Alyson Hannigan’s Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer remains an iconic character within action and supernatural storylines almost 20 years after the series’ finale. ‘90s and early ‘00s kids and teens had the WB show at a time when TV was beginning to explore kick-ass girl power in new ways. Nowadays, Hannigan is raising two daughters of her own with her Buffy co-star and husband Alexis Denisof and plays the mother in Disney+’s latest movie, Flora and Ulysses.
These days there are a lot more female heroes on TV to look up to than when Alyson Hannigan played Willow on Buffy, but the role is still an important part of the actress’ life. When speaking to Hannigan ahead of Flora & Ulysses, I asked about her relationship with showing Buffy to her family. Here’s what she said:
Well they are definitely aware of it, but no they haven’t watched it yet. I don’t know, I think they could watch maybe the first few seasons, but they don’t really like scary stuff, so I keep saying, ‘You know it’s pretty scary’ and that’s buying me more time. My oldest daughter is definitely old enough but I don’t know if I’m old enough yet.
Who wouldn’t want to see their mom be a badass witch if they could? Alyson Hannigan’s daughters are eight and eleven, so it’s understandable why she may have waited up to this point, but they are certainly getting close to the target age. Hannigan is concerned about the supernatural elements of the show, but above all else she doesn’t know if she’s ready yet to unveil her most famous project. She continued:
You know, I can’t let my daughters see evil Willow. How do I explain that? That’s going to need therapy. Though, ironically my older daughter got a hold of some makeup yesterday and her sister is a willing volunteer and they found some leather jacket and my husband took a picture of the little one and honestly she looked like a mini Dark Willow. I was like, ‘Whoa!’ I was like, well if there’s a prequel, I know who you can cast.
OK, solid point. Alyson Hannigan’s Willow had a dark period in the series after her true love Tara died in the series. She turned to dark magic and turned against the team, donning black eyes and dark hair. As the actress told CinemaBlend, she thinks her kids would need therapy after gazing upon Dark Willow. But, her daughter is already rocking a similar look at the hands of her older one’s makeup skills. Check it out:
She totally just pulled that off. I’m sure someday Alyson Hannigan’s daughters will check out Buffy, but for now they get to be a part of watching her new Disney movie Flora & Ulysses. The streaming release is about a young girl who finds a super-powered squirrel, who she goes on an adventure with her separated parents, played by Hannigan and Sonic the Hedgehog’s Ben Schwartz.
At the moment, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast is getting more attention than usual since Charisma Carpenter shared accusations of harassment and on-set misconduct regarding the series’ creator Joss Whedon. It should be noted that this interview with Hannigan took place the weekend before Carpenter spoke out and cast members have started speaking out in support for Carpenter’s claims just within the past week.
Flora & Ulysses begins streaming on Disney+ on February 19.
