David Boreanaz teases his next TV project following the end of his seven-season run on SEAL Team. A familiar face to TV fans, Boreanaz broke out with the role of Angel on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, continuing his portrayal of the vampire with a soul on the spinoff Angel for 5 seasons before starring opposite Emily Deschanel for 12 seasons on the procedural drama Bones. More recently, the veteran performer wrapped up his run as Master Chief Jason Hayes. He’s already looking ahead to his next role, with SEAL Team’s ending in the rearview mirror.
During an interview with Variety to discuss his time as Jason Hayes, Boreanaz was asked about his next TV role. The actor pushes back against the idea that he is always working, offering context as to how he’s been a consistent presence on the small screen for the better part of three decades. Although he declined to offer specific story details, the Buffy alum noted that his next potential TV role is a “love story to those local mom-and-pop shops, and what they’re all about.” Read Boreanaz’s full comments below:
I am a stubborn Taurian, so living in the now means I’m focused 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 working.” And I’m like, “It’s not that I look at the string of the work. I have to be like, ‘Where do I want to continue to grow as an artist?’
SEAL Team has allowed me to understand that dedication to get it done in a whole different manner. So, yeah, there’s a lot going on right now. I’m healing, obviously. It’s been a tough grind, and I’ve got some really great things that are happening right now. Those fruits will soon be heard of, I guess. I don’t want to give away things, but I will say this: It’s paying homage and a love 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 simple things in life have been taken for granted, and if they’re not preserved or told about, they will be gone.
What Boreanaz’s Comments Mean For His TV Future
Boreanaz, who had an executive producer role on SEAL Team, previously shared that he’s been watching mob dramas. This leads to speculation that the actor will lead a Sopranos-type series, which is so far not confirmed. It’s not even clear which stage the potential project is in or which platform it would be a part of, but the general premise goes well with Boreanaz’s new details. If development on this mystery project continues on a smooth path, it could come to fruition within the next year.
It could be the case that the unassuming family shop is a cover for something a little more duplicitous. It is an intriguing change of pace, however, because Boreanaz has always played characters that are nominally on one side of the law. Angelus was pure evil, though he was secondary to Angel. SEAL Team tries to grapple with the blood-soaked actions of the U.S. military, but Hayes is presented as the good guy. A mob role might mean Boreanaz gets to play a fun anti-hero. It’s a type he only occasionally leans into on Buffy and Angel.
Depending on where the series ends up, it will be a change of pace in the current American television landscape. There are plenty of series, whether on streaming or broadcast, that turn its lens on law enforcement. That link is sometimes direct, as it is with shows like Chicago P.D. on NBC. It’s also more of a formula that pops up in procedurals like High Potential and Elsbeth, both on CBS, where a civilian helps law enforcement.
A series focused on the mob is relatively rarer, even with the massive success of The Sopranos. Depending on how the plot details ultimately shake out, and who the cast consists of, a mob drama wouldn’t just extend Boreanaz’s largely unbroken streak of TV roles. It might just also give the weekly episodic treatment to a subgenre that has been relatively unexplored, at least on the small screen.
Our Take On Boreanaz’s Next Role
For a certain generation of TV viewers, especially those who fell for the medium in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Boreanaz is a TV icon. The brooding vamp Angel, paired with Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy Summers, was the first time many viewers invested in the arc of a television couple and embraced the concept of shipping. The Joss Whedon-created series took off just as internet communities were forming, with “Bangel” becoming a hot topic. It made it all the more heartbreaking when Angel turned into the soulless Angelus, though it resulted in what many consider to be Buffy’s best season.
The break-up was even more devastating, with Boreanaz and Charisma Carpenter’s Cordelia Chase moving on to the spinoff Angel. As a lead character, Angel stood on his own in the absence of Buffy’s romanticized gaze. The move to playing Seeley Booth resulted in another popular pairing, with calls for a Bones revival still ringing today, thanks to the chemistry between Boreanaz and co-lead Deschanel.
SEAL Team has taken Boreanaz into the streaming era, shifting him away from being a romantic lead and focusing on the fraught bonds formed between soldiers. Even though there are similarities between Angel, Booth, and Hayes, they are fairly distinct. And then there is the actor’s sense of humor at his own celebrity, which he poked fun at in Family Guy and again in BoJack Horseman. Although he doesn’t draw attention to it, it’s an impressive run that’s still going strong after wrapping up SEAL Team.
