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Alyson Hannigan & Alexis Denisof - Mybestbirth.com Video Interview

Webmaster — 2009-11-03T20:52:24Z

Alyson Hannigan profiled in January 2009 American Airlines inflight magazine

Webmaster — 2009-01-06T19:24:54Z

LADY IN RED

We asked Alyson Hannigan to dish on her career, her background, and a few of her favorite things. By Allison Winn Scotch

YOU KNOW ALYSON HANNIGAN'S ON-SCREEN ROUTINE : floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee with a sweet demeanor and a plethora of naughty punch lines. She gained attention first by playing Willow Rosenberg on the cult-hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which ran from 1997 to 2003, and then by making beautiful music with Jason Biggs as band-camp girl and flute aficionado Michelle Flaherty in the American Pie trilogy.

But ever since the debut of her hit CBS series How I Met Your Mother, now in its fourth season, we've been less concerned with the mysterious maternal title character and more interested in learning about this 34-year-old auburn-haired beauty. Here are six things you probably didn't know about her.

1. ELEPHANTS MAKE HER CRY. “My favorite book is Modoc, The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived,” Hannigan admits. “It's this story of this elephant, his trainer, and their journey that is just so touching and so unbelievable. You have to have some Kleenex to read it.”

2. SHE'S WATCHING YOU. “I used to love to people-watch at the airport,” she says. “It's harder now because I'm the one people are looking at, but I love the interaction and seeing people get off planes and the people who greet them. I completely dissect everyone in my mind.”

3. SHE'S CRAFTY. “I'm obsessed with crafts — like, Martha Stewart crafts,” says Hannigan. “I have my own craft room in my house. I think I keep Michaels in business. Right now, I'm on a big card-making kick, like pop-up cards. I have my friends over and we'll have card-making parties for Valentine's Day or whatever holiday we can think of. I'm a nerd !”

4. SHE HAS A BACKUP PLAN. “I went to college because, obviously, knowing what the business is like, I knew that I needed something to fall back on,” she says. “I chose Cal State, Northridge because it was close and I could still audition. I studied psychology and went for two years, and then I got a job that was shooting out of town for three weeks, so I figured, ‘Okay, I'll take this semester off, and then I'll go back next year.' But that never happened because I continued to work.”

5. SHE'S A TEAM PLAYER. “We have amazing writers [on How I Met Your Mother],” she says. “If you had sat me down at the beginning of Buffy, there's no way I would have come up with anything nearly as good as what [Buffy creator] Joss Whedon came up with. That's why he's Joss and I'm me.”

6. SHE REALLY DOES LIKE HER HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER COSTARS. “People can have great chemistry on camera and hate each other off of it,” Hannigan says. “[But with our cast,] the chemistry happened right away, and it was just one of those special things. In fact, I thought it was probably a curse on the show because we got along so well and there weren't any attitude cases. It's just really, really good luck.”

Alyson Hannigan has mocked Gwen Stefani for calling her son Zuma

Webmaster — 2008-11-18T17:34:16Z

The former 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' actress - who recently revealed she is expecting her first child with husband Alexis Denisof - insists she has no intention of giving her firstborn an unusual name like Gwen.

When asked what she is planning to call her baby, Alyson replied : "I don't know yet, but definitely not Zuma ! That is taken !"

Alyson, 34, also revealed she is finding it difficult to contain her excitement ahead of the birth next spring.

She added to Usmagazine.com : "I'm not very patient, and it's hard to wait ! I'm excited, very excited !"

The redheaded beauty is enjoying being famous and pregnant, because companies have already started sending her gifts to help prepare her for her impending arrival.

She said : "I've been very fortunate because people are already sending things so they're doing the job for me ! Pea in the Pod sent me my first maternity top, but, right now, I'm just wearing an empire waist - anything to disguise the little tummy !"

Alyson Hannigan & Alexis Denisof - 2008 Lint Roller Party - Eonline.com Video Interview

Webmaster — 2008-11-15T15:45:16Z

Don't mess with Alyson Hannigan and her pickles ! The pregnant How I Met Your Mother star has a special craving for the snack.

"If I bring the wrong ones home, she won't touch 'em," said Hannigan's husband, actor Alexis Denisof, last night at the Best Friends Animal Society's 15th Annual Lint Roller Party in Hollywood. "It has to be the exact right ones. They're the sweet, kosher pickles. They can't be the pepper, garlic or whatever—it has to be the right one."

Denisof also revealed some baby names. Well, names they've already ruled out...

"Our plan is to each make a list and give it to the other one, and then we kinda sleep with it for a while," Denisof said. "We start eliminating names from each other's list, and somehow we'll compile a master list."

And as far as the already eliminated names go, "She ruled out Bruce, which I was opting for, and I also got overruled on Dennis," he said.

With no mention of any female names, does that mean the duo is having a boy ? "We know the gender, but I don't think I'm allowed to say," Denisof said. "Alyson didn't give a clearance."

As for Alyson, she is loving pregnancy. "I love everything. I just feel great, and I can feel the baby move, and I'm just over the moon !" she cooed.

Also at last night's soiree were Jodie Sweetin, Rene Russo, Cloris Leachman and Emmy Rossum.

Alyson Hannigan - "How I Met Your Mother" Sitcom - Tvguide.com Q&A - Watch The Video

Webmaster — 2008-06-11T19:28:17Z

The night was Awe. Some.

Nearly the entire How I Met Your Mother gang (minus Jason Segel, who is busy shooting a movie) congregated at McGee's in NYC — aka the inspiration for the sitcom's McClaren's. Cozying up with each in a booth (and maybe the occasional adult beverage...), I sought out scoop on all things Mother.

Here, I will embed the video of Neil Patrick Harris, who ponders the Barney-Robin hookup and their possible future, the Britney aftermath and more. Links to my sit-downs with Josh, Cobie, Alyson and a pair of producers will follow. I hope you enjoy, because it was one of my most fun outings here ever !

Alyson Hannigan - "Buffy Season 8" Comic Book - Ifmagazine.com Interview

Webmaster — 2007-11-14T15:38:50Z

iF : Have you seen the BUFFY Season Eight comics ?

HANNIGAN : My friend Tom Lenk [who played Andrew on BUFFY] has brought them to my house, so I have flipped through them, but I haven't sat down and read them yet. I'm saving that for a nice Sunday day.

iF : How do you feel about learning about Willow's further adventures from comics ?

HANNIGAN : I'm a little nervous, probably. You know, when I first went through them with [Lenk], I was like, ‘Well, who's that ?' He hadn't read them all either, and he said, ‘I think that's you.' I said, ‘Why am I so big ? That's not me, that's Dawn ! She's a giant. I don't know what's going on.' Joss had emailed me months and months before they ever came out, and he had emailed me the one where I was on the cover, or Willow was on the cover, and I was, ‘Wow, that's a really cool drawing – I have no idea who that is or where he's going, but awesome !' And then I talked to him, and he said, ‘That's Willow.' I'm like, ‘Awesome ! She's done very good things to her body in the last year [laughs].'

Alyson Hannigan - "How I Met Your Mother" Sitcom - Ifmagazine.com Interview

Webmaster — 2007-11-13T23:47:03Z

IF MAGAZINE : Do you feel like HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER has hit its groove in the third season ?

ALYSON HANNIGAN : Oh, yes. I feel like we had a very strong first season, but then second season, we just came out of the gates kicking and we got stronger and stronger, and it was a phenomenal second season, and I'm sure the third season can only be as good if not better.

iF : Are you looking forward to the possibility of having the ensemble cast expand ?

HANNIGAN : Is it going to expand ?

iF : Well, the series creators, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, said they're getting closer to identifying the mother of the title, so once she's introduced, it's possible she'll be added to the cast ...

HANNIGAN : Yes. Well, I'm all for it, because let's even out the sexes. We've got a little boy-heavy cast, and Cobie [Smulders, who plays Ted's on-again/off-again girlfriend] and I need as much support as we can get, because sometimes it turns into a boy-fest. And we need our girls, so get another girl cast member – c'mon !

iF : What does the relationship between your character Lily and her now-husband Marshall [Jason Segel] do for Ted's character in story terms ?

HANNIGAN : It probably reiterates the longing that [Ted] has to find [that kind of love] for himself.

iF : What is the rhythm of the humor on HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER compared to the stuff Joss Whedon was writing for you on BUFFY ?

HANNIGAN : Oh, that's a hard question. I mean, Joss is a genius. With BUFFY, there was a lot of humor, but there was also the monster factor and the drama factor. But the two shows are similar in that I can be funny one moment and then dramatic in the next. I really love and appreciate that they don't ever shy away from the true emotion and it's got the heart that I always respond to as well.

iF : In both BUFFY and the AMERICAN PIE movies, you're cast as someone who is very demure on the surface and then very sexual underneath. Does HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER continue that tradition ?

HANNIGAN : [laughs] Well, I think that was the pilot. [They still do it] occasionally. But thankfully they didn't go fully into the AMERICAN PIE realm. I don't think they could at eight o'clock.

Alyson Hannigan - "How I Met Your Mother" Sitcom - Nashuatelegraph.com Interview

Webmaster — 2007-05-07T19:23:41Z

“They are SUCH the couple that belongs together,” says Alyson Hannigan, lounging on a makeshift patio outside the set of CBS' “How I Met Your Mother.”

She's musing over a just-filmed wedding scene involving her character, Lily Aldrin, and Marshall Eriksen, played by Jason Segel.

“I love the fact that they are in a healthy relationship on television,” Hannigan says. “I'm sort of sick of watching those couples where you're like, ‘Why would they ever be together ? They hate each other.' Maybe it's funny, but it's so tiring.”

Of course, as it is with most weddings - televised or otherwise - more than a few things go awry on the big day. “Look, I'm not going to stress out about every little thing,” says Hannigan's Lily during a scene on Twentieth Century Fox's Stage 22. “I'm marrying Marshall today, and nothing can ruin that.”

Fateful last words in sitcomland, of course.

“I definitely related to the whole, ‘OK, I'm not going to stress out,'" says Hannigan, recalling her own nuptials three years ago to actor Alexis Denisof, a ceremony not nearly as chaotic as the one she's doing on TV.

“We had our perfect wedding,” she says. “Nothing major went wrong. Not that I knew of. But the wedding planner probably had a coronary a couple of times.”

Panic becomes palpable, and wildly hysterical, as Lily - in and out of a long white wedding gown - attempts to thwart the inevitability of Murphy's Law. It's a classic comedy of errors, and these days Hannigan couldn't be happier falling flat on her face - yes, literally - after six years of taking on demons in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

“You name it, we did it on that show . . . which was phenomenal,” says Hannigan, who pursued sitcom work after “Buffy” because the rigors of an hourlong show were just too demanding.

“Also, I just love comedy and wanted to focus on that,” she says, relaxing on a sunny afternoon in a jean mini and layered long-sleeved T-shirt. “I really responded to the fact that in the script for the pilot episode, you not only got to be funny, but also played real emotions,” she says. “I still have that side that loves drama and loves to go there.”

But it is Hannigan's deft timing and smooth comic energy that have some drawing parallels to another CBS leading lady : Lucille Ball. “Been reading my mom's letters, haven't you ?” she says with a laugh, humbled by the comparison. “I've always admired her and I could watch Lucy for hours. But I don't feel like that's true. I've always loved her and Carol Burnett. I'm sure that shapes how your sense of humor develops. But do I think I hold a candle to them ? No, no, no. Talk to me in 40 years.”

Creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas might beg to differ, since they hired Hannigan without her even reading for the role :

“We just met with her and got to know her as a person,” Bays says between scenes, the scent of lilies and roses from the mock wedding hall wafting through the set. “Almost the first thing that we looked for was, ‘Is this the kind of person we want to hang out with ?' ”

At 33, Hannigan already is an entertainment veteran, having started out in commercials at age 4. “People often ask me, ‘What would you have done if you hadn't been able to do this ? I just can't come up with a good answer, or a truthful answer, because I just don't know. . . . I would watch ‘The Brady Bunch' and want to be Cindy Brady. I just wanted to be in that world,” says Hannigan, who has more than two dozen movie and TV credits (including the “American Pie” film romps). She even has two songs recorded about her : “Alyson Hannigan” by Juvenile Wreck and “This One Time,” which borrows her now-famous “American Pie” line, “This one time, at band camp . . . ”

Alyson Hannigan - "How I Met Your Mother" Sitcom - How we meet Hannigan : as sitcom star on rise

Webmaster — 2007-05-01T11:27:56Z

LOS ANGELES - “They are such the couple that belongs together,” says Alyson Hannigan, lounging on a makeshift patio outside the set of CBS' “How I Met Your Mother.” She's musing over a just-filmed wedding scene involving her character, Lily Aldrin, and Marshall Eriksen, played by Jason Segel.

The two-part wedding episode, beginning May 7, closes the comedy's second season. The show centers on five 20-something singles in New York, with Lily and Marshall its most stable twosome.

In real life, a ‘perfect wedding' Of course, as it is with most weddings - televised or otherwise - more than a few things go awry on the big day.

“Look, I'm not going to stress out about every little thing,” says Hannigan's Lily during a scene. “I'm marrying Marshall today, and nothing can ruin that.”

Fateful last words in sitcomland, of course.

“I definitely related to the whole, ‘OK, I'm not going to stress out,' ” says Hannigan, recalling her own nuptials three years ago to actor Alexis Denisof, a ceremony not nearly as chaotic as the one she's doing on TV.

“We had our perfect wedding,” she says. “Nothing major went wrong. Not that I knew of. But the wedding planner probably had a coronary a couple of times.”

A respite from fighting vampires Panic becomes palpable, and wildly hysterical, as Lily - in and out of a long white wedding gown - attempts to thwart the inevitability of Murphy's Law.

It's a classic comedy of errors, and these days Hannigan couldn't be happier falling flat on her face - yes, literally - after six years of taking on demons in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

“You name it, we did it on that show ... which was phenomenal,” says Hannigan, who pursued sitcom work after “Buffy” because the rigors of an hour-long show were just too demanding.

“Also, I just love comedy and wanted to focus on that,” she says, relaxing on a sunny afternoon in a jean mini and layered long-sleeved T-shirt.

“I really responded to the fact that in the script for the pilot episode, you not only got to be funny, but also played real emotions,” she says. “I still have that side that loves drama and loves to go there.”

But it is Hannigan's deft timing and smooth comic energy that have some drawing parallels to another CBS leading lady : Lucille Ball.

“Been reading my mom's letters, haven't you ?” she says with a laugh, humbled by the comparison. “I've always admired her, and I could watch Lucy for hours. But I don't feel like that's true. I've always loved her and Carol Burnett. I'm sure that shapes how your sense of humor develops. But do I think I hold a candle to them ? No, no, no. Talk to me in 40 years.”

Hired without an audition Creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas might beg to differ, since they hired Hannigan without her even reading for the role.

At 33, Hannigan is already an entertainment veteran, having started out in commercials at age 4.

“People often ask me, ‘What would you have done if you hadn't been able to do this ?' I just can't come up with a good answer, or a truthful answer, because I just don't know. ... I would watch ‘The Brady Bunch' and want to be Cindy Brady. I just wanted to be in that world,” says Hannigan, who now has more than two dozen movie and TV credits (including the “American Pie” film romps).

She even has two songs recorded about her : “Alyson Hannigan,” by Juvenile Wreck, and “This One Time,” which borrows her now-famous “American Pie” line : “This one time, at band camp ...”

Alyson Hannigan - "How I MetYour Mother" Sticom - Carter Bays Tvguide.com Interview

Webmaster — 2007-04-09T12:49:23Z

How I Met Your Mother. At its best, it's one of TV's tangiest, highest laugh-per-minute ratio comedies, populated by one of the brightest and most crackling casts out there. In its less-than-two years on our screens, it has taught us to "Suit up," fear the slap bet and never, ever call Lily a "grinch." It gave TV back Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan, and treated us to the arrival of relative newbies Josh Radnor, Jason Segel and Cobie Smulders. To celebrate the CBS sitcom's funnily serious litany of accomplishments, TVGuide.com chatted up cocreator Carter Bays about the secrets of his Mother's success, preview the season finale, ponder the show's fate, and, of course, pay tribute to the great Robin Sparkles.

TVGuide.com : I want to start off by saying that this season, you've done a great job at keeping Robin and Ted together while also keeping them fun and interesting. Was that concern when you first pulled the trigger on their coupling ?

Carter Bays : It was, because the whole goal of Season 1 was "Ted's in love with Robin," and once you achieve [the consummation of that relationship], you worry that that'll neutralize the drama and excitement. But it sort of turned out to be the opposite. They're so good together and they play off of each other so well, it's fun seeing them as a couple.

TVGuide.com : Is there anything you're afraid of as you go to write each episode ? Any well you fear visiting too often ?

Bays : Oh yeah, things are always swirling around. You don't want to make it too silly, you don't want to make t too serious.... There are always a number of things that we can overdo on the show that we try not do. Coming from a place of boredom with the sitcom form, we try to vary things as much as possible. We try to find interesting new ways to tell a multi-camera sitcom story.

TVGuide.com : The clever, sometimes fleeting flashback moments have been a real boon to your story telling.

Bays : When in doubt, that's always the last thing that we cut, those kind of things. That's what makes the show interesting, and makes it closer to a single-camera show than a standard multi-camera.

TVGuide.com : Neil Patrick Harris literally scoffed at me when I asked if he'd like to see more growth from Barney. Is that where you're coming from too ?

Bays : Definitely. The last few episodes of this season, we're going to see more growth from Barney than we've ever seen, as far as humanity and depth. In Season 3, I want to neutralize that and just make him a cartoon character again. It's more fun, more insane. Neil loves playing that part exactly that way.

TVGuide.com : Speaking of Neil, not that he at all was obligated to, did he give you a heads up that he'd be coming out - if only because he plays a ladies' man on the show ? Bays : It all happened very quickly, but yeah, we all sort of had a little pow-wow about it. But at the end of day, it was totally his thing. It was up to him.

TVGuide.com : Since I can never seem to get Alyson Hannigan on phone - she's the only primary I've never had the pleasure of Q&Aing.... Bays : She's mysterious, that one. [Chuckles] She goes into the night....

TVGuide.com : Lily's semi-extreme makeover this season - the dark hair, the almost inexplicably fabulous thrift shop wardrobe : Was that entirely to serve the character's arc, to sex up the show, or partly Alyson's request ?

Bays : I'm going to give all the credit to Alyson. I mean, we did have a new wardrobe person this season and that changed a little bit, but as soon as we went on hiatus last season, she went dark with her hair and grew it out. She came back the next season looking completely different, and while the understanding was, "I'll go back to being red...," it sort of felt to us that it fit perfectly with Lily at that moment. When you go through a breakup, the first thing you do is get a haircut.

TVGuide.com : I reported last week that in the season finale, "Barney learns a secret that Robin and Ted have been keeping." What else can you tease about that reveal ?

Bays : Barney learns it toward the end of the episode, and it'll set up a new dynamic for Season 3, just the way that the finale for Season 1 [Marshall-Lily's split and Ted-Robin's hook-up] set up a new dynamic for Season 2. It will be a new chapter in everyone's life.

TVGuide.com : Surely you know how the fans love to scrutinize the flash-forwards, for example, the wedding of Barney's brother. Are you ultra-careful in staging them, as to not paint yourself into one corner or another ?

Bays : Usually. There are certain times where we paint ourselves into a corner but then we'll get an idea so good we'll go back and reshoot something, even though it's a pain in the ass. [Laughs] But that's part of the joy of writing the show, the corners we paint ourselves into. Like, there was a quick pop to Ted talking about his 30th birthday and there was a goat involved, so next year we're going to have do an episode about that and involve a goat somehow. We have no idea what that story will be about, but we'll figure it out when we get there. It's a fun writers' exercise to create a situation and figure out how to get there, but other moments are very carefully calculated.

TVGuide.com : What are among your personal favorite episodes ? And is Robin Sparkles one of them ?

Bays : Yeah, Robin Sparkles has to be among them, because to manage to be a fun episode to shoot and a great episode to watch is hard to do. Usually the fun ones are the ones where you should have watched what you shot, where you realize, "We should have been working harder." [Laughs] We did the director's commentary for the DVD this week, and going over it again, "Where Were We," the season [2] premiere, I was very proud of that episode, considering what we had to accomplish in picking up the story from these two huge events.

TVGuide.com : What was genesis of Robin Sparkles, anyway ? It was so "out there" to suggest that mild-mannered Robin was once this Tiffany-esque pop sensation up in Canada.

Bays : Greg Malins, one of the other executive producers, had this idea of a music video surfacing starring one of the characters, and he picked out Robin. [Ted, Barney et al] don't know that much about her past in Canada, so it seemed like a revelation that could come out easily. We also thought it'd be a great idea to use the Internet to cross-promote [by releasing the "Let's Go to the Mall" video online]. It took us months to come up with a story for it, though. We knew Robin was a teen pop star, but it was such a crazy thing to throw into a character's back story that it was hard to break. But I was happy that we were able to take it beyond, "Hey, isn't that crazy," and make it a story about relationships and the secrets we keep from other, give it a heavier meaning.

TVGuide.com : Was Cobie like, "Great idea guys, but... I don't sing" ?

Bays : No, she was totally game, right from the get-go. She took singing lessons and when she recorded it, she had a few beers to loosen up. After that, she unleashed her inner pop star.

TVGuide.com : Have you ever had to pull back on the innuendo or themes, because of your 8 o'clock time slot ? I was talking about this a few weeks ago with Holland Taylor of Two and a Half Men....

Bays : Well, Two and a Half Men is like the shining beacon for all of us other shows on CBS. When I put "boner" in a script and they say no, we can say, "Two and a Half Men did it," but that obviously is a huge hit and they can get away with it. But they definitely pave the way for everyone else, as far as what's acceptable and what isn't.

TVGuide.com : When might we pick up the "slap bet" ?

Bays : Oh, that's always hanging out there. There are three slaps left, if I'm correct.... We knew we wanted to use one pretty soon afterwards, just to make it clear that these slaps will be coming back. But we're now in the same dilemma that Marshall is in, not knowing. We want to save it for the best times, but it will be back.

TVGuide.com : Of course they came into this with their individual expanses of credits, but in what ways have you seen your five primaries change over the past two years ?

Bays : They've all just totally grown into these roles and become really good at multi-cam without being sitcom-y. I think Josh [Radnor] has done an incredible job of bringing a kind of independent film style of acting to the form. And Cobie [Smulders has grown] leaps and bounds. She had never done anything like this, and she is now an incredible comedienne.

TVGuide.com : And a character like Jason's could have faded into the wallpaper or been a caricature, but he's made Marshall real and interesting.

Bays : And that's a fun character to write, too, because you keep finding out more and more about Marshall. He has a natural exuberance for life, which partly comes from Jason and also comes from Craig and myself. His belief in the supernatural and his obsession with the Loch Ness monster... I love the joy he brings too all of that stuff. We definitely very early on ran the risk of him veering into Joey [of Friends] territory and becoming "the dumb guy," but he's not dumb. He's a Columbia law student who has this wide-eyed, childlike exuberance.

TVGuide.com : What TV shows make you laugh aplenty ?

Bays : South Park always makes me laugh. That's one of the big ones. I love The Office. I really like Extras. And of course I like all the old sitcoms that I grew up on that made me want to get into this, like Cheers and Seinfeld.

TVGuide.com : OK, the last topic here, of course, is Season 3. What's the latest temperature reading ?

Bays : Oh, I feel very good about it. I'm not worried. It is nerve-wracking, like waiting to get asked to the prom, but I think this show has such a strong fan base and it's been getting such good responses....

TVGuide.com : It gets such critical claim and the fans are so avid, it's almost surprising that the pick-up hasn't been handed down yet.

Bays : Yeah, but it will make it that more exciting when they announce it in May.

TVGuide.com : Will Season 3 that be when we take a step toward Ted meeting the titular Mother ?

Bays : I don't know. I don't know. I still feel like that's a little ways off. There are still some emotional obstacles we need to get past before we get to that point, but who knows ? That's the joy of it, that that person could walk into your life at any moment.

TVGuide.com : Right, he's a young guy, he should sow some more wild oats before finding "the one."

Bays : Yeah, I think so. He's still got some living to do.