Alyson Hannigan
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Basic Information
Date of Birth: 24 March 1974
Place of Birth: Washington, District of Columbia, USA
Birth Name: Alyson Lee Hannigan
Height: 5' 6" (1.68 m)
Biography
Alyson Lee Hannigan (born March 24, 1974) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Willow Rosenberg on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Michelle Flaherty in three American Pie films and Lily Aldrin on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother.
Personal life
Hannigan was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Emilie Posner, a real estate agent, and Al Hannigan, a truck driver. Hannigan is of Irish descent on her father's side and Jewish on her mother's. Her parents divorced a year after her birth and she was raised mostly by her mother in Atlanta.[citation needed]
Hannigan has dated Ginger Fish of Marilyn Manson. She 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. Their daughter, Satyana Marie Denisof, was born six years later at home on Hannigan's 35th birthday, on March 24, 2009.
Career
Although Hannigan had appeared in an industrial film for "Active Parenting" as a baby, as well as having starred in a commercial for the Duncan Hines cookie mix in 1978, it was not until 1985, when she moved to Los Angeles, California, 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.
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.
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 US$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.
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 of romantic comedies. Alyson also was a guest star on the ABC animated sitcom The Goode Family in 2009.
Hannigan joined forces with Emily Deschanel, Jaime King, Minka Kelly, and Katharine McPhee in a video slumber party featured on FunnyorDie.com to promote regular breast cancer screenings for the organization Stand Up 2 Cancer.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | Impure Thoughts | Patty Stubbs | As Allison Hannigan |
| 1988 | My Stepmother Is an Alien | Jessie Mills | |
| 1991 | Switched at Birth | Gina Twigg, Age 13–16 | TV Movie |
| 1995 | The Stranger Beside Me | Dana | TV Movie |
| 1996 | A Case for Life | Iris | TV Movie |
| For My Daughter's Honor | Kelly | TV Movie | |
| 1998 | Dead Man on Campus | Lucy | |
| 1999 | Hayley Wagner, Star | Jenna Jakes | TV Movie |
| American Pie | Michelle Flaherty | ||
| 2000 | Boys and Girls | Betty | |
| 2001 | American Pie 2 | Michelle Flaherty | |
| Beyond the City Limits | Lexi | ||
| 2003 | American Wedding | Michelle Flaherty | |
| 2004 | Americana | Andrea | TV Movie |
| 2005 | In the Game | Unknown | TV Movie |
| 2006 | Date Movie | Julia Jones | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1989–1990 | Free Spirit | Jessie Harper | Regular (14 Episodes) |
| 1990 | Roseanne | Jan | Episode: "Like, a New Job" |
| 1993 | Almost Home | Samantha | Episode: "The Dance"
Episode: "Hot Ticket" |
| 1994 | Touched by an Angel | Cassie Peters | Episode: "Cassie's Choice" |
| 1996 | Picket Fences | Peggy Patterson | Episode: "To Forgive Is Devine" |
| 1996 | Friends for Life | Emma Daniels | Unaired TV Pilot |
| 1999–2000 | 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd | Gigi | Episode: "All Howls Eve"
Episode: "The Return of Gigi" |
| 2000 | The Wild Thornberrys | Gerda | Episode: "Every Little Bit Alps" |
| 1997–2003 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Willow Rosenberg | Regular (144 Episodes) |
| 2001–2003 | Angel | Episode: "Disharmony"
Episode: "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb" Episode: "Orpheus" | |
| 2004 | That '70s Show | Suzy Simpson | Episode: "Sally Simpson"
Episode: "Won't Get Fooled Again" |
| King of the Hill | Stacey Gibson | Episode: "Talking Shop" | |
| 2005 | Veronica Mars | Trina Echolls | Episode: "Ruskie Business"
Episode: "Hot Dogs" Episode: "My Mother, the Fiend" |
| 2009 | The Goode Family | Michelle | Episode: "Graffiti in Greenville" |
| 2005–Present | How I Met Your Mother | Lily Aldrin | Regular (112 episodes) |
| 2010 | The Simpsons | Substitute teachers daughter | Season 22: 1 episode |
Trivia
- Graduated from North Hollywood High School in 1992.
- Was a clarinet player in junior high school.
- Played soccer until she got an injury in her early teens.
- 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.
- The producers of American Pie (1999) originally wanted her to play the role of Heather, but she wanted to play the role of Michelle because she thought it was funnier.
- Has a tattoo of tribal dolphins on her ankle, a Japanese kanji (for luck and happiness) on her back, and a cartoon turtle on her left foot.
- She (along with actresses Tangi Miller and Holly Marie Combs) is a spokesperson for breast cancer, and will appear in a new four page brochure (to be featured in Vogue, Glamour, Self, Mademoiselle, and Women's Sports and Fitness) to raise awareness about the disease. [May 2000]
- She co-starred in the television series "Free Spirit" (1989). The program was about a witch. Interestingly, she has now played a witch on the TV series, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997).
- Married to Alexis Denisof. Denisof proposed during a trip to Northern California wine country during the 2002 holiday season. They were married in October 2003
- At age 11 moved from Atlanta, Georgia, to Los Angeles
- Her wedding was featured in the February 2004 issue of InStyle Magazine.
- Has had two songs recorded about her: "Alyson Hannigan" by Juvenile Wreck, and "This One Time" (named for her famous "This one time, at band camp..." quotes from American Pie (1999)) by The Malcolm Effect.
- She was invited to join the cast of the TV show In the Game (2005) (TV), but begged off, citing creative differences. Hannigan was supposed to play the best friend of the character played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, but according to a Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service interview reported January 25, 2005, she was unhappy with the diminished, trivialized role they presented her with. She chose to walk away from the offer.
- Portrays the girlfriend of Seth Green's character in two different occasions. First was in the movie My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988) and then later in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997).
- Irish-American on her father's side and Jewish-American on her mother's side, Hannigan was raised in the Jewish faith.
- Owns a mansion in Sacramento, California.
- Attended California State University in Northridge, California majored in Psychology
- 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" (2005), with Saget playing (the voice of) the older "Ted Mosby" and Hannigan playing younger Ted's best friend's fiancée.
- 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].
- Good friends with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar.
- Used to be a vegan but stopped during her pregnancy.
- Gave birth to her daughter, Satyana Denisof, on her birthday of March 24, 2009 in Los Angeles.
- First child, daughter Satyana, born March 24, 2009.
