BTVS #9 - Aug/Sept 2003

The Latest Angel Season has come to an end. Various apocalypses have been avoided. And the show's leading man, David Boreanaz, now has time to drop in for a quick chat about season four as well as the exciting season that can't come soon enough - Season Five!

Shiny Happy Angel - Interview by Ian Spelling 

David Boreanaz is all smiles. You would be, too, if you were the star of a television series that, after some excruciating and nail-biting moments, just got picked up for a fifth season and was handed just about the best possible timeslot. David Boreanaz and Angel will both be back later this year on the WB, and the network is popping Angel in its Wednesday night, post-Smallville slot, which should result in a ratings boost or, at the very least, some new viewer sampling. But that's not all David has to be happy about: he's just won Best Actor in this year's Saturn Awards; it's now confirmed that for Buffy co-star James Marsters will lug Spike's tortured (and currently dead) soul over to Angel and become a series regular in Season Five; Jaden Boreanaz, son of David and his wife, actress Jaime Bergman, turned one year old a few days earlier; and David was enjoying a few weeks of family time before shooting his next movie, The Crow: Wicked Prayer. Buffy Magazine headed to Manhatten as the Angel star chatted to the media.

Let's go back to the start. How would you say that Angel, as a show, has evolved?

The show was a mismatch at the beginning. It was a lonely show. You could see some really interesting things in the pilot, though, that we don't have as much of now, that I wish we had. In the pilot, Angel jumped into a car and knew it wasn't his. I loved that kind of humour. I look back at the pilot and I was really pleased. Of course, when you're doing it you're so involved that you can't really take a step back and look at it objectively, for what it is. I looked at it a few weeks ago, though, and I was blown away by what we didd, by how we did it in the [limited] time we had. Everybody involved was great and we had a blast.

The first season had a lot of standalone episodes. It was about trying to find the show's voice, which characters fit and which ones didn't. Seasons Two and Three had a little of that, too. The characters were going off in their own directions, working on cases, developing relationships. Angel was part of the group and then away from the group and then part of the group again. Sometimes it got pretty dark for everyone. And now, after Season Four, I think we're going to come back [for Season Five] a little lighter and probably with some more humor. I'm exited.

You've got to be amazed by the show's good fortune. It could have been cancelled, and now the show is coming back and doing so in the much-desired post-Smallville timeslot? How concerned were you that Angel might not make the cut?

I really wouldn't say that I was worried or optimistic. I take every season as a season and when I'm done with the 22 I say to myself, 'Okay, that's it.' I've got to think, 'Okay, it's over. It's done.' And then when we get the order for another 22, then it's time to focus on the next season. So, sure there's some anxiety. You're anxious to find out. A lot of people work on this show and are counting on it for work. I wanted to come back, especially because of where this show started and where it's gotten to. It's at a really good crest right now. It's riding really well. You wanted to see it come back for a fifth season. You want to see its continuation. You want to see it go in a direction that's good for the characters, that's good for the writers, that's good for the cast, and that's fun for the viewers.

Which Fourth Season episodes were you most pleased with?

I really enjoyed the episodes that revealed to everyone that Cordelia was the Big Bad ["Players" and "Inside Out"] and where you got to see Angelus out of his cage ["Soulless"] He was walking around, free-wheeling, and with the crazy personality that he has. So that was enjoyable. I really liked the season opener ["Deep Down"]. We got off to a really strong start with that. I think the Vegas episode ["The House Always Wins"] had its moments.

Overall, I think the Faith episodes ["Salvage, Release and Orpheus"] were the best. I really like working with Eliza. We just rip it up on the set and I think that showed on the screen. We had a blast. I thought that Faith fit right into our storyline. That was a testimony to the strength of Eliza's character, this character she helped to create. And I think Eliza coming back was fantastic.

I also thought the [final] arc with Gina Torres as Jasmine was really interesting and crazy. Jasmine prophesised a lot, but she was also this very strong, dark force who brought a lot of change. She was a very free-loving character, let's say.

You looked as if you were having a blast playing Angelus. Were you?

I enjoy it when Angelus is out of that cage. It was tough to be in that cage for almost two episodes. I physically had nowhere to go and was basically just standing there. I had fun tormenting everyone, and it was okay the first couple of days, but after that I started to get a little stir-crazy standing there in that damn cage. I like it better when he's out and about and mixing it up with people. That's when you really see his true colours. To be able to go back and play him is refreshing. But what happens is I'll play Angelus for a while and miss Angel, because Angel's got so much to go on. When that Angelus arc stopped I was playing Angel again, and I was playing him in a different light because he'd just been Angelus and because of the circumstances with Faith and Jasmine.

And how about "Home" the Fourth Season finale? Did you like the way that came together?

I loved the finale. I loved what we did with the characters, how they handled everything with Cordelia and Connor at the end. There was one scene that they cut out, though, which I really liked. It was probably a time thing. We were way over on the show to begin with, so things got cut. There was a scene between Fred and me. I was getting healed up from all the wounds I'd suffered during the long battle I'd had with Jasmine over the episodes whe was on the show. Fred was putting stuff on me and I was talking to her about how Connor wasn't the same and how he was acting weird the last time I saw him, when he took off. It was a good scene but ["Home" writer-director] Tim Minear cut that out. I'll have to ask him, but I'm pretty sure it was a time thing. But I really like the episode.

I loved the whole Charlie and The Chocolate Factory idea. I thought that was fantastic. You take every character and you put them into what they're best at. Having us at Wolfram and Hart opens up all sorts of opportunities for our characters, and the opportunity to introduce new characters is just phenomenal. Man, I'm ready to run the chocolate factory. I really am.

And now what? You're in the chocolate factory. What have you not done yet as this character that you want to play before the camera?

I think that with Angel there's still so much more to do. I say that because he's got so many deep issues and problems. There's a lot of shaddow with this character. He's got a dark side and a good side and he's trying to merge them together. He's always kept them so seperate and now he's trying to bring them together. It's like self-therapy session with this guy and you could go on for years with hime because, emotionally, there's so much going on. He's been through so much and done so much and seen so much that there's a whole lot more story to tell as far as this character goes. We had that episode that was like Adaptation, where I battled my own conscious. That was really fun, really cool.

Angel has a remarkably loyal fan-base. Why? Why do people love these characters and this show?

The network moves us around and we still have our fanbase that won't leave us. That's a testament to [co-creator and co-executive producer] Joss [Whedon] and the writers and to the fans and the cult status of the show. People are just so into this show, into these characters. It's an appealing show to watch. It's very intelligent. It's very witty. It has a lot going for it. I think that, looking at it now as a whole, somebody probably said, 'It would be a shame not to give it another season.' I really believe that where it is now, as the end of Season Four, is more exciting than where it had been at the end of [each of] the first three seasons. We're in a good place to take it to the next level and hopefully increase our fanbase.

You returned to Sunnydale for the last two Buffy episodes, "End of Days" and "Chosen". What was that experience like?

To work with Sarah [Michelle Gellar] again for two shows was great. To step into those shoes and see those characters together again was great, and it was great for the fans, too. The fans wanted to see that. It was a good story and it made sense. Buffy was always about story, and the stories were always so damn good.

And let's switch to a totally different kind of experience. What are you making of fatherhood?

It's fantastic. It's really good. It's about constant improvising. On a day-to-day basis you're learning more about yourself. It's a beautiful experience to see a child learn things and grow. I'm having a great time. I've heard people say that I'm a happier guy since we've had the baby, and that's very accurate. I think that the fourth season of Angel was a testament to having a child. It helped my work. You become a better person. How could you not?