Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel make up one of primetime’s most entertaining couples, How I Met Your Mother‘s Marshall and Lily. SheKnows talked to the duo about their turn for the serious since Marshall lost his father, the prospect of having babies onset and the upcoming Buffy and Muppet movies.

Inside How I Met Your Mother!

SheKnows: Were you worried when you heard you were going to tackle something as serious as Marshall’s father dying on How I Met Your Mother?

Image: CBS

Jason Segel: No, I was excited. I like having a little drama in my comedy. It’s like James Brooks‘ style. There is a 10-percent more demonstrative acting style on a sitcom. You have to sell a joke and all that, but the job was just to be honest, which I love. It’s my favorite.

SheKnows: Marshall and Lily have been getting laughs out of their efforts to conceive: How did you handle this curveball?

Jason Segel: I thought it was awesome. In the script we received, the last scene was, “Marshall, I’m pregnant.” Then they told us on the day of shooting, “No, that’s not what’s happening,” and gave us the alternate pages.

Alyson Hannigan: We knew it was going to happen, but it was very secretive.

Jason Segel: I think a lot of it was to keep the spoilers from getting out.

How I Met Your Mother gets a little serious

SheKnows: How did you guys prepare for the scene where Lily told Marshall the sad news?

Jason Segel: It was great. I didn’t want to know her lines, so until she got out of that cab, I had no idea what she was going to say to me.

Alyson Hannigan: He wanted to hear it for the first time when I said it, so I told him what the last word was. I was like, “Jason are you sure? Okay, the last word is ‘it.'”

Jason Segel: She came out and she was already crying and it was heartbreaking. It made acting very easy. All I had to do was react in that scene. I didn’t have to dig deep. We literally did it in one take, which was so brave of our director.

Alyson Hannigan: I was like, “Are you sure? We should probably do it again,” but they were like, “It’s perfect!”

SheKnows: Where will Marshall and Lily go from here?

Jason Segel: My storyline is dealing with the death of my father, which is exciting. You wouldn’t think [it’s] funny, but they found a way to shine a light on the funny parts of grieving. It’s great.

Alyson Hannigan: Marshall is going to go through a huge reevaluation of his whole life. That was his best friend and he’s so inspired by his dad. There’s going to be some interesting ups and downs ahead, I hope.

Image: CBS

Alyson talks babies & Buffy

SheKnows: Alyson, as a real life mom, do you look forward to them having a baby on How I Met Your Mother?

Alyson Hannigan: I definitely hope they have a baby. Marshall and dirty diapers is going to be fun! Working with a baby is harder, but shorter hours, because they can only work a little bit of time, so then I get to spend more time with my baby.

SheKnows: Cobie Smulders (Robin) told Maxim she’d like to have a lesbian relationship on the show. Are you game?

Alyson Hannigan: Well, she gave Lily a little lesbian kiss, when I was having a freak-out about getting married and not having accomplished everything I wanted to do before that. Now that we’re married, maybe a dream sequence? That would be nice!

SheKnows: After seven years on Buffy, did you find you were wary of “the girlfriend” roles?

Alyson Hannigan: Lily was the girlfriend. They got engaged in the pilot, but she has a voice and a personality, and that’s what I look for. I would not respond to a part that’s just a superficial being there and not having anything to do. Those bore me, and why use me if you’re going to do that? Get a model.

Alyson Hannigan & Jason Segel’s movie dish

Image: WENN

SheKnows: Jason, how are things going with The Muppets?

Jason Segel: It’s going fantastic. We have about a month left and I just couldn’t be prouder. I feel like I’ve tricked everybody. We’ve got about seven people who’ve worked with Meryl Streep in this movie, and more than one Oscar winner. It’s insane. To watch people I admire sing and dance and play with puppets truly is a dream come true.

SheKnows: Can you talk about any of the cameos?

Jason Segel: I’m sworn to secrecy, but Jack Black, Emily Blunt and a whole list. I can’t believe these people agreed to do this movie. We all called our friends and there’s a whole thing when people have kids: They want to be part of a movie their kids would grow up on and watch, so it wasn’t hard to get people.

SheKnows: Can we expect a lot of call backs to old school Muppet movies?

Jason Segel: The original pantheon for me is The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan, so we do have some references to those. It’s definitely a late ’70s-early ’80s style tone, but it’s set in modern day.

SheKnows: Why do you think so many Freaks and Geeks alums have gone on to be so successful? I’m not talking just you, James Franco, Seth Rogen, Linda Cardellini (ER), John Francis Daley (Bones) and Busy Philipps (Cougar Town), but also bit players like Shia LaBeouf, JoAnna Garcia (Better with You) and Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation)!

Jason Segel: I know, it’s crazy. That’s Judd Apatow. Judd has an amazing eye for talent and knows what he’s doing. That was an extensive casting process and he didn’t take it lightly.

SheKnows: Alyson, would you like to take this opportunity to crap on the idea of a Buffy movie?

Alyson Hannigan: Well, a Buffy movie without Joss, I would crap on that. Yes. Because Joss was Buffy. That was it.