Alyson Hannigan played Willow, the shy Sunnydale kid who grew into one of television’s most powerful witches. Nearly two decades after Buffy ended, she’s still finding new ways to surprise an audience, from a reality TV ballroom to two new film roles.
From Sitcom to Reality TV Underdog
Willow’s whole arc was about a quiet kid finding out she was capable of far more than anyone, including herself, expected.
Hannigan’s own path since Buffy has followed a similar shape, just off camera. After years built around “How I Met Your Mother” and then a deliberate step back to focus on her daughters, she signed on for “Dancing with the Stars” in 2023, a move motivated less by career reinvention than by wanting to show her daughters what it looks like to face something frightening and keep going anyway.
She’s said directly that she wanted to show them what it looks like to try something that genuinely terrifies you and work at it anyway. Partnered with Sasha Farber, she made it all the way to the season 32 finale, with her husband and daughters cheering her on.
What She’s Doing Now
Hannigan’s had her busiest acting stretch in years. She appeared alongside Kevin James in “Solo Mio,” a romantic comedy that hit theaters in February 2026, playing a twice-divorced woman on her third honeymoon with the same man.
She’s also set to star opposite Mira Sorvino in “Dodie & Cheryl Get Hitched,” an offbeat comedy about two small-town brides navigating the hypocrisy of the people around them, currently in pre-production.
Together, the two projects mark Hannigan’s busiest stretch on screen since stepping back to focus on family.
Life Off-Screen
Hannigan met her husband, Alexis Denisof, right there on the Buffy set, though it took a while to actually happen. Denisof, who played Wesley, had a rule against dating costars and initially turned her down. They found their way to each other anyway and married on October 11, 2003, meaning the show that gave Hannigan Willow also gave her the one Buffy-set romance that’s actually gone the distance. They have two daughters, Satyana Marie, born in 2009, and Keeva Jane, born in 2012.
Off screen, Hannigan has spent years focused on children’s charities specifically, not causes in general. She’s worked with Save the Children and the Children’s Health Fund, and was reportedly the very first donor to the fund’s Smiling It Forward campaign, which helps kids access basic dental care.
She’s also partnered with FabKids on a clothing donation to Corazón de Vida, an organization supporting orphaned children in Baja, Mexico, a cause her whole family has stayed personally involved with through actual visits to the children there, not just a name on a press release.
Where Else to Watch Willow — and Alyson
If you want more Willow specifically, she didn’t fully disappear after the finale. Hannigan reprised the role for a handful of guest episodes on “Angel,” voiced Willow in a Buffy-branded video game, and returned once more for a 2004 animated short.
For more of Hannigan herself, the “American Pie” franchise is the obvious next stop; she played Michelle across all four original films, and the character’s blunt, oddball delivery isn’t far removed from the humor she brought to Willow’s early, more awkward seasons.
“How I Met Your Mother” gave her the longest post-Buffy run of her career, 207 episodes as Lily Aldrin, if the ensemble-comedy chemistry of the Scooby Gang is what you’re chasing.
For fans who enjoy seeing Hannigan poke fun at romantic comedies, she also appeared in the parody film “Date Movie.”
And for horror with a sense of humor about itself, the same instinct Buffy always had, “You Might Be the Killer” is a slasher movie that knows exactly what genre it’s playing in.
Willow started the series hiding behind Xander and ended it as one of the most powerful witches on television. Hannigan’s spent the years since proving that arc wasn’t just written for a character.
All seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are available for streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
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