Neil Patrick Harris wants everyone to ''stop talking'' until after the Oscars.

The 'How I Met Your Mother' star has been working with writers on material for the Academy Awards, which he will host on Sunday (22.02.15), but is upset that his ''funny and strong'' material keeps cropping up elsewhere.

He said: ''It's a tricky process with the content.

''I'm finding good jokes that we had that are funny and strong, then I'll watch a late-night talk show and they'll say the same joke ... the Grammys, 'Saturday Night Live' ... I just want everyone to stop talking until Monday!''

The 41-year-old actor admitted he has been ''having nightmares'' on how to top last year's host Ellen Degeneres' famous selfie with a number of Hollywood stars.

Speaking to Ellen on her talk show, he said: ''[It's created] this horrible dark cloud over my head.

''How do you beat the selfie that broke the Internet?''

However, Ellen reassured him her picture was a ''perfect fluke'' as she had no idea how the star-studded audience would react to the idea.

She said: ''You can't plan that. I hoped that it would happen. I hoped people would jump in.

''So all you have to do is have a nugget of a good idea, and if everybody's on board and they're playing, whatever your idea is, they're with you. That just was such a perfect fluke that happened and I was so lucky.''

Neil thinks it is important as host to consider both the guests at the Oscars and those tuning in at home.

He said: ''I want to make sure that the people that are in the theatre, that are nominated, that are very nervous, enjoy the show and feel respected, like I'm talking to them.

''But I think it's more important - nay equally important - to be talking to people at home and making sure that the people, the larger group of people that are watching it at home feel that I'm talking to them and that they're not excluded from the party.

''But if I spend too much time talking to them I'm excluding the people whose party it is.''