David Boreanaz

David Boreanaz: "Bones" Feisty Hero

At the Fox TV party recently in a winter wonderland-themed restaurant in Pasadena, press met with TV stars to discuss the new season and the latest gossip. We found the star of "Bones", hot David Boreanaz just as he entered the party and rushed up for the scoop on the show and all things David.

We found the actor to be determined to present some humanity and humor in the new season. He wants his show to be about living people, not about how to track down killers. Oh, and he’s fighting over belt buckles and listening to satellite radio these days.... Tune your dial to "hunk" and let’s go...

TeenTelevision: What will be up with you and Emily Deschanel’s character in the new season of "Bones"?

David: We decided to deal with each other’s relationships. For us, pushing that envelope.. what is outside that box, the abnormality of the characters, that’s what’s fun about the show and it’s great to see the ensemble start to sing with that and become a part of that because for us, from the beginning, it was never about a procedural show.

David: If I wanted to classify the show as a comedy I would and I would continue to put more comedy into it. I would continue to put the show where it’s at right now, how they are selling it. I think it’s cute, it’s fun and you just don’t see that on television today with procedurals and hour dramas and it’s great to be a part of that. Great to be a part of working with Emily on the weekends. We’re taking these ideas into scenes and finding those improvisational moments and what drives each other crazy whether it’s a song or a gesture or a movement while we are somehow dealing with a case. Because it’s not about the case for me. I don’t care. I don’t give a s**t about the case, man.

TeenTelevision: People seem to respond to the romantic comedy aspects.

David: Well, now that’s what it’s about. Honestly, we strive to find those moments. Emily and I work on our characters on the weekends and find the moments to do that. So, if we’re doing a scene, we can interrupt each other. We can go off on tangents. That, to me is fun.

TeenTelevision: How much time do you spend on that?

David: We spend two to four hours on the weekends alone working on that. It’s a great way to find out about your character and stretch those boundaries. It’s just the two of us.

TeenTelevision: They seem to be deepening your characters for this season.

David: No ’they’ aren’t. We are. Emily and I are coming in with the material to say ’hey, we’re not going to do the straight procedural show’. I don’t believe in it. I’m not doing it and I don’t want to be a fan of it. To me, it’s about these characters and as long as we continue to study these characters and continue to think outside the box, that’s what the show is about.

TeenTelevision: You and Emily really have a shorthand that comes across on the screen. When do you think it really started clicking between you two?

David: Well, when we started the pilot, it was encouraging to know that I could be with a costar who was humble enough to say ’hey, let’s work on this and make it something different’, instead of just walking lines and talking about John Doe number 123. What I care about is what she [Emily’s character] did last night or why she has a problem with religion or her issues about hormones or how I feel about priests and Catholicism and science. To me, that’s everyday stuff that you see that you can apply to the storyline that’s going on. That’s fun stuff.

TeenTelevision: How do you sell that to the network?

David: It’s tough to sell. At first, it was very difficult when it started up and the network was trying to figure out was this a procedural. What kind of show is this? We maintained and stayed with our characters and continue to push the comedy element and we want to continue to push it further and continue to go down the lines of ’Moonlighting’ where they talked over each other and they didn’t stop. That’s what we want to do.

TeenTelevision: Do you get negative notes from the network censors?

David: We’ll get notes like... I’ve got a belt buckle that says "Cocky" on it. So, the note came down the other day like ’Well they’re having problems with your belt buckle’. I’m like ’well, they can have problems with my belt buckle but I’m not takin’ it off. I’m not takin’ it off until they come over and take the d**n belt buckle off’. That’s the kind of stuff we fight.

TeenTelevision: What kinds of issues does Booth have?

David: I don’t know, a lot! We’ve just scratched the surface. I’m getting’ all messed up, man. There’s going to be some way out stuff that’s coming. I can’t even imagine where we can go and it’s great. To be allowed to do that is fantastic.

TeenTelevision: Have you directed an episode yet?

David: No. I’d love to. It would be great.

TeenTelevision: I think Entertainment Weekly named Angelus and Angel as one of the top ten villains of all time. Did you see that?

David: Oh, that’s exciting. That’s great, man. But, watch out for Booth. He’ll be the sick therapy guy of all time.

TeenTelevision: Did you do a feature film during the break?

David: I did a movie with Alan Cumming that’s coming out at the Austin Film Festival. It’s called Suffering Man’s Charity and we’ll see what happens this year.

TeenTelevision: How old is your son?

David: He’s four and a half.

TeenTelevision: How do you balance working and being a dad? Does it effect your work?

David: It’s great. I’m allowed to use my experiences in life for my characters and I’ve now learned how to do that [be a dad]. It’s quite a trip. I enjoy the roller coaster ride with it and I encourage myself, moment to moment to be with my son so I can grab those moments and those ideas.

TeenTelevision: Are your parents pretty active grandparents?

David: Very, very active. Love being around. Love coming to town. We were back home for the holidays so it was great.

TeenTelevision: Did you have a celebrity crush growing up?

David: For some uncanny reason, Dorothy Hamill, the ice skater. It was the hair, right. Or Farrah Fawcett. I had the poster. That was amazing!

TeenTelevision: What kinds of music are you into now?

David: I have the whole Sirius [satellite] Radio package. So, I jump from ’70’s to the ’80’s. [A TV camera shines a bright light into his face]. Hey, get that light out of my face, man! Everything from the ’60’s to standards. I’m really enamored of this whole Sirius thing. I think it’s great. I can go from garage music to classics. I listen to a plethora of music. I’m pretty eclectic with my tastes. I like to go all over it. It’s a great system.