Buffy~Angel Magazine Jan 2006 [Yearbook 2005] http://www.titanmagazines.co.uk/







David Boreanaz interview

Death Becomes Him

by Tara Di Lullo

It's been 18 months since we left Angel in that rain - drenched alley, preparing for the fight of his life. While we may not know how that story turned out, we do know that for David Boreanaz it had a happy ending. Since leaving Angel, the actor has gone from strength to strength, making three films and landing the starring role in a brand new show. In an Exclusive interview, we caught up with David to discuss his new projects, his ambitions, and his thoughts on bringing Angel to the big screen.

David Boreanaz just can't leave death alone. For eight years, he was one with the undead, playing the brooding vampire Angel on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a character he transitioned to his own successful spin-off for five seasons on Angel. It's been more than a year since his TV vampire days ended, but David is back among the dead for his new Fox series, Bones. As the very human Special Agent Seeley Booth, David is back to relatively familiar ground, handing out with the deceased, except this time he's poking around the decayed remains of the dead with forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan [played by Emily Deschanel], in order to solve the complex mysteries of their often tragic deaths. An entertaining mix of forensic mystery show [à la CSI] and a standard procedural, mixed with some romantic chemistry between the oil and water lead characters, Bones premiered in September to strong rating and solid critical reviews. For David Boreanaz, it's a return to his TV roots and hopefully the launching pad to new career horizons.

Never one to rest, the past year has been an extremely productive time for David since Angel wrapped. Happily married for four years to actress Jaime Bergman, and the proud papa to three-year-old Jaden Rayne, the actor has spent his time catching up with family life, while also exploring small film roles in movies like These Girls, Mr Fix-It and The Hard Easy.
While many of his peers from Buffy and Angel took some well earned time off, David jumped on the opportunity to return his focus to acting in film and laying the groundwork for a long-term stay in the medium.

"My father [weatherman Dave Roberts] is a great teacher about the basis of patience.'' the actor shares, when discussing his approach to building his film career. "You have to be patient and you have to be ready for when the time comes, because if you're not, you are going to blow it. When you think you've taken 20 steps forwards, you've just taken 10 steps back, and that's a path that I don't want to go down. As far as the films are concerned, the ones I have done in the past haven't really been seen. I think everybody has done a classic horror film that either has been very successful or very mediocre. Valentine was just mediocre and it made double of what it was made for, and that was fine. The other films never got released ; I'm With Lucy went to video, Wicked Prayer went to video. I recently had time to do three independent films, one of which, called These Girls got into the Toronto Film Festival, which I am really proud of. The other two, M Fix-It and The Hard Easy are still in post production, but they are small, independent films. So I got a chance to take a year off and do some really cool work on some cool characters. But also, I don't want to be in a position for anything that isn't right for me. I went through this whole thing with the Fantastic Four and screen testing for The Thing. They basically back-pocketed me into a position saying to me if [actor] Michael Chiklis can't do it because of his show [The Shield], we are going to put you in it. I was upset because it didn't happen, but I ended up doing Mr Fix-It. I think it's going to be another piece where people are going to say, 'Wow, this was really interesting s*** you did!' I really don't want to be put into a major role or film and reap the consequences of being an orange rock and being in prosthetics for 24 hours and have to go to a psychiatrist!'' he laughs, ''Those things all relate to where you are at the time of your life and it happens for a reason.''

Yet even with his new focus on film, television still beckoned the actor to return. The Bones script landed on David's table and he was struck by the potential of the character he was being wooed for, FBI Agent Seeley Booth. "I wouldn't have gone back into a show if I didn't feel I could get a character that could make a very strong transition for me into the feature world,'' David admits candidly. "I think I found a character that will enable me to do that. I look at shows like Moonlighting and the X-Files, and can take a Bruce Willis kind of a character and somewhat identify with him, and I saw the potential with his character. One of the opportunities that was presented to me with this specific role was that he is a total wildcard and maverick. I knew when I read it that I had a really golden ticket and a great opportunity. Marry that with people like [executive producers] Hart Hanson [Joan of Arcadia] and Barry Josephson [Hide and Seek], who come from the film world and you are just adding more to the potential for a show to blow up and a character to take you to a new level. All the ingredients were all folded in nicely for me with Bones, It wasn't something that I was saying I want to go back into - an hour-long drama- because it is difficult. But a character-driven piece of this type of material has such great potential, and I couldn't pass on it. For me, it's about the work and the story and the character, and hopefully this one will leave a really nice mark for people to enjoy.''

Enthusiastically excited about his character, Booth, David admits he loves the process of creating someone new for audiences to enjoy. "It's something that I embrace, and I think I was always evolving with the Angel character and that's what made it so exciting to do, having those years with him and finding out where he was going to go. With Booth, I'm honing him now and making him identifiable for people that watch. He's always doing things. I also think Booth likes his stuff: his cars, old vintage posters, his father was a pilot in WWII, so he's fascinated with history. It's probably why he has a collection of old revolvers. He carries a 357 magnum, 4-inch revolver on his hip. These are all little things that I'm working on, the detailed aspects of this character right now.''

Smiling with a wicked gleam in his eye, David continues to rattle off all the things he loves about Booth and what he's personally bringing to the character. "I love the way he gets in and out of a car, which is very cool. He uses things that make sense to him, whether that's interrogating with a pair of dice in his hand. He's a gambler and it's the underneath that is interesting. He wears a T-shirt that says, 'The 3 stages of Tequila.' That is Booth! I love the fact that he has index cards in different colors. I like Slim Jims, so I'm bringing that to the role,'' he cracks. "I like playing cards, Vegas dice. I love fast cars. There's a cool pair of jeans that I'm wearing, so I might bring that to the role. He's a big power tool guy. Maybe he likes game shows; I'm a big fan of Tic-Tac-Dough."
More seriously, David adds, "[Booth] believes in white t-shirts, '66 Mustangs, and he's the epitome of apple pie and ice cream with an edge to him. He mixes and matches well with the rationalists, but he always rides the line. I love the tension he has with his boss, but he also is able to commit and solve the way he does it. It's all exploring for me now and that's exciting. Learning about him and trying new things, it really has an affect on who you are, but you also bring in what is going on in your life and to me, that's the best part."

With a gut of procedural crime shows on the air for the last few years, like the Law & Order franchise, one might assume David is concerned about Bones standing out, in the TV crowd, but the actor says that isn't the case. "Not really. I think the thru line for these shows are the forensics and self-discovery of how to approach the decomposition of a body. Was it murder or suicide. Couple that with this maverick FBI guy who really goes by his gut and [the Dr.] that goes by her head. I think that concept is so great and makes it different from the other procedurals that are out there. You can have some very serious situations, and the forensics are an added plus as far as, it's a little bit different from the usual procedurals that are out there."

The interplay between David and his co-star, Emily Deschanel [Boogeyman], really does make the show unique, and David explains it took them a long time to find the right woman to go toe-to-toe with him. "Gail Berman called and actually offered me the role, "David recounts. "And we were actually in the 11th hour for a girl and Emily came in, literally, the day before a test with her and two other girls. We thought we were going to go with one girl, and we went with the total opposite in Emily and it makes complete sense. As far as the chemistry, you are either blessed with it or you create a trust and humor between each other before you go out there. I think it's a responsibility as a leading man to be very gracious to your leading lady and to be very respectful and give her what she needs. I say that only in an old school way, in that my father taught me to always take care of everybody - and the girl especially. I think that is a really big responsibility for a leading man and that can help to create a chemistry if there is no chemistry there, but luckily, there was chemistry and we get along great. It's a really fortunate thing and when you have all those ingredients working for you, its pretty hard to pass up. When you see lightening in a bottle, you have to go for it because it doesn't come up very often."
With five years anchoring Angel as the lead, David says stepping back into that on-set leadership role for Bones was easier than expected. "it's a two part job, literally setting a tone. You are on, and bonding and creating relationships that you are working in close quarters with. There is a lot going on there. With [executive producer] Barry [Josephson], he is like my little brother. I also have a relationship with Hart [Hanson] that I didn't have in the past with my other executive producers. I am able to bring stuff to Hart and he is so adaptable. He allows you to bring in your ideas and that is such freedom. It's another reason why I also got back into a show and why I am so happy about it."

Despite healthy ratings for Bones, the competitive television landscape often proves to be a hostile environment for fledgling shows, with many getting canceled before an entire season is produced. Looking ahead to the end of the season, much less the next episode, just isn't David's style. "I don't look down the line, saying, three years, two years, whatever. It's about the scene in the moment and being fortunate to be able to work and give back to the fans and have enjoyable stories. I'm a complete believer in one show at a time. If this show were to end tomorrow, I would move on to the next thing. I don't look at the amount that they order or what they are looking at, I just work on the episode. I've always been confident in my approach in that I would never get cornered or pigeonholed in any way, shape or form, because I don't think about that and I just go with the material." It also means that he's open to explore past characters again, should the opportunity come about, like the much speculated Angel movie. For his part, David says, "It's not my decision, I am completely open to it, but it would have to be a big, huge film and I know that Joss is working on Wonder Woman."
Whether Angel goes big screen or David sticks with Bones for some time the actor says he is extremely content with the opportunities life has offered him so far. "In the front of my mind, I am thinking of the potential films I will be doing with the success of this show. But if the show dies tomorrow, I would still go to a new character and find a new piece. I am very comfortable with that. I don't think, 'Oh this is such a grind for six months and I'm going to miss that opportunity, 'It's just a matter of timing. If I look at myself four years ago and the characters I was going for, thinking I could have potentially played them, I probably wasn't ready for those. Now I'm just really warmed up and ready for those new characters that are to come, and I'll use this to the best of my ability. I'm an actor coming from the TV world that has yet to break into the film world. The ticket that I hold is that when I do find that role and the picture that will be very successful, it will all come together and there will be a reason for it. I'm a late developer in life and I've always worked hard to get what I need to get. I've only been in this business for eight years. I'm not a childhood actor. I went to college. I traveled through Europe and I didn't study acting. For me, this is just the beginning of the mountains that I'm going to climb and those roles will come at the right time. I don't want to press, but I can feel it." With his trademark grin, David adds, "I'm really honing and what I'm honing now is going to be a beautiful butterfly."*