avid Boreanaz--star of The WB's hit series Angel--is riding the success of his brooding vampire character into the movies. Boreanaz headlined the slasher movie Valentine, which opened Feb. 2.
In the meantime, Boreanaz is wrapping up the second season of his show, playing the character he originated five years ago on The WB's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The popularity of his character has opened doors for the previously unknown actor, including the prospect of future movie roles. But it's a double-edged stake: the rigorous shooting schedule has forced Boreanaz to pass on several plum projects, including Resident Evil.
Boreanaz recently took a minute to talk with Science Fiction Weekly while promoting Valentine. The following combines comments from two separate interviews.
What's in store for Angel as the season winds up?
Boreanaz: He's going definitely on a destructive level right now, with [the] firing of his people and ... doing it by himself. Whether that turns out for him to be evil, we don't know. Whether that turns out for him to [have] an awakening and figuring it all out, where his character's going to go, we don't know. But the next couple of episodes, you're going to see him kind of basically on his own, tackling things on his own, being stubborn, selfish. ... It's definitely a twist and a turn. Towards the end of the season, we'll go back to an outcome, which is going to be an amazing ending to the season. And I wish I could tell you--it will blow your mind.
Executive producer David Greenwalt had said that Angel would go through a dark night of his soul. Is that what we're talking about?
Boreanaz: That's what I'm looking at right now. I'm in that part of his character where he is kind of going to that dark place again. So, yeah, they're putting me through that again. But not really necessarily where he is all just evil. It's just a darker place. Depressed, dark. Just no real happiness in his life right now. But he's not concerning himself with that. He just wants to get to the apocalypse, the end of the world [laughs].
Are you getting burned out on the role yet?
Boreanaz: No, not at all. Actually, after today's shooting, I was a bit elated from the turn that they took with him. They keep me on the ball with that. ... The next piece of what you're going to see in his personality and where he is now is going to change after four more episodes, and he's going to be a different person. ... There's a lot of different personalities in him, and I enjoy playing each one of them. ... I really am blessed to be able to take something and grow with it and evolve with it, rather than be stagnant with it, because I think there's so many different ways I can go with him. Where I'm going to take him, I think they're right on line with him right now.
Has the show been picked up for a third season yet?
Boreanaz: Speculation. I'm pretty sure it will be. God willing, who knows?
Will there be more Buffy/Angel crossover episodes?
Boreanaz: Possibly. ... There will be some crossovers, but it's difficult to do, time-wise.
Do you watch Angel?
Boreanaz: No, I don't. I have a big problem with watching myself on camera. ... Last year, I watched some bits and pieces of it. And this year, I have just distanced myself from it so much. ... People say, "Well, what about the name of this episode?" And they'd name the episode, and I don't even know what I did. It was just over for me. And then I went to the next one. And that approach has kind of kept me away from that character, not getting too close to him, even though I'm not that close to him. I'm just portraying this guy.
Do you have any desire to write or direct any episodes?
Boreanaz: Directing, possibly, yeah. But we'll see, down the line.
This season, we've seen a lot of Angel's historical past. Is there a period of history in Angel's life you'd like to see them explore?
Boreanaz: Definitely. Like a World-War-II era espionage. That would be really cool. I'd love that.
How many more years do you have for Angel?
Boreanaz: I'm contracted for three more seasons.
What will happen to Angel if Buffy jumps networks, as threatened in contract renewal negotiations now underway?
Boreanaz: Angel would stay [on The WB]. And just keep continuously, hopefully, building. ... It seems like it's the seventh season of Angel, in a way. I remember when Buffy went to that transition after the first year, we only shot 13 episodes the first year. And then the second season was 22 episodes. So when we started, it was towards the end of the second season, when all these characters came about, and so we're just, as a new show, still gaining characters and getting new characters.
What do you think of Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar's comments the other day about leaving Buffy if the show moves to another network? [Gellar later retracted that threat.]
Boreanaz: You're going to hear all these comments until this thing is settled, and everyone's going to be throwing daggers. So, I really have nothing to say about it, because I don't want to get involved in a pissing match, because it's like going into the wind, and it's not my job.
What will you do if the actors' strike happens as expected in June?
Boreanaz: If it does go on--and hopefully it doesn't--for a long time, if we [don't go back into production until] September, ... then we'll probably only do 16 shows ... next year ... just to fit the bill. We won't have a Christmas vacation, we'll just work. That's yet to be decided. I don't know.
Are Angel co-creators Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt stockpiling scripts in anticipation of the writers' strike this spring?
Boreanaz: Joss, David, that's for them the whole purpose of the strike. They're not going to write any extra scripts.
You were forced to balance shooting Valentine with Angel back in July?
Boreanaz: I was supposed to go back [to Angel], and they pushed the schedule three weeks in order for me to do this. So Warner Brothers and Fox were really great having this happen, and it worked out. ... The people got together. Fox was great with it, and they were very accommodating. What happened was ... I went to Vancouver, shot. Was there for three weeks, then came back. And started right on the show. I mean, the first day back I was downtown, on a horse with a [lance] in my hand. But ...the second week of being [in Vancouver], they were faxing ... me scripts for Angel. ... So it was a nice transition.
It must be difficult to balance a film career with a television show?
Boreanaz: What I basically have is a hiatus. ... With Valentine, they were able to push the schedule. With things that are coming up now because of the [actors'] strike, if a project does arise ... again, we'll go ask them for permission to either fly me back and forth or do this thing. I was going to do Resident Evil with Milla [Jovovich] and Michelle Rodriguez, and scheduling didn't work out this time.
You were also going to play novelist Jack Kerouac in Beat?
Boreanaz: Yes ... I was supposed to do that, too. That didn't work out as well because of the schedule. So sometimes, you find, you win some, you lose some. You got to take it for what it is.
You were also up for a role in the haunted submarine movie Below?
Boreanaz: The role was cast that I was [auditioning for]. ... It's still kind of up in the air with that right now. I know there's still some generated interest for me for one of the characters. But the one character that I went in and read for and met the director [David Twohy] for, they ended up [with someone else]. ... They had me [in mind] for another type of character. So I don't know what's going to happen with that. I found out just a couple of days ago. ... I just know he's one of the guys in the submarine.
What about other projects?
Boreanaz: I got offered to do Corto Maltese, a thing shooting in Cuba for, like, eight weeks. I play, like, this Harrison-Ford kind of adventure guy, which was really cool. And a couple of other offers. So, I think I'm just going to ... see what happens. Resident Evil is still there, a possibility. So, yeah, I'll see what happens. I didn't think [Valentine] was going to happen. This film came out of nowhere for me. ... This just kind of happened. It was right. And I think that's the way I'm going to approach it from now on.
Do you worry about being typecast in genre roles?
Boreanaz: I'll always be brooding, I guess [laughs]. Nah, it's not [really who I am]. I never thought about it. I do the work, and ... I have the utmost love and passion for my work. If it left tomorrow, it wouldn't bother me. I'd do theater, and figure it out. ... This has just given me an opportunity to show my stuff.
I don't really think about that. If I decided to think about that, then I think I would be so obsessed about it that it would kind of destroy me as a person. And I don't really kind of look into it. ... I look at it as me being able to explore a personality, a character, and transform that into any other roles that I may be doing and will be doing down the line. So, I never think about that, no. I don't worry about that.
What scares you?
Boreanaz: Chickens. Live chickens. Birds, chickens. Because they're very clucky, and feathery. ... They're just a little too jerky for me. ... That's not happening in my lifestyle.
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Also in this issue: Harry Selick, director of Monkeybone
