WILLOW TALK

Alyson Hannigan - Willow on Buffy The Vampire Slayer - tells NW about falsies, her lesbian character, and that one time at band camp ...

Alyson Hannigan is struggling. The actress, who plays Sarah Michelle Gellar's best friend Willow on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, has been struck with a shocking cold during the first day of her Australian visit. But, instead of crawling into her hotel bed and cancelling her press commitments, the 26-year-old has strapped on her tallest shoes, zipped herself into a fabulous outfit and soldiered on . "I apologise in advance for my low energy," she whispers huskily. "I'm not feeling great"

What's been the most surreal moment for you since you started on Buffy?

Right now (laughs!) No, just that I drive into work on any given day and some monster will be walking across the car park. That's surreal. But you get used to eating lunch with demons and vampires.

Which is more fun to play on Buffy - Good Willow or Bad Willow?

Bad Willow is fun to shake it up a little bit, but I don't think I could pull it off all the time. I couldn't play her today.

Doesn't Bad Willow get to wear falsies?

Yeah, they have these little plastic things that you insert into the leather corset - that's an experience.

How have your fans reacted to your lesbian relationship with Tara?

The reaction, obviously, is mixed. But the positive outweighs the negative. They're in college. Nobody goes through this at that age? Come on! A lot of the negativity is directed towards Tara for some reason. I've read some letters and they're coming across as so dumb and closed-minded. They're looking at it as black and white - two girls, that's it - rather than two people who care about it other.

Who kisses best - Tara, Xander or Oz?

Tara, I dunno - we haven't had an on-screen kiss. With Seth(Green, who plays Oz) it was like kissing my brother, because i've known him for so many years. Nick (Brendon - Xander) is so inconsiderate - he'll eat raw onion on a bagel with cream cheese right before the scene. I don't know what he's thinking! He has an Altoid, but that doesn't cover it up - then it's just minty onion.

So it's not sexy?

There's nothing erotic about our kisses. I think our show suffers from really bad kissing scenes. The other day, I saw a couple of characters kissing and I was like, "That's not good!". Even Joss (Whedon, the show's creator) was saying, "Yeah, we've gpt kissing problems".

If you could be anywhere but here ...

In bed with my little doggies and a book, with my boyfriend making me tea. That'd be the best place to be. I love Australia - don't get me wrong - but when you're not feeling well, home is where it's at.

You were recently in a celebrity car race - how'd you go?

I didn't do very well, but I didn't come in last. George Lucas' daughter is a Buffy fan, and she made him promise not to beat me. I did beat Ashley Judd fair and square, so that was good. She's got the race car driver fiance (Dario Franchitti), so she was really mad.

Any truth to the Buffy film rumours?

I don't think so. I know Joss would love to do it, but Sarah doesn't want to.

What about American Pie 2?

There is talk. No-one has seen a script, so I don't know what's going to happen. I can't imagine what my characters going to do - she's sort of a one movie chick.

How often do you get asked to do the "band camp" line from Pie?

All the time. And usually I don't. I'm like, "Why don't you do it fo me?."

Do you still get offered good-girl roles?

Yeah, I see alot of the same parts; the best friend thing. Lately, I haven't seen any good scripts at all.

Sexiest person on the planet?

My boyfriend, Alexis.

How do you take your coffee?

I don't anymore. I gave up caffeine (sighs). It's tough - coffee would be great now.