David Boreanaz on Getting the Balance Right on ‘SEAL Team’ “SEAL Team” is the last remaining show in a string of military series that debuted after “American Sniper.” That’s not exactly a surprise, as the cast and crew have found the right balance between mission and family, nailing the action and offering insight into the personal struggles operators face.
The show was a hit on CBS last season, and Season Two is coming out on October 3. Season One hits DVD this week, and series star David Boreanaz took the time to talk about the show with us.
Boreanaz has had a long and impressive run over the past two decades, starting with a starring role on the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” spinoff “Angel,” continuing his role as FBI agent Seeley Booth on “Bones” and joining “SEAL Team” last year. He has a huge fan base, including your grandma who never missed “Bones” and several generations who streamed “Buffy” and “Angel” on Netflix or Hulu. CBS knows how to make shows like “SEAL Team,” and David seems ready for another long run on the network.
The show also stars Jessica Paré (“Mad Men”) as the team’s CIA analyst and Michaela McManus (“Law & Order: SVU”) as Jason’s wife Alana. Ray Perry (“Straight Outta Compton”), A.J. Buckley (“Justified”), Max Theriot (“Bates Motel”) and Tyler Gray (a real-life Army Ranger and one of the show’s producers) round out the team, while Toni Trucks (“NCIS: New Orleans”) plays the team’s logistics officer.
Congratulations to the show. We’ve covered a lot of military dramas on our site over the past few years, and yours is one that resonates with people. So what do you think it is about “SEAL Team” that resonates with audiences?
They know we’re staying true to what we’re trying to do here. Every scene we shot last season was difficult. And when I say difficult, it’s a challenge to overcome adversity and a challenge to do it right and not just ignore the truth of what they’re doing. We don’t want to make it seem easy, but show how difficult it is.
RELATED: Why Former Army Ranger Tyler Gray Works With ‘SEAL Team’ We work hard to do things right. We have veterans like Tyler Gray involved in the show. Their involvement is such a blessing in itself that we don’t take anything for granted. It’s a lot of work, but I think it’s worth it because we’re talking about season two here. It’s amazing. We’ve created such a strong brotherhood on set with all the characters who have done it off set, and I think that really helps the relationship as well.
So I was talking to my 19-year-old daughter this morning and she’s a huge fan of “Angel.” We realize that you’ve been a main character on TV her entire life. That’s an incredible accomplishment.
I just go to work and go to work and come home happy. I just focus on the scene and not like what’s going to happen tomorrow or next week or next year. I just work within the confines of that moment in that scene. And I guess it just adds up, right? Hey, we’re there. I don’t know.
Tyler Gray talked to us last year right before the show aired. What was your training like and what was the mechanics of working with professionals like? How did you actually blend that together when you made the show?
Let’s break it down into two versions. For a TV show, it’s a great balance between the military world and the family world. I focus on the character, I focus on the character’s traits, I focus on everything that he can bring and fill his shoes with what I can bring.
For me, the family aspect of it is huge, the brotherhood and the military aspect of them working, their lives outside of that are even more important because that’s the story we want to tell. We want to show how they relate to their families and how they overcome things and deal with things that people don’t see.
The military aspect of it is a whole different animal. We go and we shoot the operations and the missions. We rehearse. Whatever we’re doing, we do it. Tyler’s there. We do the dialogue, we tweak the dialogue right before we shoot. Does this work, does it look right?
We’re constantly looking at body position, approach. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from some of the guys: “Yeah, you’re holding the gun wrong, you need to drop your shoulder more.”
