“I was like, ‘What?!’ I thought maybe I was still sort of sleeping and imagining it,” the actress said of Swift’s shout-out

Alyson Hannigan is recounting her giddy reaction to Taylor Swift‘s shout-out of her movie.

In a new interview with Vulture, the 50-year-old actress revealed that she was shocked when she first heard Swift, 34, give a nod to American Pie in her song “So High School.”

In the nostalgic track, which is featured on the superstar’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, Swift sings, “I’m watching American Pie with you on a Saturday night / Your friends are around, so be quiet / I’m trying to stifle my sighs / ‘Cause I feel so high school every time I look at you.”

Hannigan, a self-described Swiftie, recalled that she had “a little countdown” going ahead of the album’s release at midnight on April 19 and preemptively cleared her night of any plans or potential interruptions so she could savor the new songs alone.

Related: ‘American Pie’ Cast: Where Are They Now?

“I texted my kids, ‘Don’t bug me, say ‘good night,’ just pretend I’m not here,’ because I am going to listen to this album without any interruption. I listened to the first part, went to sleep, and woke up to, ‘Holy cow, she’s released a second part!’ ” the How I Met Your Mother star told Vulture.

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Then she got to the 22nd track, “So High School,” which fans have theorized is about Swift’s romance with NFL star Travis Kelce.

“I was like, ‘What?!’ I thought maybe I was still sort of sleeping and imagining it. But when I heard it, I was freaking out,” Hannigan said. “I woke up my entire family who seemed less enthusiastic than I’d like them to be. Then I called a friend, and she and I had a nice freakout together. I was so happy.”

She jokingly added, “Basically, I was on the date with Travis and Taylor.”

Hannigan had another pinch-me moment not long after when her Dancing with the Stars partner, Sasha Farber, shared a clip on Instagram of the pair driving around listening to “So High School” together — and Swift liked the post.

Hannigan said it’s fun to know the famous duo are fans of the 1999 comedy classic, which also starred Jason Biggs, Chris Klein and Eugene Levy.

“Well, it’s not like I ever sat there and thought, ‘Oh, I wonder if Taylor and Travis have watched American Pie.’ But I do have to say that in the past 25 years, people ask me, ‘Oh, what do you get recognized for?’ And I always say that it depends where I am. If I were at a football game, it would definitely be American Pie,” she told Vulture. “So it’s not that big of a leap to think that Travis had watched it.”

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Hannigan also opened up to Vulture about the audition process for American Pie, which will mark its 25th anniversary on Sunday, July 9.

She recalled her manager sending her a copy of the script for the movie and telling her, “You’re either going to love it or hate it. People are very divided.” She said she was “intrigued” by the project and quickly zeroed in on the character of Michelle.

“I loved the way she talked. There were question marks after pretty much most of her sentences, including the ones about her times at band camp. I could hear her voice in my head immediately. And she was quirky,” she explained to the outlet, noting that she also appreciated the character’s arc and that Michelle was so different from the character she was playing on Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the time.

Related: Alyson Hannigan Says She ‘Gets Panicked’ When Fans Quote ‘American Pie’ in Front of Her Kids

“Then, obviously, you’re sort of thinking one thing the whole time and she surprises you at the end,” Hannigan continued of Michelle. “I was already playing, like, the perfect person on Buffy, and Michelle was the opposite.”

The actress also remembered feeling a bit put off during her audition when the directors critiqued her performance for being too quirky.

“I was confused and really frustrated. I remember calling my manager’s assistant and saying that I didn’t even want to go to the callback, and the movie wasn’t going to be any good,” she told Vulture. “I’m totally throwing the casting director under the bus, but this is what happened. Facts. Sorry.”

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