How David Boreanaz went from teenage heartthrob to procedural heavyweight
Participating in a  TV procedural can give many actors breakthrough roles, turning them into international stars. Actors like Matthew Gray Gubler, Pauley Perette, Mariska Hargitay and Emily Deschanel have become stars thanks to their roles in shows like Crime Minds, NCIS, Law & Order and Bones. The stars of this series often make a name for themselves through their work on Detective So and So. However, there are times when an actor has made a name for himself in a completely different genre before landing a role in a television series. That is the case of David Boreanaz.

Before landing their breakout leading role, actors like NCIS’s Mark Harmon appeared in many similar procedural shows, such as Adam-12, Emergency!, St. Elsewhere and Chicago Hope. Already quite famous in the world of television movies and series, these actors didn’t need to transition too much when taking on these newer roles. On the other hand, David Boreanaz’s journey to becoming a procedural with roles on shows like Bones wasn’t entirely linear.
Updated on February 6, 2024 by Florencia Aberastury: David Boreanaz is a talented and prolific actor who forged his way into one of the most recognized faces on television. This article has been updated to include more information about his career, as well as bring it in line with current CBR standards.
For fans of police procedurals, David Boreanaz is now Seeley Booth, a polite and upright belt geek and an extraordinary FBI agent. More recently, he was Jason Hayes, the fierce leader of the world’s fiercest Navy SEAL unit. Step back a little further into his history, however, and it suddenly becomes clear that this grizzled war hero and funny guy typecasting wasn’t always his forte. Boreanaz actually began her career in a bloodier way – as the brooding love interest Angel on the beloved late ’90s series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer thrust David Boreanaz into the spotlight as a typical typical teenager. In Buffy, Angel is somewhat of a blueprint for more modern male vampires, such as Twilight’s Edward Cullen and True Blood’s Bill Compton. David Boreanaz had the opportunity through Buffy to define the genre. From Stefan Salvatore to Roman Godfrey, the tragically beautiful bloodsucker can trace its origins to a very soulful vampire: the Angel.
The discovery of David Boreanaz as an actor sounds as much of a fairy tale ending as any well-timed Buffy revival. He embodies the phrase “right place, right time” as an ordinary day walking the dog turns into a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The most important criterion that casting director Marcia Shulman set for hidden beauty is just that: otherworldly appearance. Luckily for Boreanaz, his sharp expression was exactly what the zombie doctor had ordered.
What’s more surprising than his origin story, however, is what he decided to do after Boreanaz’s impressive performance on Buffy and its subsequent spinoff, Angel. It seems like the romantic role of “male lead” will be his choice after so many years of playing that exact role, but staying true to his unique path to fame, Boreanaz has found his next male lead. I’m in an unexpected place. The beloved procedural bones ran from 2005 to 2017 — an impressive 12 years — and developed a devoted fan base to rival other popular genre shows, such as NCIS and The Thought criminal. The idea behind Bones is undeniably appealing; With no easy method of identification obtained from a fresh corpse, genius anthropologist Temperance Brennan spends his time chasing not only the identity of the killer but also that of the victim.
Besides a solid concept, Bones also has its signature procedural element of a quirky cast of misfit characters. However, the person who ties all these characters together is none other than FBI agent Seeley Booth. Boreanaz delighted fans with his diverse abilities that he previously could not show in Buffy and Angel. The lawyer in his books perfectly balances more unique characters like Dr. Brennan and Angela Montenegro. Booth was even the first to give Dr. Brennan the nickname “Bones”, the show’s main character.