Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Buffy star practises orgasms

Buffy star Alyson Hannigan has been practising her orgasm technique for the new stage version of When Harry Met Sally.

The American actress is to appear opposite Luke Perry in the upcoming West End production.

In the 1989 movie, Meg Ryan memorably demonstrated to Billy Crystal how to fake an orgasm over dinner in a New York restaurant, prompting one fellow diner to say: "I’ll have what she’s having."

Hannigan is taking over Ryan’s role and said: "I’ve been practising all the time. She’s a different person than I am so I imagine our orgasms would be slightly different. But I hope it will still be funny."

The production opens at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket next month, with music by British jazz star Jamie Cullum. Hannigan, 29, said she couldn’t wait to appear in the West End.

She said: "The movie is one of my favourites and this was such an amazing opportunity to get to come to London. I’m nervous but in a good way. Overcoming the nerves is another reason for me wanting to do this."

Hannigan lives in Los Angeles with Alexis Denis, who appears in Buffy spin-off Angel. "Being away from him was the biggest drawback to the job. I’ve been offered a few things that would have taken me away from home since we got married and they were easy to turn down. But this was too good to say no to," she said.

Perry has appeared on Broadway in the Rocky Horror Show but is best known for his role in TV series Beverly Hills 90210. The 38-year-old, making his London stage debut, said he was not worried about comparisons between the play and the movie.

"It is in a fantastic theatre, the producers have spared no expense, Jamie Cullum is doing the music - there’s a lot of great things going into this production," he said.

Story filed: 13:16 Thursday 8th January 2004

From Reuters.com :

Buffy star works on her orgasms Thu 8 January, 2004 14:25

U.S. actress Alyson Hannigan poses for photographers outside the Theatre Royal in London where she will appear in the stage production of the film "When Harry Met Sally" on Thursday.

By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - Hollywood star Alyson Hannigan has been busy working on her orgasms.

On the London stage, she is to play the film role made famous by America’s sweetheart Meg Ryan in the 1989 cult movie "When Harry Met Sally".

The film’s most celebrated scene takes place in a diner where Sally shows Harry how women fake orgasms, giving a loud, long and graphic portrayal of phoney ecstasy which prompts one of the women customers to ask the waiter afterwards: "I’ll have what she’s having."

Asked at a London news conference if she had been busy practising her orgasms, Hannigan said: "All the time."

But would hers be different from Ryan’s famous outburst that so astonished Harry, played by Billy Crystal?

The 29-year-old Hannigan said: "She is a different person than I am. So I imagine our orgasms would be slightly different. But I hope it will still be funny."

Hannigan, who played a flute-playing, nymphomaniac teenager in "American Pie", called the chance to play in London’s theatreland "an opportunity of a lifetime."

She is also a fervent fan of the original "When Harry Met Sally".

"The movie is one of my favourites and this was such an amazing opportunity to get to come to London," she said.

Hannigan, who also played a witch in the cult TV series "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", will star in London opposite fellow American actor Luke Perry of "Beverly Hills 90210" fame.

The pair are the latest in a long line of Hollywood stars — from Nicole Kidman to Kevin Spacey — to abandon their luxury film trailers and work in London for a pittance.

And Perry, who has appeared on stage in New York in "The Rocky Horror Show", is already braced for a grilling from the London critics.

Asked if he was nervous about treading the boards in London, the 37-year-old actor said: "I just want to do the work well. A lot of actors are nervous about the horrible stuff which is going to be written about them. But I have already had a lot of horrible stuff written about me so that is OK."

But he is not overawed. "We are taking a new medium and we have the challenge of making it fresh and new and accessible for the theatre, allowing the audience to see it in a different way. It’s like what you guys do with Shakespeare."

Hit movies have proved fertile ground for stage shows.

A theatre version of "The Graduate" was a box office hit in London and now the movie "Billy Elliot" is being developed as a musical.