63rd Monte-Carlo TV Festival: David Boreanaz on Presiding Over the Fiction Jury; ‘SEAL Team’ & His Next Project
BY Yako Molhov
Popular U.S. actor and producer David Boreanaz, star of hit series 'Bones,' 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' 'Angel' and 'Seal Team,' served as the president of the Fiction Jury for the Golden Nymph Awards at the 63rd Monte-Carlo Television Festival, which took place June 14-18. Boreanaz, who has recently finished shooting the seventh and final season of 'SEAL Team,' sat down with TVBIZZ to talk about his experience as the Jury's president, his roles in 'Buffy, the Vampire Slayer', 'Bones', the series finale of 'Seal Team'; etc.
David Boreanaz and his son Jaden Rayne Boreanaz
The actor shared that serving as the president of the Fiction Jury at this year's Monte-Carlo Television Festival has been "a fascinating, humbling experience and I am honored to be part of this particular event, the other jurors have been fantastic, highly creative beautiful people that made our approach simple. We have to remember that this crop of series and film we were looking at were selected not by us, we don't know what the others had which was a challenge in a way because we only had a certain amount and we really decided to look at the moments of each piece - whether that is a silent moment, the way it was cut, the way the director approached it, the different types of lenses, the color, the pace, the rhythm - whether it was too long, if it could have been shorter. You have to look at all of that so we decided to take the best moments from each and cumulatively presented as the better of them because this is art and I don't like to judge art... Judging is a collaborative effort, they are all distinguished and they have done great stuff in their careers, they have seen so many things and experienced so much in their lives as artists, we were all in line with mostly everything, if we had any kind of a disagreement, we agreed to disagree and move on... It was insightful, compassionate, balanced, educated and came from these beautiful sources of experience...There's a gentleman I met who has become a really dear friend of mine, you are part of my fabric now and I look forward to working with him on something".

Talking about his family background, Boreanaz shared that he has both Italian and Slovak heritage. Regarding shooting projects in Central and Eastern Europe, the actor said that he would love to film in CEE and that "'Seal Team' allowed us to shoot in remote areas that were effective for its storytelling, for the plot. And you put the characters in this mad rush of adrenaline and the perspective of being with them adds to the character's drive; I've always thought that's the pace. Shooting in Jordan, shooting in Serbia, in Puerto Rico, now in Colombia is absolutely stunning. Working in areas in different parts of the world opens your eyes to other possibilities and I want to be able to continue to work around the world, I am location-based, I love it, always have." In August Paramount+ will offer the series finale of 'Seal Team' which wraps its run after seven seasons. On saying goodbye to a long-running series, Boreanaz said that "it is not hard if you have the right orchestrated circle of it and I mean the evolution of the character, the evolution of Jason Hayes, what we have gone through with him. For me personally - I will miss the crew, the family that you created, how you inspired each other, how you helped each other get through days and working conditions, that is the one thing you will miss the most. It is never "goodbye" in the entertainment industry, as I say "I will see you soon". The 'Seal Team' represented more than just a show about these special operators, it was bigger than us because the show is the show, it comes first... but I was in awe when I first started the show about what these guys do and how they save us, we don't even know sleeping at night comfortable, we have this freedom because of who is protecting us - regardless if it is Seals, SAS, etc. I take this show and how we shot it and I say "...put it up against any other show based on special operators or the military or any film for that matter - what we did, straight up even better, I would love to hear (about a similar) a show".

As far as potential reboots of his series are concerned, the actor said that "fans just love reboots, they want to be entertained, you want to sit down and watch something that excites you, there's fever to it, there's passion... Those stories will always live on, those moments will always facilitate themselves... Each character is always dependent upon where they are in their lives. As far as I'm concerned I don't know those answers (regarding a reboot of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer') because I'm not there at that bridge to say this this or that... I've always said doing anything would be 'Bones' oriented because of the easy simplicity of it, the dramedy, the hilariousness of this situation, it's a formula that was groundbreaking for a formulaic television that that broke that barrier of plot, that character drive is what's important in these shows - people emulated that and we're proud of that. Asking an actor if they'll go back and play a role - you are seeing a lot of that in films and they go back and they play a specific character - well, it doesn't really work and I don't quite get that, you can't be that character again unless, I always call it the Steve McQueen effect, you want to play it at the age where he is, not what he used to be and that's going to give a different perspective for fans 'he's putting it differently', he's using it to draw people... I can't sit here and tell you today, give you a straight answer to those types of questions (regarding a reboot, ed)".

David Boreanaz and the members of the Fiction Jury at the Opening Ceremony


At a later press meeting Boreanaz also hinted what could be his next project. The actor said that he was developing a series as a writer that he could also star in and produce. He did not reveal any details about the new project save for" “I am watching a lot of ‘The Sopranos’ right now.” Boreanaz told the journalists that the new series won't be about the mafia but added: “you know what, I love suits, I love style, I love cars.” Boreanaz also shared that he was in discussions with Paramount+ about developing future projects. “Yep, Paramount+ is a great group of people, and we have had discussions from a director’s perspective, from a producing perspective, from a lead’s perspective. So, some really good stuff is on the horizon.”
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