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Angel's
New Wings- Dreamwatch #108 September 2003
- Looking
forward to another season of Angel? So is
actor David Boreanaz, who next year will step
behind the camera to direct at least one episode
of the series in which he portrays television's
most heroic vampire. From the set of the latest
instalment of the Crow franchise, The Crow:
Wicked Prayer, Boreanaz spoke to dreamwatch
about the welcome challenges of this
past season, what it was like to reunite with
Sarah Michelle Gellar for the Buffy The Vampire
Slayer series finale and why he couldn't resist
the opportunity to work with Dennis Hopper
and play a dastardly villain during his summer
hiatus.
-
- Looking
back on this past season, how do you feel
you were able to stretch as an actor? Did
any of the episodes present any kind of unique
challenge?
- All
of them were challenging to me. There's always
something in each episode that spins me in
a certain direction, makes me think about
how am I going to play Angel here, how do
I make sure his personality comes through,
how can you play bad when you wand to make
it a little bit more complex. It's a tough
question. All the episodes were really fulfilling
for me this year. There were maybe some spots
I didn't enjoy, but more or less it was pretty
good.
-
- You
get to play Angelus again. Is that fun for
you as an actor? Is it a nice change of pace
to play the dark side of the character, instead
of being so heroic all the time?
- Oh
yeah. Everybody loves the dark side. I think
I have such a complex lifestyle myself, so
maybe a lot of that just feeds into Angelus.
There's so much going on in your world that
you find avenues to exorcise that. I'm not
saying that I'm a vicious psychopathic killer,
but I just mean in general your frame of mind
helps. You can over-exaggerate that and heighten
it and explore it and make it real, put something
behind it...
-
- That
must save you on therapy bills then?
- I
do still go to therapy. Therapy itself helps
bring up tons of stuff and then you can just
take that and say, 'Alright, I'll use this...'
-
- What
was it like for you to go back to appear in
the Buffy The Vampire Slayer series finale?
- It
was fun. It was a reunion of sorts between
Sarah and I and some of the cast people that
were still there and the crew members. It
was stepping back into those shoes and seeing
those two characters together again, which
I'm sure the fans will really like. It's good
to give them that which they've been asking
for quite some time now. We had a good time.
It was pretty painless.
Did you and Sarah Michelle Gellar fall
into your old rapport?- We
pretty much did. That's what's so great about
her and the rapport that the two of us have.
We just stepped back into those shoes and
had some fun. All I can say is that the fans
saw those characters where they wanted to
see them. Again, it's probably going to be
an open ending, but hey, that's life [laughs]...
How do you think Buffy's departure from
the air will affect Angel?- I
don't think the end of their show would affect
our show. I think that it maybe would help
it. Maybe more viewers would come watch us.
It's interesting that you chose to work
in the genre during your hiatus. What made
you want to sign on to do the next installment
in the Crow franchise?
- I
read the script and I was instantly attached
to the themes going on and the rhythm of the
script and the dialogue. It's really wicked
and juicy, sarcastic and extremely out there.
Again, here's an almost four-dimensional character
which I get to play. He's evil, and then he's
really evil and then he's like the anti-Christ.
He travels in a group of four, and he's the
head of the gang. Dennis Hopper turns him
into the devil, basically, which is really
cool. The opportunity to work with Dennis,
and then also the director [Lance Mungia]
was new and fresh. The last film he did [1998's
Six-String Samurai] was, I felt, really cutting-edge
and had a really cool vision to it the way
he shot it. I think it's a perfect fit for
the Crow franchise.
-
- How
does working with someone like Dennis Hopper
affect your own acting style?
- It
takes it up a couple of notches. In the case
of Dennis Hopper, he's a screen legend. He's
an idol. He's been in the business for 49
years. He's worked on films like Giant. He
worked with James Dean. When you work with
someone like that, you watch, you learn, you
observe and that energy gets into you. It's
very contagious in a good way. You try different
things because he enlightens you. Unconsciously
or consciously, whether you know it or not...
Are you taking anything away from this
experience that you think you'll be able to
use on Angel next season?- Oh
yeah. Every season with the show has been
a great learning experience for me. You set
the bar at a very high level, which I've been
doing every season and continue to do because
it challenges me as an actor and keeps things
interesting. You don't really want to fall
into the routine of it because then it becomes
boring. Then you don't want to do it. Here,
you get the chance to set the bar even higher
and challenge yourself scene after scene,
as long and as tedious as that can be. As
long as I can keep pinpointing where I want
to push myself in certain areas, emotionally
and physically, I know that I'm in the right
direction.
You mention the idea of playing one character
for so long. How do you keep that interesting
and are you looking forward to changing things
at all next season?- People
ask me that question a lot, and I'm looking
at somebody who's about 248 years old, just
as far as the character description is concerned.
So, this character inhabits a lot of genres.
He works in a dark genre, but he's action
adventure, he's romantic, he's sarcastic comedy,
which I've enjoyed playing and pulling out
of him. I think more of that will come this
year with the way they've set the show up.
I think Joss [Whedon]'s plan is to have more
standalone shows and have more fun with it.
I really enjoy that aspect of Angel, putting
him in awkward situations and having tht kind
of sarcastic comedy come out of him. The show's
never been boring for me. I've never found
it to be that way.
There's been a lot of talk that Joss Whedon
will be more hands on with Angel now that
Buffy has concluded. How would you describe
his role with regard to the next season of
Angel?
He has been very hands on from the beginning
of the show. Last year, he had Firefly, he
had Buffy and Angel, three major shows to
run, which took a lot of his time and energy.
But he did oversee every show that was on
the air and looked at every script that Angel
had, and he's been doing that since day one
with the show. I think his level of envolvement
personally will be a tad bit higher. I know
that he's going to be directing some. I know
there are other things that are on his plate
that he wants to develop, but first and foremost,
there's Angel. I think the energy level will
be a little bit higher, but I don't think
it's going to be that drastic a change. I
saw the development of the stories and the
scripts last year and they're all Joss Whedon's
moves and changes and transitions.-
- James
Marsters is going to become a regular on the
show, too. That seems sure to create an interesting
dynamic.
- That's
what I heard. It is an interesting dynamic.
I can see how it can work, and I question
how it could work. That's something for the
master writers to come up with. I can see
where the connection can work and happen.
I'm also kind of confused about how it can
happen, but I'm sure that will all be answered
in the months to come.
-
- Do
you have any plans to step behind the camera
next season?
- I
know I'll be directing episode seven, which
will be interesting and a lot of fun. To be
able to step behind the camera and direct
since I'm in every damn scene, I'll really
use a lot of help from people around me. I
directed a lot of scenes last year, so now
I'm actually going to direct an episode. I
look forward to doing that, to a whole kind
of new beginning. The way we left the show
on the season finale really opened the door.
It was kind of a pilot shot for the next season
the way Tim [Minear] did it. He did such a
great job with it. That's really what the
show has been about - to have fun with it.
-
- Can
you reveal anything about the episode you're
going to be directing?
- I
probably won't know anything about it until
two days before it starts shooting [laughs].
That's generally the way that it works! I
think that this season will tend to be more
standalone shows. I don't think the arcs will
be as heavy. The humour level's going to be
way up there. I think it's going to be even
different types of humour, and we're going
to see each character that's involved in the
show expand on their horizons and their potential,
rather than being stuck in a hotel. It's going
to thrive on humour as well as standalone
shows that won't be so muddled and thick with
exposition and plot. It's going to be fun.
Hopefully [laughs]
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