Alyson Hannigan
Alyson Hannigan, April 2003
Born	Alyson Lee Hannigan March 24, 1974 (1974-03-24) (age 35) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Other name(s)	Alyson Denisof
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1988–present
Spouse(s)	Alexis Denisof (2003 – present)

Alyson Lee Hannigan-Denisof (born March 24, 1974) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Lily Aldrin on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, Willow Rosenberg on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Michelle Flaherty-Levenstein in three American Pie films.

Early life

Hannigan was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Emilie Posner, a real estate agent, and Al Hannigan, a truck driver.¹² Hannigan is Jewish on her mother's side,³ and also has Irish ancestry.⁴ Her parents divorced a year after her birth and she was raised mostly by her mother in Atlanta.

Although Hannigan had appeared in an industrial film for "Active Parenting" as a baby, as well as starred in a commercial for the Duncan Hines cookie mix in 1978, it was not until she moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1985 that she formally began her acting career. Living with her mother and attending North Hollywood High School, she successfully auditioned for agents while visiting her father in Santa Barbara. After attending North Hollywood High School she attended California State University, Northridge.

Career

Hannigan's first major film role was in My Stepmother Is an Alien, a science fiction comedy released in 1988; one of her co-stars in the film was actor Seth Green, who would later join her in the regular cast of Buffy as her on-screen boyfriend. Then in 1989, her first regular role on a TV series came when she was cast in the short-lived ABC sitcom Free Spirit. Throughout most of the early-1990s, she appeared in commercials. In 1997, Hannigan was cast to play Willow Rosenberg, Buffy's best friend, on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (replacing Riff Regan, who played Willow in the unaired 25-minute pilot). The show became a success, and Hannigan gained recognition, subsequently appearing in several notable films aimed at teenage audiences, including American Pie, American Pie 2, Boys and Girls, and American Wedding. By the time Buffy had ended in 2003, Hannigan was earning a $250,000 salary for each episode. She also had a guest spot on the Buffy spin-off, Angel, reprising her role of Willow in a few episodes (including most notably "Orpheus," during the fourth season of Angel and the seventh season of Buffy), but none after Buffy finished production.

Hannigan outside the stage door after When Harry Met Sally... in London, in May 2004.

In early 2004, Hannigan made her West End debut, starring in a stage adaptation of When Harry Met Sally... at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, opposite Luke Perry.

In 2005, Hannigan returned to starring in a regular television series, appearing in the hit comedy, How I Met Your Mother, as Lily, and also playing a recurring guest role on Veronica Mars as Trina Echolls.

In February 2006, Hannigan starred as Julia Jones in Date Movie, a parody on romantic comedies.

Personal life

With husband Alexis Denisof

Hannigan previously dated Ginger Fish of Marilyn Manson.⁵ She later married actor Alexis Denisof (who played Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in the Buffy/Angel franchise) at Two Bunch Palms Resort in Desert Hot Springs, California on October 11, 2003. They bought a house together in Santa Monica, California.

It was announced on October 22, 2008 that she was pregnant with their first child. ⁶ Her daughter, Satyana Denisof, was born on Hannigan's 35th birthday, March 24, 2009. ⁷

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alyson Hannigan

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Alyson Hannigan

• Alyson Hannigan at the Internet Movie Database
• Alyson Hannigan at TV.com
• The Indy Channel interview (February 15, 2006)
• Sun Times interview (July 21, 2005)