Alexis Denisof

Sandy Rivers on How I Met Your Mother, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, and Thanos's messenger in two Marvel films.

After the show

After five seasons as Wesley on Angel, Denisof found a recurring comedy role as newscaster Sandy Rivers on How I Met Your Mother, appearing in 10 episodes between 2006 and 2014. He also returned to the stage in London, appearing in Rope at the Chichester Festival Theatre’s Minerva Theatre alongside his former Buffy castmate Anthony Head.

In 2012 he played Benedick in Joss Whedon’s modern-dress Much Ado About Nothing, opposite his Angel castmate Amy Acker as Beatrice. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and opened in June 2013. The same period brought a Marvel role as The Other, the servant of Thanos, in The Avengers (2012) and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).

On television he recurred as the royal Viktor in seasons three and four of NBC’s Grimm (2013 to 2015). He later returned to the supernatural genre with a recurring role in season two of Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and as Professor Vardemus on The CW’s Legacies.

Lately

In February 2023 Denisof reprised Sandy Rivers on Hulu’s How I Met Your Father, in the season two episode “Ride or Die,” which revealed that Sandy had been demoted to the entertainment beat. He appeared again in “Shady Parker” in July 2023. Executive producer Elizabeth Berger told TVLine, “He was wonderful, and we’d love to have him back if the opportunity ever presents.”

Off screen

Denisof married Alyson Hannigan, Willow on Buffy, on October 11, 2003. The two first worked together when Wesley arrived in Sunnydale in season three of Buffy.