David Boreanaz takes the EW Pop Culture Personality Test
(in "the weirdest place I've ever done an interview")

Sep 3, 2008, 03:06 PM | by Mandi Bierly
EW.com

transcribed by Boreanaz.net

In honor of Bones' return tonight with a two-hour season premiere (Fox, 8 p.m. ET), I sat down with David Boreanaz yesterday and resurrected the EW Pop Culture Personality Test. Continue to read about how he used to pretend that he was Craig Sheffer to get into bars in 1994 (possibly my favorite story ever), what he asked Farrah Fawcett when he wrote her a fan letter as a child (we think he was joking?), and why he doesn't believe in TiVo or DVRs (fascinating ... but wrong). He also went off on Heroes, a.k.a. "the most overrated show on TV," and Fox, for giving Fringe the Tuesday night pairing with House that he clearly wanted — so that's enjoyable, too. As for this "weirdest place" that he's ever done an interview? In need of a quiet location at the Trump International Hotel & Tower, we were sent to the spa waiting room. The soothing music almost lulled him to sleep on a comfy cream leather couch. Luckily, there was just enough foot traffic to keep him awake — and laughing. He greeted every hotel employee that passed through and told one robed woman that she'd made a good choice when she grabbed an orange from the fruit platter. (Though he'd later steal a banana.) When Ivanka Trump walked by, leading a large tour, he repeated "Bones, 8 o'clock, Wednesday nights, best show on television" on loop. (One woman said she was now going to program the show on her DVR — ha!)

17 Pop-Culture Questions for David Boreanaz!

When it came time to relaunch EW's Pop Culture Personality Test as an EW.com interview gallery, we knew we wanted to start with David Boreanaz. After all, we've named Fox's Bones — which returns tonight at 8 p.m. ET with a two-hour season premiere that takes FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (Boreanaz) and forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance ''Bones'' Brennan (Emily Deschanel) to London — one of TV's 10 Hidden Gems.

And, we kinda heart him.

We didn't, however, know that we'd end up doing the interview in the spa waiting room at the Trump International Hotel & Tower — the quietest place his publicist could find — as a large tour group led by Ivanka Trump walked by. ''Bones, 8 o'clock, Wednesday nights. Best show on television,'' Boreanaz said. On loop. ''It's not procedural. It's driven by humor. Bones, 8 o'clock, Wednesday nights.'' Later, when we rode the elevator with Ivanka, she asked EW if we'd treated ''their guest'' nicely. We did. At least until he mentioned that he doesn't believe in DVRs.

EW: The person you're most often mistaken for

DAVID BOREANAZ: You have to ask Josh Brolin about that. I saw him in Cabo, right when he got No Country for Old Men, and he said, ''Everywhere I go, they think I'm you or that you're my brother.'' When I came to Los Angeles in '94, the way I used to get into, like, the hardest place to get into, was saying I was Craig Sheffer. I would call up as his publicist: ''Sheff's showin' up with some friends. Put him on the list.'' [Laughs] Swear to god, this worked. Got the table and everything. The Sheff ref worked. In college, I got into bars by telling everyone I was Ted Danson's son.

EW : The role you almost had

I came very close to getting The Thing, the big orange freakin' rock, in Fantastic Four. But that went to Michael Chiklis. He's got blue eyes, I got brown. That's what happened. [Laughs] I was back-pocketed in case they couldn't clear Chiklis. ''Put the guy in a foam-rubber suit, it only takes 24 hours, you can't go to bathroom — Boreanaz will do it. Don't worry about it. He's an idiot.''

[P.S. Re: IMDB saying he was offered the role of Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins: ''No...God. What is that? I don't know who started that. Probably my manager.'']

EW : The guilty pleasure song you must dance to anytime you hear it:

What's that song? [Sings] ''Apple Bottom jeans, boots with the fur.'' (EW: Flo Rida's ''Low.'') Yeah! Yeah! My son and I play that, and we annoy my wife. She hates it.

EW : Karaoke is...

...fine, if done properly. I think that it should be done highly intoxicated, if anything. It should be done in an intimate setting not a large setting. I'd do a Dean Martin song. Or Bobby Darin's ''Beyond the Sea.'' [sings] It can't be anything high-pitched, or I'm a mess. Or, like, Sonny and Cher's ''I Got You Babe.'' I like the ones that you can kinda get by by talking them through.

EW : Which one of these could you go the longest without: iPod, cell phone, DVR, or hair gel?

DVR, because I don't have one.

EW : Wait, what?

I hate TiVo, I hate DVRs. I do not get them. You tell me why I need a DVR.

EW : Because you can tape two things at once.

If I miss something, I miss it. Why would I tape it to watch it on another day that there's [live] television? That makes no sense to me whatsoever. But I don't watch TV. I watch sports, the Food Network and the gardening channel. What, am I gonna DVR, a recipe? [Thinks about it] That would be nice. Watch Molto Mario make a nice lasagna, I'm all about that. I'm gettin' a DVR! Barefoot Contessa is hilarious, just the way they shoot it. And Everyday Italian is really good — the way she cuts garlic is fantastic. Nice and sharp....

EW : Which Beverly Hills, 90210 character were you most like in high school?

I was more like the dad, Jim Walsh. A reserved Catholic man. It was like Footloose in my house until my senior year.

EW : When you were young, you wrote a fan letter to...

I think I wrote one to Farrah Fawcett because I was infatuated with her poster; with the nipples popping out of the red swimsuit. I had that on my closet door, when I was like seven or eight. I wanted to know if it was really cold in the room where she shot that picture. That's what I asked her. ''How do you make them do that? Just wondering. Your No. 1 fan, David from Buffalo, New York.''

EW : The piece of childhood pop-culture memorabilia you wish you still had

My parents are actually cleaning out the house I grew up in because they're moving to a new place, and it's maddening how much stuff that I do have... I wish I had kept MAD magazines, with the Spy vs. Spy comics and those stickers that they used to sell. I loved MAD magazine. Or, my Starsky and Hutch Champion T-shirt decal.

EW : The first celebrity you befriended

When I was a kid, Jim Belushi was in Philadelphia doing the play Pirates of Penzance, and my dad was interviewing him for the talk show A.M. Philadelphia. He was like, ''Hey, you're my buddy. You're comin' with me,'' and he took me around for the day. But then I saw him recently, and I told him about that, and he was a real jerk to me. So thanks a lot, Jim. I thought you were really cool.

EW : Name a time you've yelled at the TV

I'm a sports guy. Football, God, I flip out. Losing the Super Bowl with the Eagles [in 2005] when Donovan McNabb threw up, I'm like, ''What are you doing?! You've got two minutes! Throw the ball!'' Flyers hockey, I get very angry. I was freakin' out [during this year's Stanley Cup playoffs, which he blogged for NHL.com]. When the Capitals scored, I almost jumped in the water where we were shooting. It could've caused major delays. I'm a nutbag.

EW : Pick one: Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky III, or Rocky IV?

I was watching Rocky III with my son, Jaden. Funniest thing ever. He's watching Mr. T training. Then he's like, ''Dad, watch me.'' I laughed so hard because here's this six-year-old trying to do push-ups and the punching bag, and he's so intense. So now Rocky III outweighs Rocky a little bit because of what my son did after he saw the fight sequences. But Rocky, come on. His training sessions are unbelievable. There's no one who could pound frozen beef like Rocky, with bloody knuckles. [Reenacts the scene of Rocky being interviewed by the reporter.] And then when he gulps down the eggs — makes me gag every time. I can't watch.

EW : The food you smuggle into movie theaters is...

Slim Jims. Everybody wants to bite into a Slim Jim every once in awhile. And Tangy Taffy. Sometimes, I'll bring a sandwich in. Why not? I'll put one in my pocket, the alarm will go off, and I'll get busted with a turkey and rye.

EW : Field your fantasy celebrity hockey team

I would definitely have Tim Robbins on it, 'cause I know he plays hockey and would be fun to play with. Charlize Theron would be the other defenseman — just for humor. I'd put myself on left wing. Al Pacino would be center because he's scrappy and would scream at the goaltender in front of the net. And on the right wing, I'd put Russell Crowe, because he'd be aggressive. It'd just be a crazy frontline. My goaltender, to stop all the pucks...I'd have to put my wife, Jaime Bergman. That'd be hot. She'd melt the ice — it'd be a pool around her.

EW : Your favorite reality show:

I love Run's House. 'Cause he's a philosopher. I love the way he teaches his kids lessons. He put a hidden camera into the parrot's mouth in the one kid's bedroom to see if he was hiding something, and he caught him. It was awesome. I'm putting a camera in a football helmet in my son's room — he'll never know. The show I would be embarrassed to say I enjoy is Keeping up with the Kardashians. That's my little secret.

EW : The best concert you've ever seen:

Led Zeppelin, the reunion show in London last December, by far. I introduced Led Zeppelin in '99, at Giants Stadium when they did a few songs [at NetAid]. I've seen some great shows: Earth, Wind & Fire at the Greek, Pink Floyd circa '94, the Eagles acoustic jam....

EW : The most overrated show on TV is...

Heroes. We were doin' that in '97 with Buffy. I love all the people on Heroes, I know all the actors, but I think it's overrated. I personally don't get it. Should I go down my list of overrated shows that are coming out? Knight Rider, please, don't give it a chance. Who cares about a car that can talk? I did — in the '80s.*

*Knight Rider is on opposite Bones this fall.

EW : The show you're most excited to see this fall is...

Bones. Funniest show on television. Best romantic duo ever to grace the screen. [Laughs] And the network says we're too funny. ''Let's pimp Fringe* which makes no sense, about some disease that's taken over an airplane!'' 'Cause that's unique. Nothing against you, J.J., because I love you and I'd love to work with you someday. But I'm not gonna put the foaming Alka-Seltzer tablet in my mouth and shake the camera. [Laughs] I'm bashing my own network... This spa music is lulling me into controversy right now. I won't be allowed back on the lot....

*Fringe has the Tuesday timeslot Boreanaz would prefer: ''They should've just kept us with House. That was a great combination. Now, we're the lead-in to 'Til Death. God, what a mess. But they have to spread us out because they have to develop new shows, I get it.''