It's No Secret Why Alyson Hannigan Disappeared From Hollywood | 22 Words

She was once a screen staple - but we haven't seen her in a while! Wondering why? Scroll on...

Born in 1974, Alyson Hannigan was a well-loved Hollywood star.

She began her career young, acting in commercials from the tender age of 4.

By eleven, she was living in Hollywood.

She was working as an actress throughout her teenage years.

Although that wasn't all...

Did you know Hannigan has a psychology degree from California State University?

But in 1997, Hannigan had her big break.

She was cast to play Willow Rosenberg in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Willow was Buffy's BFF.

She was also one of the fan-favorite characters from the long-running series...

Following Buffy, Hannigan earned another of her most famous roles.

Michelle in the American Pie movie series.

Then, in 2005, Hannigan gained her other most famous role.

As Lily Aldrin on hit comedy series How I Met Your Mother.

The series ran for nearly ten years.

So Hannigan was never far from our screens.

But since 2014, we haven't seen much of Hannigan...

In fact, we're struggling to name a single role of hers since then.

So where has Alyson Hannigan been - and why?

The internet still loves her...

Well, internet sleuths have come up with a few theories for Hannigan's vanishing from Hollywood...

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 And some of them are pretty compelling.

So let's get into it!

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 The first theory is that Hannigan was never a true movie actress.

Think about it...

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 Hannigan is really best known for her roles on TV - which is not the path to megastardom.

Another reason for her fading from the public eye?

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 Hannigan has never had a really clear public image.

When she first rose to fame as a teen icon, her image was quite sexualized.

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 But this was clearly not something Hannigan was fond of, and she's since rebranded as a chilled-out mom.

Not being easily branded makes it hard to remain in the public consciousness ...

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 Plus, it can make an actor more difficult to cast.

Another reason Hannigan never truly broke into the big time?

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 We haven't really seen a ton of range from the actress.

Sure, Lily and Willow are quite different characters ...

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 But they always offered some light comic relief and campy fun.

She's never really played a serious, dramatic role.

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 Which, honestly, we'd kind of love to see!

On top of this, one of Hannigan's top roles was pretty controversial.

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 That How I Met Your Mother finale was not universally acclaimed, after all...

And to make matters worse?

Hannigan was openly critical of it, too.

She said the final missed "all this stuff that I think the audience needed."

"They needed that time to process that information, instead of having it slap them in the face," she finished. Yikes.

And after the finale?

Hannigan's next venture did not go well ...

She quickly signed on to ill-fated sitcom More Time With Family.

But the pilot was never picked up - a huge blow to Hannigan.

And to make matters worse?

Hannigan's next project was also a failure!

In 2016, she signed on for a TV Land remake of First Wives Club.

But again, the pilot was passed on. Not a great track record for Hannigan ...

In fact, Hannigan has only one movie credit since the American Pie reunion.

And let's just say it wasn't exactly a triumph...

It was a (very) little known flick called Do You Take This Man?

And if you're thinking "huh?" - you aren't the only one...

But not only was the movie a commercial failure...

It also received pretty awful reviews, too.

The LA Times was particularly brutal.

"This sluggish talkfest feels like even more of a missed opportunity; something livelier and more compelling was in order," they wrote ...

Her lack of new roles has led to something else, too.

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 Hannigan is still very much associated with her past roles to this day.

The fandoms for Buffy and HIMYM are very strong.

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 Which means that for many, Hannigan will always be Willow or Lily.

Some could argue Hannigan hasn't helped this, either.

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 Decades after the end of Buffy, she still regularly attends Comicon.

This means it's nearly impossible for her to break free from the roles that made her.

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 This means many directors find Hannigan oddly difficult to cast in new, exciting roles.

Another factor that makes Hannigan difficult to cast?

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 Her age!

Hollywood is a weird place.

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 At 46, she's too old to play a conventional leading lady - but not yet old enough for any of the conventional roles in that bracket.

Leaving her in something of a limbo.

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 We're not saying it's right - we're just saying that's how Hollywood works!

It's also hard to picture Hannigan in a mother role.

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 Remember when Winona Ryder was cast as a mom in Stanger Things and the internet went crazy?

It seems as though we don't want out young stars growing up!

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 Maybe it reminds us that we're getting older too...

Aside from acting, though, Hannigan has found some professional success.

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 Maybe she just doesn't want to make a comeback?

Hannigan has been enjoying work as a TV host in the past few years.

The magician-reality show Penn & Teller: Fool Us has been hosted by Hannigan since 2016.

And that's not Hannigan's only venture.

Hannigan has also found huge success as a real estate mogul, too.

Plus, she's busy on another project.

Her family! Hannigan married Alexis Denisof, who played Buffy costar Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, in 2003.

Since then, Hannigan has had 2 daughters.

It seems she's dedicating her time to motherhood over her career these days...

And she seems to be loving every moment!

We're so happy for her!

Hubby Alexis Denisof is also having his time in the spotlight.

Which may explain why Hannigan is taking a back seat.

He's even been in The Avengers.

And has earned a daytime Emmy!

But this doesn't mean it's all over for Hannigan.

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 Sure, her career has slowed down in recent years ...

But that doesn't mean it's over!

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 In fact, things have taken an upturn in recent years.

She's currently the voice of Claire Clancy in the Disney Junior animated series Fancy Nancy.

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 She also voices Kim Possible's mother Anne in the animated series.

All that, and a happy family?

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 Honestly, it seems as though she's killing it!

That being said...

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 We'd love to have Hannigan back on our screens again soon! Want another actress career breakdown? Scroll on for what exactly happened to Cameron Diaz...