American actress Alyson Hannigan was born on March 24, 1974 in Washington, D.C. Her parents divorced a year after she was born and she was raised in Atlanta by her mother. As a child, she appeared in the industrial film Active Parenting and was in a commercial for the Duncan Hines cookie mix. In 1985, she formally began her acting career when she moved to Los Angeles, California. She attended North Hollywood High School and successfully auditioned for agents while she visited Santa Barbara. She then studied at California State University, Northridge. In 1988, Alyson Hannigan landed her first film role as Jessie Mills in the science fiction comedy em>My Stepmother is an Alien. Two year later, she became a regular cast member of the series Free Spirit, which ran until 1990. She then had minor roles in other television series like Roseanne, Touched by an Angel, Picket Fences and That '70s Show. In 1997, she was cast in her most prominent role, as Willow Rosenberg in the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Her character was the best friend of the title character, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. The series ended in 2003. Hannigan's Buffy co-star and on-screen boyfriend, Seth Green, was also cast with her in 1988's My Stepmother is an Alien. With the success of Buffy, Alyson Hannigan was given more roles in notable films aimed at teenage audiences. She was in American Pie, American Pie 2, Boys and Girls and American Wedding. She then reprised the role of Willow in the Buffy spin-off series, Angel. In 2004, she made her West End debut opposite Luke Perry in the stage adaptation of When Harry Met Sally... at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. The next year, she was once again cast as a regular in the hit television comedy How I Met Your Mother. She also had a recurring guest role in the series Veronica Mars. She lent her voice to characters in King of the Hill and The Wild Thornberrys. In 2006, Alyson Hannigan starred as Julia Jones in Date Movie.