American actress Alyson Hannigan was born on March 24, 1974 in Washington, D.C. She started her acting career upon moving to Los Angeles in 1985, although she has appeared in an industry video as a baby, and in a television commercial as a four-year-old. She started auditioning while she was in high school, and continued to do so when she studied at California State University–Northridge. Her first major film role came in 1988, through the sci-fi comedy My Stepmother is an Alien, where she appeared opposite Kim Basinger. The next year, she snagged her first regular television role, appearing in the short-lived fantasy sitcom Free Spirit.
Hannigan shot to wide recognition in 1997 when she joined the cast of the hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She appeared as Willow Rosenberg, initially introduced as a shy and naive nerd who later harbors an interest in witchcraft after aiding her new best friend, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar). Notably, her character soon became one of the most prominent lesbian characters on American television at the time, when she enters into a relationship with Tara Maclay (Amber Benson). She is, apart from Gellar, the only actor to have appeared in all episodes of the series. She also established herself as the eccentric nerd Michelle Flaherty in the American Pie film series. She eventually rose to become a major character in the series, and by the end of the third film, American Wedding, she is already married to main character Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs).
Upon Buffy’s finale, Hannigan played recurring roles in That ‘70s Show and Veronica Mars, where she portrayed Trina Echolls, the daughter of A-list actor Aaron Echolls (Harry Hamlin). She returned to regular television work in 2005, when she took a role in the comedy series How I Met Your Mother. There, she plays Lily Aldrin, a kindergarten teacher who is married to Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel). While filming, she managed to snag a role in 2006’s Date Movie, portraying the character Julia Jones opposite Adam Campbell. She has also voiced characters in Farce of the Penguins, King of the Hill and The Wild Thornberrys.
Washington, District of Columbia, USA
Spouse: Alexis Denisof (11 October 2003 - present)
Is Godmother of Joss Whedon's son, Arden, and her husband, Alexis Denisof, is his Godfather.
Announced that she is expecting her first child, due Spring 2009. [October 22, 2008].
Alyson's parents divorced when she was 2. Her mother is a real estate agent in Atlanta, Georgia, and her father was a truck driver in Missouri.
Her character on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997), Willow Rosenberg, once mentions that she wrote "Doogie Howser, M.D." (1989) fan-fiction as a girl. Hannigan went on to star in "How I Met Your Mother" (2005) with Neil Patrick Harris, who as a boy played Doogie Howser.
Babysat for Bob Saget's children in her teens. Once went on vacation to Hawaii with his family. Two decades later they co-starred together in "How I Met Your Mother", with Saget playing (the voice of) the older Ted Mosby and Hannigan playing younger Ted's best friends fianc?.
Irish-American on her father's side and Jewish-American on her mother's side, Hannigan was raised in the Jewish faith.
2 wins & 11 nominations.
2003: (won) Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA /Saturn Award/
Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series
for: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997)
2002: (won) Teen Choice Awards
TV - Choice Sidekick
for: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997)
2005-present: "How I Met Your Mother" - Lily Aldrin
2006: Date Movie - Julia Jones
2006: Farce of the Penguins (voice) - Hottie Penguin
2005: "Veronica Mars" - Trina Echolls (3 episodes)
2004: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Animated Series (voice) - Willow Rosenberg
2004: Americana - Andrea
2003: American Wedding - Michelle Flaherty
1997-2003: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" - Willow Rosenberg
2001-2003: "Angel" - Willow Rosenberg (3 episodes)
2002: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (voice) - Willow Rosenberg
2001: Beyond the City Limits - Lexi
2001: American Pie 2 - Michelle Flaherty
2000: Boys and Girls - Betty
1999: American Pie - Michelle Flaherty
1999: Hayley Wagner, Star - Jenna Jakes
1998: Dead Man on Campus - Lucy
1996: For My Daughter's Honor - Kelly
1996: A Case for Life - Iris
1995: The Stranger Beside Me - Dana
1991: Switched at Birth - Gina Twigg, Age 13-16
1989-1990: "Free Spirit" - Jessie Harper (14 episodes)
1988: My Stepmother Is an Alien - Jessie Mills
1986: Impure Thoughts - Patty Stubbs
"It was great for a change to share a week's work, rather than being on different projects. With the hours Alexis and I spend on set, you can tend to pass like ships in the night. Weekends, however, are great because we can share precious time together. But when we're at home, I promise you, we certainly don't talk about vampires or suck each other's blood for tea" [On playing the season 4, episode 15, role of "Willow" as a crossover on "Angel" (1999) June 4, 2003].
[On her role as the witch "Willow", crossing over from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) to act in the episode "Orpheus" on the series "Angel" (1999), where her fianc?, Alexis Denisof, is a regular:] "I finally get to spend a day with my honey, so that's really nervous coming in. I had butterflies in my stomach. I don't know why I was so nervous -- maybe because I don't know how to pronounce half the lines I have to say today. They're in some made-up language".
"It's like walking around a history book. You have all these beautiful buildings that were built before 1980." - on London
You need to suffer to be interesting.
Nerds are far more interesting human in later life. - on the varying times of "blossoming" for individuals.
