Alexis Denisof (born February 25, 1966) is an American actor, primarily known for playing Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. He also had a recurring role on How I Met Your Mother. His wife, Alyson Hannigan, starred in both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and How I Met Your Mother.
The end of the series in 2004 saw a lag in Denisof's career. Save for appearing in three episodes of the hit series How I Met Your Mother, as the goofy philandering Sandy Rivers, Denisof would not work as much as he used to for the next several years. During this time he appeared in several stage productions, including Rope at Chichester Festival Theatre's Minerva Theatre with Anthony Head, who played Wesley's predecessor Rupert Giles on Buffy. Denisof was among 200 actors considered for the role of James Bond in Casino Royale, but lost out to Daniel Craig. Later, in 2008, he appeared in season 2 of Private Practice as a man named Daniel, a bigamist who has two pregnant wives who don't know about each other. In 2009, he appeared in four episodes of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse as Senator Daniel Perrin.
In 2011, Denisof reprised his recurring role as Sandy Rivers in How I Met Your Mother; he ultimately appeared in 10 episodes in total, and his last appearance was in the episode "Gary Blauman". In a season 1 commentary, creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays speculated that Denisof was initially reluctant to take the role back in 2006 because he feared it was just charity work on account of his wife, Hannigan, playing a main character on the show. They went on to state that he was not aware, until they actually told him, that they were huge fans of his work dating back to his time on Angel.
Since 2011, Denisof has been relatively active. He played a voice role in the animated DC film . He was featured in the majority of episodes in the AOL webseries Little Women, Big Cars. He was then cast as a lead in Bryan Singer's new webseries . He then reunited with Joss Whedon for two different film projects. The first was a minor role in the summer blockbuster The Avengers, as The Other, a servant of the character Thanos, and a cohort of Loki. The second was the lead male role in a modern version of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, to positive reviews from critics. The film was released worldwide in June 2013.
In August 2013 he was cast in the third season of NBC's Grimm as a recurring character named Viktor Albert Wilhelm George Beckendorf. In 2014, Denisof reprised his role as The Other in Guardians of the Galaxy. In the same year he began starring in the MTV television series Finding Carter as David Wilson. As of 2018, Denisof starred in the web series I Love Bekka & Lucy as Glenn, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, his first such nomination.
On November 28, 2018, Deadline Hollywood reported that Denisof would play the recurring role of Adam Masters in the second season of Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. In 2019 he began playing the recurring role of Professor Vardemus in the supernatural television show Legacies.
Denisof married past co-star Alyson Hannigan, who played Willow Rosenberg in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, on October 11, 2003. The couple live in Encino, Los Angeles. They have two daughters.
1989 | Murder Story | Tony Zonis | |
1991 | Dakota Road | Jacob | |
Snow and Fire | David | ||
1995 | Innocent Lies | Christopher Wood | |
First Knight | Sir Gaheris | ||
1996 | True Blue | Ed Fox | |
1998 | The Misadventures of Margaret | George | |
1999 | Rogue Trader | Fernando Gueller | |
2001 | Beyond the City Limits | Yuri | |
2002 | Tarzan & Jane | Nigel Taylor | Voice A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. |
2011 | Love, Wedding, Marriage | Lloyd | |
All-Star Superman | Dr. Leo Quintum | Voice | |
2012 | Mirror Master | Voice | |
The Avengers | The Other | ||
Little Women, Big Cars | Woody | ||
Much Ado About Nothing | Benedick | ||
2014 | Guardians of the Galaxy | The Other | |
2020 | Under My Skin | Mike |
1994 | Romeo and Juliet | Tybalt | Television film |
Faith | Joel | ||
Soldier Soldier | Lt. Bob Steadman | Episode: "Proud Man" | |
1997 | Crime Traveller | Episode "Fashion Shoot" | |
Sharpe's Revenge | Lord John Rossendale | Television film | |
Sharpe's Justice | |||
Sharpe's Waterloo | |||
Hostile Waters | John Baker | ||
Steve Banner | Episode: "Diplomatic Immunity" | ||
1998 | Ghost Cop | Jonah Blade | TV pilot |
The Orchard Walls | Dennis | Television film | |
1999 | Noah's Ark | Ham | |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Wesley Wyndam-Pryce | Recurring role (season 3), 9 episodes | |
1999–2004 | Angel | Main role, 100 episodes | |
2000 | Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) | Richard Shelley | Episode: "Paranoia" |
2001 | Batman Beyond | Zander | Voice, episode: "Curse of the Kobra" |
The Legend of Tarzan | Nigel Taylor, Henry | Voice, episodes: "The Flying Ace" and "The New Wave" | |
2006 | Justice League Unlimited | Mirror Master | Voice, episode: "Flash and Substance" |
2006–2014 | How I Met Your Mother | Sandy Rivers | 10 episodes |
2008 | Private Practice | Daniel | Episode: "Serving Two Masters" |
2009 | Dollhouse | Senator Daniel Perrin | 4 episodes |
2012–2013 | Conall Sheehan | Web series | |
2013 | Perception | Dr. Randall Vetter | Episode: "Defective" |
2013–2015 | Grimm | Viktor Chlodwig zu Schellendorf von Konigsburg | 17 episodes |
2014–2015 | Finding Carter | David Wilson | 31 episodes |
2015 | Robot Chicken | Mr. Peanut, Michael Knight, Knife Shark Narrator | Voice, episode: "Cheese Puff Mountain" |
2017 | I Love Bekka & Lucy | Glenn | 11 episodes |
2019–2020 | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina | Adam Masters | 4 episodes |
2019–2022 | Legacies | Professor Vardemus | Recurring role, 9 episodes |
2023 | How I Met Your Father | Sandy Rivers | Episodes: "Ride or Die" and "Shady Parker" |
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