Angel

Warning Season 5 Cast Spoilers

Hannigan and Denisof Find Love in the Whedonverse

By Kate O’Hare

All in all, life in Joss Whedon’s imaginary universe has been pretty good to Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof, both of whom landed roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Hannigan co-starred as Buffy’s best pal, witch Willow Rosenberg. Denisof guest-starred as stuffy British Watcher Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. That on-set meeting sparked a friendship that led to dating and eventually ended up with a wedding.

It’s the kind of story Jane Austen probably would have loved — except for the vampires.

After a courtship that didn’t turn serious until Denisof left "Buffy" to join the cast of its spin-off, The WB Network’s Wednesday-night "Angel," the pair tied the knot last October in Desert Hot Springs, Calif.

"It was wonderful, even better than we wanted, and we had pretty high expectations," Hannigan recalls. "We had raised the bar pretty high for ourselves, saying, ’This is our dream wedding.’ We were expecting everything to go terribly wrong."

The bride wore a traditional gown by Badgley Mischka. "They made me the most beautiful dress," Hannigan says. "It was amazing."

The groom did not wear a tuxedo. "I wore a black suit, bordering on a tux," Denisof says. "I always feel that tuxedos are indoor, nighttime things, and this was an outdoor, daytime thing. She was radiant."

Over the course of "Angel," Wesley has gone from a rule-quoting killjoy to a grim demon-hunter with enough inner demons to staff a haunted house on Halloween. Outwardly, his old-school-tie look gradually was supplanted by a scruffier roughness. But in recent episodes, it seems that Wesley has found his razor once again.

"I’ve got less and less beard as the season goes on," he says. "And it got to a point where it just seemed right to shave it. My wife doesn’t love [the unshaven look] so much, for practical reasons. More so, it’s with a view to what’s going on in the future this season. There were some reasons I wanted to clean up this look. It will all be revealed later.

"They’ve got some cool ideas, which I hope they’ll be able to work in this season."

One thing not yet worked out this season is a guest appearance by Hannigan as Willow, who periodically has visited good vampire Angel (David Boreanaz) and his evil-battling allies in Los Angeles. Most recently, she dropped by near the end of last season to help restore Angel’s missing soul, without which he becomes the merciless Angelus.

So far this season, the only former "Buffy" denizens joining "Angel" have been that other vampire with a soul, Spike (played by James Marsters), who is now a regular cast member, and the soulless but thus-far-harmless vampire Harmony (Mercedes McNab). But another "Buffy" guest is in the pipeline.

"I’m very excited that Tom Lenk, who played Andrew, is coming back," Hannigan says. "I love him. He’s one of my best friends."

Andrew was one of three technogeeks that plagued Buffy during the last two seasons of the show. The sole surviving geek, Andrew fought on Buffy’s side in the last battle of Sunnydale in the finale last spring. He’s currently scheduled for episode 11, "Damage," set to air later this month.

Despite constant speculation, a visit from Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) to "Angel" is looking all but impossible this year.

"Sarah made all the right noises when ’Buffy’ wrapped up," Denisof says. "But frankly, I never thought she was coming back. Anything can happen. She can show up, but I’d be pretty surprised if she does." So, fans are starting to talk about why Willow hasn’t dropped by yet.

"I’ve heard the talk, everywhere but the proper channels," Hannigan says. "I haven’t heard anything from Joss or anybody that is involved in the show."

At a Jan. 13 press conference in front of assembled TV critics in Hollywood, Whedon addressed the question, saying, "I do not believe we have any ’Buffy’ people slated for the rest of the year."

With Willow firmly established as a lesbian in "Buffy," it seems unlikely that even if she does visit, she and Wesley will have a romantic interlude. In general, Wesley hasn’t seen much romance of late, and that suits his new wife just fine.

"I don’t want to see him smooching," Hannigan says. "It was already weird when we were engaged and dating. Luckily, he hasn’t had to deal with anything except me kissing women.

"It’s weird to see your beloved kissing anyone else, but I would imagine it’s easier for him to see me kissing a female, than another guy. But we’ll see how he deals. He’s an actor. He understands."

"I swore I would never date another actor," she says. "But it’s been so much better to share something that’s so much a part of our lives and understand it completely."

Another thing both actors have received from the "Buffy" and "Angel" writers is the chance to play a character that evolves and changes over the years. Willow went from a shy, stammering outcast to an all-powerful witch in "Buffy," and Wesley’s transformation has been just as dramatic (but with less special effects).

While introducing Denisof to press during an on-set party for the 100th episode of "Angel" (set for February), Whedon said, "He’s transitioned from ridiculous, poncy moron to kind of a cool guy ... ." At this, he paused and leaned forward for emphasis, "on the show."

Everybody laughed, including Denisof. "Wesley’s always been a surprise to me," he says, "and that’s a credit to Joss and the writers. They’ve kept finding ways to twist him up."