Dancing with the Stars has already said goodbye to two celebrity competitors for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy so far in Season 32, but How I Met Your Mother alum Alyson Hannigan is still going strong in the wake of her Latin Night tango with pro dancer Sasha Farber. The pair will foxtrot to Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” for Motown Night on October 10, and Hannigan spoke with CinemaBlend to reflect on being called a “drama queen” by judge Bruno Tonioli as well as performing live.
Alyson Hannigan was one of the most improved from Week 1 to Week 2, going from a score of 13 for their salsa up to a 19 for their tango. The judges complimented her and Sasha Farber for delivering on the tango, and specifically noted that the sitcom veteran truly got into character with the sensuality and drama needed for the dance. Of course, Hannigan is arguably best known for delivering laughs in How I Met Your Mother, so how did it feel for the actress to be called a “drama queen” by Bruno Tonioli? I asked that very question, and she shared:
I mean, I’ve never thought of myself as a drama queen! But I think from Bruno, that’s kinda maybe the best compliment you can get. Right? I feel like in his circles, there would probably be a lot of drama queens. I think that’s what he likes… I was so happy because he does sort of scare me, and I think he likes that. [laughs] So I was just glad that it was a compliment and not just, ‘Why are you on the show?’
The longtime DWTS judge definitely meant “drama queen” as a compliment, and he’s never short on fun descriptions of the celebrity dancers. Jason Mraz, who originally had “low expectations” for his time on the show, was described with partner Daniella Karagach as “two coral snakes writhing under the tropical moonlight” by Bruno Tonioli, and Tonioli is responsible for giving Xochitl Gomez her “Little Marvelette” nickname. He gave Hannigan his stamp of approval for bringing drama to the tango!
When I spoke with Hannigan ahead of Motown Night, I noted that she looked much more confident in Week 2 than Week 1 (both available streaming with Disney+ subscriptions), and she confirmed that she “definitely” felt that in her second performance with Sasha Farber. She continued:
I think the first night, the adrenaline and just all the newness, I might have sort of left my body and had an out-of-body experience, which Sasha had warned me would happen. I was definitely more present and aware and also confident going into the tango on the second week, because I had learned what works for me better. And I really took the judges’ notes to heart. I had Carrie Ann [Inaba] and I had them all in my head all week of like, timing, timing, timing, like really bring out that sensual thing. So I was really trying to take their notes in.
Getting a bump of six points from week to week certainly proved that taking the judges’ notes paid off for the former Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress. Hannigan also credited her daughter and Season 31 champion Charli D’Amelio for inspiring her approach after her first score. She explained:
My younger daughter and I had rewatched the last season when I started rehearsing. We started rewatching it and there was something that Charli [D’Amelio] had talked about, that she just writes tons and tons of notes. So I was like, ‘You know what, that might work for me.’ And so basically, I just wrote out my entire dance, including all the notes that Sasha had kept doing about like, ‘This is a small step. Don’t hop here. Make sure your shoulders are down.’ All of the just millions of things that he has to tell me over and over and over.
While it remains to be seen how this method works for Alyson Hannigan for “AIn’t No Mountain High Enough” on Motown Night, it has been a success for her so far. Plus, the process of taking notes helped her feel “comfortable” while she rehearsed, as she said:
So I just wrote it all down, and then before I would go out, I would just reread it so it was really fresh and what I realized is it sort of became my script. Working with a script is very comfortable for me, so that and then watching tons of videos, and I just kind of basically ate, drank, and slept with tango in my brain. It was just nonstop. I would rehearse and then go home and do my homework. That I think really helped build my confidence of knowing where I was so that if I lost the count, I still knew the dance.
Considering that the actress is credited with more than 350 episodes of television between just How I Met Your Mother and Buffy without accounting for all of her other roles, it’s no wonder that she was more in her element when she realized that her notes could be like a script for her. Dancing with the Stars airs live on ABC, so I asked what it has been like her to perform live rather than off of a script. Hannigan said:
It’s intimidating when you think about it, so I try not to just think about the like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s live!’ I just know what I have to go out there and do. We practice a ton before, and then hopefully by show night, I’ve got it so locked into my memory that I can just go out and really try to breathe and do it. I don’t really think about like, ‘Oh yeah, this is live television!’ until afterwards, because I just don’t want to add any more nerves than I already have.
It remains to be seen if she’ll channel her inner drama queen again for Motown Night, but “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” seems like the kind of song that could reveal yet another side of Hannigan as a dancer. The foxtrot definitely isn’t another tango, but you can revisit her Latin Night performance here:
Tune in to ABC on Tuesday, October 10 at 8 p.m. ET for Motown Night of Dancing with the Stars Season 32, or stream with a Disney+ subscription. Alyson Hannigan also shared her hopes for a Taylor Swift Night later this season, so be sure to vote for her if you want to see her advance!