"Alyson Hannigan In Australia"
(Interview courtesy of the Buzzbox)

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When Home and Away’s Rebecca Cartwright met up with Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Alyson Hannigan, they discovered they’ve got a few things in common – but a love of Vegemite isn’t one of them!

They’ve both grown up in the limelight. They both star in cult TV shows that have made them recognisable faces in countries they’ve never even been to. And they both know what it’s like to have fans track them down in the strangest of places – even the toilet! 

A fan of Buffy, Home and Away star Rebecca Cartwright jumped at the chance to swap her script for a notebook and pen to be the Buzzbox guest reporter when she heard Hannigan was in town to promote the release of Buffy Seasons 1 and 2 on video. 

Hannigan had caught a bug on the plane on her way to Australia, but was keen not to miss the opportunity to exchange stories with the Aussie star.

The pro has been acting in commercials, film and TV roles since she was four years old. But it’s her role as Willow Rosenberg, Buffy’s friend and confidante, that has made her an international star. 

Some days Hannigan thinks she is completely different to the character she portrays. However, she describes Willow as ‘one of my personalities, definitely part of me’. Hannigan confesses that she’s not quite the computer whizzkid that Willow is. She’s pretty fast and knows her way round the Net, but it’s a mammoth task just keeping up with the Willow fan sites, let alone doing serious surfing.

A veteran performer, Hannigan says seeing her face staring back at her from TV screens and magazines is still a surreal experience. 

‘I’ve gotten used to it a bit. These days I try not to be so critical, but there was a time when I couldn’t watch the show with people I wasn’t close to,’ she says.

Hannigan would have to be one of the biggest Buffy fans around. But that’s not because of the great sets and make-up, or even the cast members she considers ‘family’. She’s convinced it’s the quality of the show creator Joss Whedon’s writing that gets people hooked.

‘The writing is more interesting than cool clothes,’ she says. ‘Though we do have cool clothes too!’
But the question on all of our lips is will we be seeing Buffy the movie any time soon? 

‘I don’t think so’, Hannigan said. ‘Joss really wants to do it, but Sarah was pretty adamant she would never want to do it. I can’t imagine it happening.’

So it looks like Buffy fans will never get to see Alyson starring alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar on the big screen.

Once the big questions were answered, Rebecca pulled out a jar of Vegemite for the somewhat perplexed Buffy star. Hannigan might be spending more time in Australia this time round – climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and seeing the sights – but there was no way she was going to taste the popular Aussie spread.