Alyson Hannigan is very proud to have worked on two of the most beloved TV shows of all time — but that doesn’t mean the star wants to rewatch Buffy the Vampire Slayer or How I Met Your Mother with her daughters, Satyana, 15, and Keeva, 12. And the feeling is mutual. The 50-year-old, who’s been married to fellow actor Alexis Denisof, 58, for 19 years, says her kids have no desire to see her coupled up with another man. “When they were really young, I showed them a video of their dad in a George Harrison video where he was 17 and flirting with a girl. My youngest was like, ‘I don’t want to watch How I Met Your Mother. I just don’t like seeing you guys with somebody else.’ I traumatized them, but in a good way!” Here, Alyson, who recently partnered with Kevin’s Natural Foods and their initiative to help cure “Irritable Parent Syndrome,” talks to Life & Style’s Fortune Benatar about parenthood, the controversial HIMYM finale, and getting a shout-out in Taylor Swift’s song “So High School.”
So your daughters haven’t watched your shows at all?
AH: They haven’t. I don’t think that they want to subject themselves. If they tried to watch the first episode of How I Met Your Mother, they would steer off immediately — the relationship with Marshall [Jason Segel] and Lily is going to be too weird for them. I’m off the hook!
What’s it like having two teens?
AH: Fifteen is rough. I remember it being rough, and now I see how rough it is. Everything is really, really big. I keep joking with her about how these are the years she’ll apologize to us for later. Actually, over the summer, we did get the apology. She’s light-years ahead of me.
How do you handle it?
AH: I look at parenting as a roller coaster. Sometimes it’s bumpy and you’re like, “Is this gonna be OK?” Then, it’s exhilarating and fun. [You have to] just enjoy the journey, even the hard parts, because it goes by so quickly. I cannot believe that in a blink of an eye my firstborn is going to be driving.
You look amazing! What is your wellness routine?
AH: I definitely love healthy natural foods. We go to the farmers market, and if it were a toss-up between exercise or eating, I would pick eating well. I like to be tricked into working out — that’s why Dancing With the Stars was amazing because it was so much fun.
How I Met Your Mother just celebrated its 10th anniversary. Were you happy with how it ended?
AH: Everybody talks about being disappointed with the finale. I felt like so much got cut out of it, because the table read was the perfect love letter to the fans, and I remember watching it going, “Well, wait, what about this scene?” It couldn’t be a three-hour finale, so a lot of it got cut. But I don’t think it deserves all the heat it gets, and overall, I think people still love the show.
You’ve been in the business since you were a teen. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned?
AH: Enjoy the journey. Don’t focus so much on the destination because the journey’s all you really have!
