While we know Alyson Hannigan as the iconic Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lily from How I Met Your Mother, her kids know her as mom; and actually have beef with one of her iconic roles.
In a recent interview with Us Weekly, Hannigan talked about how she and her husband Alexis Denisof’s daughters don’t like their projects when they’re “with anyone else,” meaning they don’t like to see either of their parents be romantic with anyone on screen.
“I accidentally traumatized them by showing them a video that my husband had done when he was, like, 17,” Hannigan said, referring to a 1987 George Harrison music video Denisof starred in (“Got My Mind Set On You”). “He’s a little teenager. He’s adorable, but [his character is] trying to catch this girl’s eye at the arcade. And something happened when they watched that where they didn’t like seeing their dad — even though he is a teenager, looks nothing like he does now — flirting with somebody else. And they immediately were like, ‘Hmm, we don’t wanna watch How I Met Your Mother.’ Because I’m married to somebody else, and something just switched where they don’t wanna see us with anyone else.”
So, chances are, they won’t be fans of How I Met Your Mother because, as Hannigan said, her character is married to someone else (almost) throughout the whole show. Hannigan played Lily, who was married to her college sweetheart, Marshall (played by Jason Segel).
Denisof is actually also in the show, playing horny news anchor Sandy Rivers, who hits on everyone.
So, How I Met Your Mother may be a fan-favorite, but chances are they’ll skip it to avoid seeing their parents swoon over someone else.
But is Buffy the Vampire Slayer an option? Well, Hannigan also said in the interview, “When they were in elementary school, there was a phase where they both wanted to see stuff that we’d been in, like Buffy or whatever, and they were still too young.”
They’re 15 and 12 now, so maybe they’ve seen it; but if they don’t like seeing their parents romance someone else on screen, they won’t like Buffy either. Hannigan had numerous love interests on the show, and Denisof had one love interest, but then another on the spinoff Angel.
For those who don’t know, Hannigan and her husband of 20 years Denisof met on the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They started a great friendship, then soon fell in love and welcomed two daughters named Satyana Marie, born in 2009, and Keeva Jane, born in 2012.
In a previous interview with SheKnows, Hannigan talked about how much she loves being a mom to her two daughters, and how she takes them into account with every part she takes. “My kids are very proud of me,” she said. “I feel like, definitely, everything changed when I became a mother… I absolutely think of my kids when I read something. And also, I just love being a mom and I love being with my family, so to get me to leave them to do something, I’ve gotta want to enjoy it and it’s gotta be something I want to do.”
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