David Boreanaz, star of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Bones” and “SEAL Team,” teased his next project while attending the Monte-Carlo Television Festival on Monday.
Boreanaz, who just finished filming the seventh and final season of “SEAL Team,” said he is developing a series as a screenwriter that he could also star in and produce. When asked about what that might be, he simply said, “I’m watching a lot of ‘The Sopranos’ right now.”
However, when asked if it would be about the Mafia, he replied, “No.” But he added, “You know, I like suits, I like style, I like cars.”
Boreanaz said his writing skills are developing. “I’m really good at writing dialogue. I’m really good at that. I’m getting better at structure. You know, it’s a work in progress for me. But I like character analysis. I like, you know, plotting and all that stuff. So creative, yeah. I’m really good at creating.”
Boreanaz confirmed that he’s in talks with Paramount+, the streaming unit of “SEAL Team,” about developing future projects. “Yeah, Paramount+ is a great group of people and we’ve had discussions from a director’s perspective, from a producer’s perspective, from a showrunner’s perspective. So some really good stuff is on the horizon.”
When asked if he would work with Taylor Sheridan, co-creator of Paramount’s “Yellowstone” and “Mayor of Kingstown,” Boreanaz replied, “Obviously I would work with Taylor Sheridan, of course. He’s great. But I would be my own Taylor Sheridan.”
According to Boreanaz, a film version of “SEAL Team” is still a possibility. “As far as the movie, I still feel like a movie could easily happen after a while,” he said. “With the way we shoot the show, the locations, and being fortunate enough to go to certain places in the world, making the show, telling these stories, and the dynamics of these people, [this story] could be picked up at any time. So without giving away any end to the development of the series and where it goes, it’s kind of open-ended and I don’t want to say dead.”
Boreanaz, who is serving as the president of the fiction jury at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival this week, also spoke about issues outside of show business.
Referring to the veterans he met while filming “SEAL Team” who wanted to receive from the U.S. government, he said: “For me, one of the greatest gifts I’ve received… [he sighs and regains his composure]… It touches me and I’ll tell you why: When someone says to you, and they’re a military executive, ‘Thank you. You saved my life. I was suicidal last night, but I watched your show, I saw something that made me want to get help.’ That’s the greatest compliment I could get from being on a show like this. For men and women in the military, or veterans, there needs to be a constant reminder every day that they should be celebrated every day. There needs to be health care, insurance across the board. That’s just my perspective on it.”
Whether there’s a particularly valuable memento he keeps from a past show or an award, he instead mentioned something much more personal: “A letter from my mother that was written to me when I was traveling around Europe with my best friend. And she was staying at Ashford Castle, and she wrote… [he pauses] me a letter. It was an award,” he said quietly. Although he didn’t elaborate, the memory clearly stirred some deep emotions in him.