW YORK988 Archives NY — On Tuesday, at the South Street Seaport in an outdoor, Christmas-themed living room, a talking Christmas tree and a talking nutcracker chatted with strangers. You know, your average Tuesday afternoon in New York City.

The voice of the tree soon revealed itself to belong to none other than Neil Patrick Harris. NPH popped out to give the lucky strangers some pretty amazing Christmas gifts – he surprised a fun couple with a pair of Hamiltontickets and a pair of adorable twins (and their overly excited mother) with four Lion Kingtickets.

Afterwards, Mashablegot the chance to sit down with NPH for a few precious minutes to discuss his charity work with Christmas trees, holiday plans, A Series of Unfortunate Eventsand more.

SEE ALSO: 10 inexplicable things that happened on 'Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris'

The pop-up event was to promote The Christmas Tree Promotion Board's campaign It’s Christmas. Keep It Real. The campaign aims to raise "awareness of the benefits of a real tree and [support] our nation's tree farmers, importers and industry partners," according to a release.

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 06: The "It's Christmas. Keep it Real." pop-up at South Street Seaport on December 6, 2016 in New York City. Credit: Owen Hoffmann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

"They reached out to me, and I liked the initiative. I was under the assumption that having a real tree was somehow harmful to the environment, and yet the opposite is true...For trees in America, for every one that is cut down, farmers plant three more," Harris told Mashableat the event.

"And with the plastic artificial trees that are dumped in landfills, they're in there for a thousand years. So I didn't really think of it in that way. And I love it. I love the real tree idea. I love the holidays," he said with a smile. "With kids now, we're real big fans of cookies and fires and smells, and nothing says that more than a real tree, right?"

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 06: Guests are surprised by Neil Patrick Harris at the the "It's Christmas. Keep it Real." pop-up at South Street Seaport on December 6, 2016 in New York City. Credit: Owen Hoffmann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Harris and his family are already gearing up for the holidays. Both Harris' parents and his husband David Burtka's parents are coming to town for a chill holiday.

"We'll just have a really low-key Christmas – a nuclear Christmas together with our families," he told Mashable.

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Of course, gifts are already in the works – and NPH has some personal requests.

"I kind of asked for a globe," he said sheepishly, before getting a little more decisive.

"Well, here's what I want. I want an old-looking, standing globe that has a modern map...so I can work on my geography skills," he explained with a laugh.

He also wants "maybe a french horn – what are those pianos you can play through a tube? The little keyboards from the '80s?"

Neither of us could think of the name, so I promised him I would look it up and include it in the article so hopefully his husband sees it and buys one for him.

(I just looked it up – it's called a melodica. Get moving, David.)

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 06: Guests are surprised by Neil Patrick Harris at the the "It's Christmas. Keep it Real." pop-up at South Street Seaport on December 6, 2016 in New York City. Credit: Owen Hoffmann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

But the holiday present he's looking forward to most is the release of A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix, appropriately dropping on Friday the 13th of January. He stars in the show as Count Olaf, the eccentric antagonist.

"I think what's nice about the holidays is it encourages everyone to forgo their differences and gather together."

And even though Christmas cheer is in full force, the holidays can be hard for LGBTQ people trying to navigate spending time with less-than-supportive families. And Harris recognizes that.

"I think what's nice about the holidays is it encourages everyone to forgo their differences and gather together. Family seems to be important, and it's been a very divisive year all around, whether it be politically or familial or what have you," Harris said.

"So, there's something nice about Thanksgiving, about the holidays as well, that you can stand on ceremony and not have to dig too deep and ask for too many people to change in too many ways," he said. "But if your family's too tough, there are certainly a lot of friends around that are equally enjoyable to share the holiday season with."

If Neil Patrick Harris has inspired you to get a real Christmas tree this December, the It’s Christmas. Keep it Real campaign has partnered with Handyto offer a package that includes a 6.5 foot Christmas Tree, Christmas Tree stand and professional delivery and set up for $149.

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