The quasi Dr. Horrible revival embedded within A Series of Unfortunate Events‘ second season was no happy accident. Neil Patrick Harris tells TVLine that he pushed to have onetime nemesis Nathan Fillion cast as Jacques Snicket, the younger brother of Patrick Warburton’s Lemony Snicket and a former schoolmate of Harris’ Count Olaf.

“I was a big proponent of Nathan’s casting,” Harris shares. “I think [Patrick and Nathan] come from the same world actor-wise. I could totally see them being siblings. And Nathan [possesses] great style. He has great focus and force and intention, which is what you needed for [the role of Jacques].”

Harris admits it was especially nice to be working with Fillion on such a technically demanding series as Unfortunate Events. “It’s really fun to work with actors who can play in a sandbox, but don’t toss sand everywhere,” he explains. “You still have to hit your marks every time and monitor the crew and respect schedules and be a worker. And Nathan’s a worker through and through.”

Did the pair’s Unfortunate re-teaming get them thinking about a Dr. Horrible sequel? “Nothing would make me happier,” Harris enthuses. “But I have no information. I haven’t seen [Dr. Horrible co-creator] Joss in ages. And everyone’s wonderfully busy with other things. So unless the writers want to strike again, which is when we did the first one, I’m not sure when it would ever happen.

“Plus, I’m no spring chicken,” he adds with a smile. “So, at a certain point, Dr. Horrible isn’t Billy the Internet geeky kid anymore. I’m a grown man. So they’ll probably have to cast Nick Jonas in it.”

Unfortunate Events‘ second (and penultimate) season makes its Netflix debut on Friday, March 30.