Why was Willow was recast between the pilot and the show?

I think that the way we originally cast Willow, was kind of as a gauche version of Pippa Goldway. And, as I said earlier, we wanted a hip show; we just felt it was worth exploring if we could find someone that put another kind of spin on it.

Alyson walked in the door, just to read to me, and I brought her over to Joss and the other producers. She brought this vulnerabilty, but I would say more than anything, this kind of hopefullness to the character. You really rooted for her, and you saw the intelligence.

To me that was the quality that really made me bring her to the next step of meeting the producers. I just thought she was not so much the outcast girl in the ways that we [normally] think of that kind of girl.