The life of the humble superhero sidekick can be a tough one. Maybe afflicted with a speech impediment, or slightly clubbed foot, it's their job to bumble through the show, making the chisel-jawed hero look cool, before obligingly being killed by the bad guy in the second-to-last reel, giving the good guy justification to go pop the evil dude. Not so the helpful chums of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the Scooby Doo-style gang back up her demon mashing with an impressive arsenal of book learning, lycanthropy, spell-weaving and finely timed quips. And the female alumni of Buffy's troupe of pals are anything if not pleasing on the eye: boasting ex-FHM cover star and now Angel regular Charisma Carpenter, feisty rogue slayer Eliza Dushku and computer nerd/ witch/lesbian and, as FHM's incredible pictures prove, beautiful Alyson Hannigan...

We hear that you're a big fan of the beautiful game?

I was over in England in the summer and Euro 2000 was on, and that was just so exciting. It was so nice to go to a pub and watch it with people who knew what was going on.

And didn't you play the game yourself for ten years?

I played centre-forward and then goalie. But I wasn't too fond of goalie because I wanted to get out there and do stuff, unless we were playing like a really hard game, where you'd get a lot of action. Goalie's a frightening position, but man I could punt a ball, I had a great kick.

Talking of which, we hear you're not a bad kickboxer?

I really just did it for a little bit, and then gave it up. I tried it and it was fun, but I really didn't have the time to put towards actually doing it well. I've done karate more than I've done kickboxing. I like karate more: kickboxing is sort of like using your leg as a bat, but there's more of a variety of blows in karate.

In FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World 2000, you achieved a very respectable new entry at 91, beating such female perfection as Demi Moore, Natasha Henstridge and Mena Suvari. Have you got any tricks to help bump yourself up the list next year?

Oh man, I gotta think of something. Well, I'm wearing better bras this year - maybe that'll help. Before, I haven't been wearing bras, and now I'm wearing good bras, so I've got more boobs going on - it's all because of the bras, baby!

In the show, you're currently in a relationship with a lady. What's your idea of the perfect romantic evening with a man?

Probably cooking a nice meal. If it's a perfect evening then we could go swimming and it won't be cold and we'd just have a good time. It wouldn't matter what we do. I could be totally satisfied just hanging out at my home. And listening to good music.

And what kind of tunes would be warbling along in the background?

Right now I'm really in love with Travis. I just love them.

Go to fhm.com to see Alyson Hannigan's slide show.

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