DB's telephone interview with TVGuide by marymageli on 04/11/2008

I am back and I have found some more to read and enjoy:

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David Boreanaz talks about Bones

Posted Apr 11th 2008 3:41PM by Jen Creer

Admit it: You all want to know what's like to talk to David Boreanaz, AKA, Angel from Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel, AKA, Special Agent Seeley Booth from Bones. I'd like to know what it is like to talk to him too, but one of the things about these conference calls is that you are instructed to hit two keys to queue up for your question, and I always hit them, but I never get selected to ask questions.

I do, however, now know what it is like to listen to David Boreanaz talk on the phone, so I guess that's something, right? He sounds just like Booth. Go figure. If you are a longterm fan of Boreanaz, I'd have to guess that either he did the phone call in character as Booth or that Boreanaz is a lot more like the sometimes-abrasive Booth than the brooding and circumspect Angel.

On the whole Boreanaz gave stock answers to questions. He was friendly and joked about Celebrity Football predictions and sports: he was on the phone in New York City at the NHL building during the call. However, one caller made the mistake of hearing that, because of Bones moving to Monday nights on FOX at 8 PM ET, Bones was a "bubble" show, which I guess is industry-speak for the show being on the verge of cancellation. Boreanaz zeroed in on the guy like he was a murder suspect on Bones: "Where did you hear that? No, wait a minute, you can't just throw something like that out there and then tell me you don't remember where you heard it. That would be like me saying, 'Hey, I heard your column is canceled, but I don't know where I heard that." He continued to challenge the fellow's professionalism in reporting a rumor without a solid source for it, while the guy stammered that he reads from a lot of different sources.

During the grilling, I thought, "Damn, Boreanaz is kind of a dick." But he was absolutely right: The guy should have known where he heard it before broaching the subject during an interview with an actor on the show. Live and learn. I know that not all of us calling in are professional journalists -- some of us sit around in our pajamas and blog -- but it was still a good lesson. The caller apologized profusely and then Boreanaz returned to his charm and told the guy it was okay, that he had just had an interview with Dave Schultz, so he was all fired up.

Boreanaz also reported that all of Booth's characterizations come directly from him, rather than the writing, including the belt buckles, socks, and flashy ties. He said that apart from procedures involving guns or entering buildings, which he aims to do flawlessly and as much like the FBI as possible, he has tossed out the rulebook regarding FBI personalities, and emphasizes Booth's military and blue collar background as much as possible.

Regarding talk of the strike and the show's move to a different time slot, Boreanaz towed the party line of, "I am an actor. I'm not involved in those decisions." I get the impression that his role as a producer on the show is much more along the lines of creative input and control about his character and how much he is allowed to improve than it is about the actual production of the show itself.

He said about the now infamous kiss from "The Santa in the Slush" episode that he liked the fact that the kiss was a dare, really, that Caroline Julian put them up to. However, it would also serve to bring the characters closer because they would know that the kiss had happened.

Boreanaz foresees some episodes occurring in England, with a possible return of Stephen Fry's therapist character. He will also take the opportunity to direct at some point, and he said, "I have also put the pen to paper, and done some writing." He thinks if opportunities for actors to direct arise, artists have to take advantage of them.

Interestingly, the season finale, which will be a two-part cliffhanger, has already been filmed and was filmed, in fact, before the writer's strike. I got the impression that more is being added, though, because of adjustments to the Widow's Son storyline that had to be made due to time restrictions from the strike.

Bones returns on Monday April 15, with 6 more episodes for the season.

Guys, can't help it. Have to post this superb material. Here is more about that infamous telephone conference of 11 April. Lynn at Searching Bones took part in it personally and she has had a lot to say. Lynn arranged her Q&As and others' Q&A into two parts. Both parts are EXTREMELY long! Be warned! Thanks Lynn for the awesome job!

David is a busy man nowadays. While staying in NY in the NHL building, he held the telephone conference with different reporters involved. Enjoy!

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It’s true, Bones fans; I got to take part in a conference call interview with none other than David Boreanaz. Talk about excited, I was thrilled. :-)

As anyone who is familiar with David would expect, he was charming, witty and seems like a very nice guy. I really enjoyed asking him questions and hearing his responses to everyone’s questions. I’m typing up all the Q&A stuff, but the first four questions here were the ones I asked him. (I hope you approve of my questions!!) Here’s what we talked about:

Q: I want to talk to you about your creation of the character. How much of Booth is your doing, and how much of it were you given?

David Boreanaz: Well, I was given the pilot. I read the pilot and I created everything that you’re seeing on screen. As far as that character is concerned what you’re seeing physically. It can’t happen without the words, obviously, but as far as the physicalities, the belt buckle, all that stuff that you see is stuff that I brought to that character.

Q: So what kind of research did you do to find out about FBI agents and their personalities and qualifications?
(click on “Read More” for the rest!)

David: (He laughed) Everything they told me about the FBI I threw out the door, in a lot of ways. I respected it; I went through the idea of it. I took the approach of they guy working for the military and went to the FBI rather than a guy who came right out of Harvard and he’s a penny loafer wearing pencil-pusher guy. That’s a guy that’s afraid to get his feet wet. For me, it was more interesting from the angle of the military guy who was a blue-collar guy. From there, everything exploded. I highly, highly respect what they do and when it comes to using any kind of firearm or entries into buildings I don’t mess around with that. I do it as cleanly and as professionally as I can, the way they would do it. I work with a great guy, Mike Rosso (sp?) on the show, who is with the LAPD who is fantastic, so for me, that is very authentic to a “T.” But the other stuff is character stuff.

Q: Which has been your favorite Bones episode to work on so far?

David: You know, I really enjoy anything I do with Emily, obviously. As far as one complete episode is concerned, I liked the Halloween episode. That was a lot of fun. I got to play a nerd. (laughs) I also liked the season opener of season two, that was a lot of fun. I loved the pilot. You have to go back to the pilot, that’s when it’s fresh and new. The possibilities are endless. (chuckles) It’s always hard to answer those kinds of questions.

Q: Will Booth sing with the American Idol stars?

David: (laughing) You’re going to have to wait to find out. I may dance with the American Idol stars.

And here is the second part:
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Interview With David Boreanaz!

by Lynn on April 12th, 2008

David Boreanaz & Emily DeschanelAs I told you in the first post, I asked four questions of David Boreanaz during the interview, but there were other journalists that took part too. Some were very impressive! (For example, Entertainment Weekly, Boston Herald and others…) I was totally honored to be able to take part in it. I know you readers want to hear every word that was said, so here’s the rest of the interview. (I absolutely hate reading interviews where the person only gives me a few of their own interpretations of what the person said. I like to know exactly what they said. I hope you agree….)

Q: This was your first year in a production capacity on Bones. Could you talk about how the strike affected you as a producer?

David: Well, obviously with the whole paradigm shift and thinking about the story lines and whatnot, the ideas of having the characters come together in certain circumstances, as far as the actual production part of the show, I don’t really take part in that. As far as the day-to-day line producing budgets and all that. As far as the creativity and the story lines and working ideas internally and not sharing them with any writers but obviously making sense of them and continuously thinking about ideas that I can bring to the table now that I’m starting to do. Things you’ll see in the shows we are shooting now and in the next four or five episodes.

Q: When I talked to Emily a while back, she was a bit cautious about whether or not Booth & Bones should get together. It seems like we keep inching closer and closer to that. What is your thought about them getting together?
(click on “Read More” for the rest!)

David: I think they already are. I don’t think they were ever necessarily apart. The function of the relationship is really the function of the show in a lot of ways. These two characters drive these plot lines, they drive these shows. They put them in circumstances or in areas where they wouldn’t necessarily think they would be in and it brings them together as characters or it pulls them apart. The kiss, for example at Christmas, was a dare and they both knew it was coming and it brought them closer. It obviously won’t affect them greatly but they know that the kiss happened. I think it happened smartly, the way they did it. I think we’ll start putting ourselves in those situations but we’re not going to go to a place where it’s the whole nine. We’ll keep teasing and flirting with the audience. I don’t think that’s a problem at all.

Q: I know that some of the story lines had to be put off and not dealt with this season because of the strike. Could you talk about what we won’t be seeing and is there a thought that we’ll be seeing it next season instead?

David: The whole aspect of the serial killer as far as that story line and what Hart and Stephen wanted to do with it, you would have to ask them more specifically as far as the dynamics of that are concerned. I think obviously that was affected in the way we’ll wrap that up. It’s pretty much a part of a two-parter that we shot before the writers’ strike. We shot a potential season ender that was a big cliff-hanger. It was very dangerous and detrimental to a character and in the second part we finished that up in a way that will keep the audience guessing and will at the same time see how the relationship between these two get better. There were stories that we wanted to tell that we couldn’t because of only getting six episodes in now.

Q: And have you liked this story line this season of the serial killer?

David: No. Not at all. For me, I’ve always maintained that the show is the relationship. I maintain that the show is about the characters and that it’s about the two of us learning through the crimes. It’s the journey that we take is the most important part.

Q: Bones keeps moved around in time slots more than most shows on TV. How do you think it’s affected the show’s popularity?

David: It’s a very successful show. We’re a different show. We’re a cult show that thrives on relationship. And we’ve proven, if we’re on Wednesday or Tuesday or Friday or even Monday, our fans will follow us. I mean, there’s no show out there that has a therapist that has to deal with couple’s counseling to help them deal with each other in the work force. That’s just not on television.

Q: Is it ever hard to keep some of the darker and sadder story lines from affecting you?

David: I think I tap into the relationship again. I just go back to Booth and Brennan and our relationship if it gets too crazy. I think it’s the flip side of the show, the darkness of the show. We show the crimes and how horrific they are and then we cut to the humor of the show. We can go and banter over the crime scene and then it hits that it’s some pretty heavy stuff that we’re looking at. There’s a fine line there and it’s an interesting balance. If it’s anything having to do with children I can’t… It’s difficult, obviously.

Q: Are there moments when you are squeamish about the bones and the bodies?

David: No, not me. I’m so tuned in the relationship with her and the character work that I sometimes forget about where I’m standing. (chuckles) Booth’s perspective is that he’s squeamish to begin with, so that helps. When I have to go there, it does work.

Q: You have great comedic timing. We’ve seen that on your previous work. Is the dialog between you and Emily ad-libbed at all?

David: We work on every episode on the weekends with an acting coach who is very highly respected. She helps us find a lot of those moments. We work on the scrïpts on the weekends for every scene, for every moment during the week. So we come in with an improvisational arc, knowing where we’re going to add stuff. So by the time we show up and rehearse, and we begin shooting we just throw it all out on the table. I think that’s the beauty of our relationship and our chemistry. It’s really solid and it’s getting better. We did a scene yesterday that was so much fun. We really started pushing each other’s buttons. It was fun to have the ability to go there with a co-star who does that with you. Also to be in the third season where we have the beauty and the freedom as a producer to go to those places that you weren’t allow to in the first season.

Q: Is your therapy going to continue throughout the rest of the season?

David: Yeah, I think that having that other perspective works on a show like this. He fills that void perfectly. We tried before with a couple of other characters and it just didn’t really sing. I think with Sweets, he fits perfectly. In how he affects their relationship, I think it’s a great idea.

Q: Is Booth’s mocking of his age coming from you or is it scrïpted?

David: That’s me. (chuckles) It’s funny; we’ll do a lot of improvisation while we’re in that therapy. You do have to do one that’s scrïpted, a little bit. (chuckles again) It’s just so great to be a part of when you’re having so much fun. A lot of those young comments… I have to come up with some new stuff. (chuckles) The new arsenal is coming out soon.

Q: There’s word that you’ll be shooting some episodes in England later. Any plans to do that or bring back Stephen Fry?

David: The will occur somewhere for a couple of shows, and as far as Stephen Fry is concerned, I know we’d love to have him back. He was great to work with and was a great character. And to see him interact with Sweets, if that would be possible, would be great.

Q: You mentioned the season ending that had already shot. Will you be skipping over that and shooting new stuff or will you still be using it?

David: No, we’re keeping that show. And we’re even shooting another part to that show. So actually it serves two purposes. We had that for the possibility of a wash of the season so we could get some fresh episodes in.

Q: You mentioned at the Paley Center about your desire to do some directing on the show next year. Could you talk a bit about what you had in mind?

David: It’s just the opportunity to have fun with an episode. I have a lot of original ideas that I’ve pitched to Hart that I would love to be a part of. I’d like to bring some ideas to fruition or even to put pen to paper and do some writing. Those are opportunities that you have to take advantage of as an artist. You’d be foolish not to. I think if you work in the medium and you have the opportunity to do it, you should go for it.

Q: Do you think you’d have any difficulty directing yourself?

David: I think there has to be a balance, of course. I mean, how does one direct oneself? I’ve tried to do that and it is difficult. I’ve done it before, so I just go and do it and see what happens.

Q: What are some of your favorite things about Booth and what are some of you no-so-favorite things about him?

David: There are a lot of things I do like about him, since I work from the inside on my experiences. There are a lot of things I don’t like about him. His stubbornness can be a bit unattractive at times. His seeing it one way and not the other can be annoying. That’s it for him. He’s a real blue collar guy. He’s always been that type of guy and that’s what I’ve embraced. I keep learning a lot through this character. It’s been an interesting process with him. You know, I embrace the socks because I wear the same socks. (chuckles) I embrace a lot of stuff he does. Booth is a little bit more Catholic than I am. I wish I was more of a practicing Catholic, but I’m not. I guess that would be one thing I dislike about myself sometimes.

After we had reached the time limit for asking him questions, he had this to say to us (proving what I said about him being a nice guy.)

I just want to thank everybody for spending the time with me. Right now I’m in New York, in the NHL building. It’s been fun talking about the show and I’m looking forward to the shows coming up. We’re all very proud of them and we look forward to making many more to entertain you.

interesting! Thanks for posting!

Quote :Boreanaz zeroed in on the guy like he was a murder suspect on Bones: "Where did you hear that? No, wait a minute, you can't just throw something like that out there and then tell me you don't remember where you heard it. That would be like me saying, 'Hey, I heard your column is canceled, but I don't know where I heard that." He continued to challenge the fellow's professionalism in reporting a rumor without a solid source for it, while the guy stammered that he reads from a lot of different sources.






haha loved this.....that guy got a booth grilling1!!! and it makes me cringe when journelists dont get their facts right and make it so obvious they dont watch the show...get some real fans in there asking real fucking questions!

and mary im loving your sources...* i am thinking mary knows someone in the know...with all this info she keeps coming up with!*....hmmm

Quote :and mary im loving your sources...* i am thinking mary knows someone in the know...with all this info she keeps coming up with!*....hmmm






Magic, thanks, I am flattered. But as you know I live in Hungary, very far from the US, so no extra sources I possess, no acquiantances I have from the show. I'm just a devoted fan trying to find as much info as possible here and there.

Seriously Mary, you rock my world.

I love this part from DB:

"I have also put the pen to paper, and done some writing."

It gives me tingles!