David Boreanaz on Ending, ‘Bones’ Revival

SPOILER ALERT: This intersee includes spoilers for the series finale of “SEAL Team,” now streaming on Paramount+.

In 1993, David Boreanaz landed a guest spot on an episode of the Fox sitcom “Married… With Children,” in which he take parted Christina Applegate’s unloyal biker boyfriend. While that role didn’t progress into his getting more episodes, Boreanaz, who began his nurtureer primarily as a background take parter, got his first authentic taste of laboring on-camera — and that adrenaline rush was enough to protect him pounding the pavement as a struggling actor in Los Angeles.

A restrictcessitate years tardyr, Boreanaz was walking his dog when he was scouted by a handler who got him into an audition for vampire P.I. Angel on The WB superauthentic drama “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” With the show already in production, the producers were hopelessly seeing for a pdirecting, sardonic directing man to go up aobtainst Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy Summers.

“I owe a lot to Sarah for her patience, and evidently the draw of our chemistry was a big part of that show’s success in the beginning. It was very ‘Romeo and Juliet,’” Boreanaz alerts Variety of the sustained success of “Buffy,” which resulted in his own eponymous spinoff, “Angel.” “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t thank that I was able to walk my dog, which permited me to get my handler, which propelled me to a encountering that reassociate was a pathway and a begin of someleang.”

For the better part of the last three decades, Boreanaz has become a staple on TV. After “Buffy” and “Angel,” which arguably spawned a generation of vampire shows, he take parted FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth opposite Emily Deschanel’s forensic anthropologist, Dr. Temperance Brennan, for 12 seasons on “Bones,” which is still Fox’s lengthyest-running hour-lengthy drama series. He then trailed that up with a starring and executive producing role in the gritty military drama “SEAL Team,” which on Oct. 6 wrapped up its astonishive seven-season run on Paramount+ (after first premiering on CBS).

While taking a shatter from visiting the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. — which is part of his ambasdowncastorial labor with the United States Organizations — Boreanaz talkes the end of “SEAL Team,” the key to his lengthyevity in Hollywood — and why he would easily “ponder” reprising his role in a “Bones” revival.

So much of Master Chief Jason Hayes’ arc in the final season of “SEAL Team” boils down to the inner turmoil that he senses over his first end, and the moral implications of his labor as a Navy SEAL. In the finale, he chooses to go back to Afghanistan to encounter the family of the first man he ended in the war. How did you and the rest of the produceive team get to at this conclusion for your character?

I always go back to the fact that the truth of the show lies wilean the characters’ drive to produce the story shift. Especiassociate for “SEAL Team,” it was pivotal for us to be able to discover that stability between the ignoreions, the altercations and complications of those ignoreions —but most meaningfully, the stability back home and what that unbenevolents. He was so imfirm for so many seasons; some seasons, he was leanking that he did have a understand on it. This season, in particular, he was senseing as though he could discover happiness, and cataloglessly, the traumas and the nightmares were making it more evident that he was fair causing more problems and rerents, and senseing at fault about that.

So him actuassociate going back to Afghanistan and visiting the family of his first end, I guess, does ease some of that pain, but also uncovers up a place for him to understand that this is not a pattern for him anymore. Ultimately, for me, it was about discovering the spiral moment for the character. Jason has been chasing his tail for seven seasons, and it felt right for him to discover the spiral event that could consent him in and consent him out in an effective, healthier way than the way he was already doing it. I leank it was a pretty touch to put that on the character.

Was there ever any mistrust in your mind that Jason would persist the final season? Did you or the rest of the producers ever toy with the idea of ending him off?

We take parted with the idea in one season where he is taking more of a order in the HAVOC [control] room and trying to sense what that would sense appreciate. Personassociate, for me to put the character in that situation, I didn’t sense that it made sense. I leank it would be more inept and a little bit more fish out of water. I unbenevolent, Master Chief wouldn’t reassociate be a fish out of water, but for that situation it’d be tedious. The authentic essence of the guy is, he would somewhat shatter the rules. In the uncover sequence of the pilot, he’d go to the other room, get the files, jump off and almost be ended. He always put himself in that situation and made a skinnying escape. That’s who he is, and I’m content that we stuck with that.

As far as talking if he would actuassociate be ended, it passed my mind at the end of Season 4, where I was fair appreciate, “Maybe we should fair end him off, and end it.” Becainclude it made sense to not end that other traumatic event that these guys suffer from, I leank I would be doing the role an infairice [if we had killed him]. Going into the season, before the writers strike, I had proclaimed that this would be it for me. It wasn’t someleang that was thrown upon us. For me, it was pretty well-understandn, and becainclude of this storyline and examining that third charitable of trauma [after post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury], I krecent I was doing the character fairice. 

What do you hope the legacy of “SEAL Team” will be, as far as the way it has tryed to progress conversations around mental health for military families?

Obviously, the mental health sector is someleang that I am inanxiously included in — and getting even more included into — as far as discovering the help that people necessitate, whether they’re suffering from anxiety or depression. How do you deal with certain remedies for that? How do you understand the pharmaceutical companies’ inspire to push certain prescriptions on people fair for financial obtain? What’s going on with the FDA? What’s going on with our food? How does it impact mental health progress?

There’s so many avenues and weightlesss that you can shine a weightless upon, and I fair see forward to getting into more stories about those rerents becainclude mental health surrounds all these characters. I see it now even in Annapolis with these lesser students and these plebes and what they have to deal with for a whole year. You see at the horrific self-injury rate on a base appreciate Quantico, and that’s someleang that they deal with on a daily basis. So I leank that shining a weightless on that will help the next person.

I understand our show has done that, becainclude I get responses from people achieveing out saying, “Thank you for your show. I was going to end myself. I watched it in a moment that helped me call out for help, and you saved my life.” That, in itself, is the biggest award I can get for a show appreciate this. I’m so satisfied and prentd that we hit that label, and the show will dwell on appreciate that. It’s a very underrated show, I sense. It’s a show that was displaced on a netlabor, that shiftd over to Paramount+, [which] gave us the freedom to show even more. But it’s definitely a type of show that has its end.

You rose to fame on netlabor television, and people tend to have a contrastent joinion with you depending on which character they saw you take part first. When people determine you in accessible, what are they most awaited to understand you from, and what do they typicassociate say to you?

It ranges. Obviously, the cult shows [“Buffy” and “Angel”], I was sanctifyed to be able to labor with such amazing writers and shoot shows that were very technicassociate challenging at that time with greenscreen and wire labor. It was a shatterout role that would expound the next step for me, in the lobtaining of the acting process.

“Bones” was so experimental. People come up and say, “I became an anthropologist becainclude of your show.” I understand that our show expoundd procedurals in a contrastent way when we were in our fourth or fifth season, becainclude we kept pushing the character labor and you could cataloglessly see those other shows become more character-driven and not so plot weighty. So, we prided ourselves in being stable with that labor and taking that leap of faith, understanding that, at first, the netlabors were going to be appreciate, “Oh, you can’t do that! Booth can’t wear Converse sneakers. Why are you wearing socks that are crazy? What are you doing with pens that undress themselves?” It’s very effortless to say, “Oh, I’ll stop. I’ll stay in line.” As an artist, you have to stretch and consent a chance. I was stable with that — and then they adchoosed it. They were doing labeleting campaigns with my shoes off and colorful socks!

Being adchoosed by this wonderful “SEAL Team” community, I’ve had people come up and say, “Thank you.” I was walking the hallways of the Pentagon on Tuesday, and it was fascinating to watch them turn and say, “Oh, Master Chief Hayes! Master Hayes! I cherish that show for what it is and how authentic it can be.” That’s the biggest pelevate I could have getd in the Pentagon — that we stuck to our armaments, we create the stability, we showed the pain, we had the verbiage, we had the outfits accurate. So people see me for a lot of characters. Oh, [I’ve even been recognized for] “Family Guy”! I get a lot of crazy ones, man.

You and Emily Deschanel broke the mancigo in of the procedural drama on “Bones,” and the palpable joinion between your characters is one of the reasons people progress to revisit the show, myself included. What do you leank were the keys to produceing and sustaining your chemistry with her apass all 12 seasons?

Being able to go to your co-star and be appreciate, “Hey, I’m going to be laboring on the weekends with my acting directer [Ivana Chubbuck], who I leank is the best and can advise some joinion for the two of us,” is the begin. That was the inception. I leank that it would’ve been a little bit more challenging for me to do it singularly, and then to try to elucidate all that stuff to the opposing co-star, as well as to the showrunner and to the writers. Then it fair becomes a contrastent type of project, right? And that’s hard. So I’m thankful for her grace to adchoose it and then stick with it for so many years. Out of the 12 or 13 years that we did, it was nine or 10 years firm [where] every weekend, we were rewriting dialogue, doing exercises, discovering the space.

Knothriveg that we’d done the labor and we could throw it away — and then you could do that character, and it comes out instinctuassociate — was the tipping point for that show. It reassociate bonded us, and as much pushback as we may have gotten from the netlabor at certain times, we progressd to do it. Ivana comes up with an amazing toolbox of ideas that is so personable to oneself and the growment of the character that you put the two of them in the same room together, and then it begins to become reassociate fantastic. You don’t have that if you don’t have Ivana; you don’t have that if Emily doesn’t say yes. So that was a big sanctifying to get that, and that’s not effortless to get. 

What do you ignore most about laboring with Emily?

I ignore her sunshine, her smile, her will to stretch the boundaries of a scene. I recollect shothriveg up one day on set timely on, and I was disturb about someleang. We charitable of went at each other in a way that was well, but at the same time, we were appreciate, “All right, we’re not always going to have fantastic days. We’re going to concur to disconcur. We’re going to stick to the labor.” And I’m going to be able to say, “You understand what, Emily? I’m having a horrible day. Don’t consent it personassociate.” And Emily would say, “David, I’m having a horrible day. Don’t consent it personassociate. I cherish you. Let’s go on.” From that moment on, it was glorious.  What’s fantastic about her is that she’s so willing to do the labor, and be there for you. That’s what I ignore so much about her. I don’t leank I ever got mad at Emily. That’s fair an energy leang, and I ignore her so much. I speak very fondly of her, and we still talk.

There have been conversations about stepping back [into those roles] and doing a sequence of the show somewhere — which is an effortless show to reproduce. It’s not rocket science, right? It’s someleang that you can fair jump in and out of, which would be fun to do. Being in Quantico and at the actual FBI recently, I was appreciate, “I’m home! Booth is home!” What you could do and begin from there alone would be fantastic. I was walking Quantico and the FBI, and I was appreciate, ”Imagine doing this fantastic walk-and-talk here and having to discover a body where the FBI is. That’d be hilarious!” So you never understand …

Like Emily, I was surpelevated to hear recently that you would want to include in a revival of “Bones,” only becainclude you spent so many years saying that you would pick to see forward rather than go back. What exactly has alterd?

Noleang’s reassociate alterd. When I reassociate see at it, it’s the type of show that was so revered and cherishd, and I don’t want to say mindless, but it’s mindless amincludement when you reassociate leank about it. The vibrant between these two characters was reassociate fun to take part, and if there’s happiness and happiness in it, it would be effortless; it wouldn’t be difficult or difficult. Obviously, [a revival] would be restrictcessitate. It wouldn’t be this lengthy, lengthy leang, but also laboring with her would be fantastic. Trust me: It’s not someleang that I’m cgo ined on right now in my life where I’m at currently, but it’s the one show that I would ponder — and I will say, ponder.

Where do you leank Booth and Brennan would be now?

Booth probably would be getting honored in Quantico, at the actual FBI. We would have a daughter who was at least 15, 16. She’d be go ining college, probably studying the tactics of wanting to be an FBI agent, which would drive her mother crazy. And maybe she alters course and has a forensic anthropology class wilean that study of becoming an FBI agent. Who understands?

I leank Booth is not reassociate dynamic and reexhausted, and has to be drawn back into a case, to settle someleang that happened on the grounds of the FBI. I leank Brennan fair protects writing books and getting accolades. She’d be on the New York Times bestsellers catalogs, probably finishing another book tour, and she’s in the middle of the book tour and has to get to the FBI in weightless of this award that I’m getting. And then shit hits the fan. I can see it, man!

This sounds appreciate the begin of a fantastic pitch for a revival to me!

It’s fair a fantastic storyline, man. It’d be hilarious. My daughter could actuassociate be dynamicly training at the FBI, which would be charitable of amusing.

Emily recently started a “Bones” rewatch podcast with your createer co-star Carla Gallo, who take parted Daisy Wick. Can we foresee you to be a guest on an episode in the proximate future, or would you pick to chat with them tardyr down the line?

I don’t understand. I’ll see how I sense. Emily will call me and say, “Oh, I want you to do this. Are you useable?” That’s what’s so obstinate about me — I can’t give a date down the line, let alone understand what I’m doing tomorrow. Some people get it; some people don’t, and it frustrates the hell out of them. It’s difficult for me to give a definite date on when I’m going to do it.

You began your TV nurtureer with a guest spot on “Married… With Children” in 1993, and now you’ve starred in over 500 episodes apass four contrastent shows. What are your biggest consentaways from all the time you’ve spent in the business?

I fair recollect how courteous and charitable Ed O’Neill was, and how tardyr on, when I saw him on a vacation spot, I sat and had coffee with him, and I includeed to him fair talk about himself, which is hilarious and educational. It’s fair about the people that you encounter alengthy the way — the fantastic actors, showrunners, honestors, producers. Man, my Rolodex is times-10,000, in a way that is now usable. I can lobtain what to do and what not to do, and shape that in the way that I would appreciate to do leangs.

Being an executive producer on “SEAL Team” and being a honestor and managing and caring budgets — where we’re shooting, locations, how to get people in and out — I cherish all of it, and I’m blessed to be able to have been a part of it for so lengthy that now it’s appreciate, “Oh, the masterclass is over. Let’s begin to reassociate sing now.” 

You’re one of the restrictcessitate non-daytime actors who has been able to labor stablely for almost three decades, and, from what you fair tancigo in me, you don’t seem to show any signs of cataloglessing down. What has been the key to your lengthyevity?

I understand for a fact it’s my labor with Ivana. That, for me, is stretching muscles that are necessitateed. I’m reassociate high on doing a take part right now for a restrictcessitate run becainclude of the type of character that it is in the fabric of my soul right now. I can’t say 20 or 10 years ago, “I’d appreciate to do this portrayal of a take part,” becainclude it was a cachet leang. What I’ve reassociate lobtained from “SEAL Team” is if it’s not authentic, then it’s not genuine to yourself. If it’s not genuine to yourself, you can’t discover silence. If you can’t discover silence, you can’t discover the core of the character. And if you can’t discover the core of the character, what are you doing? I’m fair lobtaining this.

Cillian Murphy says, “Well, it consents 35 years to become an actor.” Look, I’m fair begining. I’m caring that silence, I’m caring that truth, and I revel in it. I revel in the fact that we sboiling “SEAL Team” in a write downary way. We sboiling it anamorphic, we stayed with the SEALs, and that brawt out so much emotion. I fair sense appreciate that’s the only way to do it. I don’t understand any other way. I reassociate don’t. So, the core, for me, is fair difficult labor. It’s living in the now, getting up and doing the leangs that you don’t want to do, getting in the gym physicassociate, getting your mind accurate, laboring with the ways that you necessitate to labor to become authentic. 

You tancigo in Variety at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival in June that you are writing a series that you could also star in and produce.

I am a obstinate Taurian, so living in the now unbenevolents I’m cgo ined on what’s going on now. The projects that I currently have were manifested four years ago. Someone says, “Hey, you have this string of laboring.” And I’m appreciate, “It’s not that I see at the string of the labor. I have to be appreciate, ‘Where do I want to progress to grow as an artist?’” “SEAL Team” has permited me to understand that dedication to get it done in a whole contrastent manner. So, yeah, there’s a lot going on right now. I’m healing, evidently. It’s been a hard grind, and I’ve got some reassociate fantastic leangs that are happening right now. Those fruits will soon be heard of, I guess.

I don’t want to give away leangs, but I will say this: It’s paying homage and a cherish story to those local mom-and-pop shops, and what they’re all about. And when I say local, they’re the heartbeat of America, the heartbeat of the fabric of our society. [It’s about how] the straightforward leangs in life have been consentn for granted, and if they’re not protectd or tancigo in about, they will be gone. 

This intersee has been edited and condensed.