[Photo: © 2010 FOX Broadcasting Co.]

Question: I read somewhere that you might be directing an episode this season. Can you tell us something about that?

D. Boreanaz: Yes. I’m actually directing one. It’ll be over the Thanksgiving break. I don’t know the storyline yet or the breakdown of it. When I do, I’ll let everybody know about it, but I’m looking forward to it and looking forward to putting on a different hat, sure.

Question: Have you done any directing at all?

D. Boreanaz: Yes, I have. I’ve directed in the past, yes.

Question: So, this will be not totally new for you.

D. Boreanaz: Not totally new, but definitely new because it’s a whole new show and a new environment. When you work day in and day out with these guys, it makes it a little bit easier.

Question: Just a quick thing; you mentioned Moonlighting. I was wondering if you’re ever worried that maybe if they carry the romance between the characters a little too far whether it’ll have the problems that Moonlighting had.

D. Boreanaz: Yes, I know. I hope that it doesn’t. I think that the more we can keep the characters away the better. I do believe that you don’t want to give too much away.

Question: I know you and Emily are both producing on this show and I was just wondering what involvement you both are having really in the storylines and suggesting new things for the writers and producers.

D. Boreanaz: Well, again, we bring in a lot of our improvisational moments and character stuff. So, all this character stuff and improvisational stuff that you see is our ideas. It really is a moment of reworking scripts, dialogue and changing some things here or there and going through Hart and telling him about it and saying, “We have an idea for this,” or “We’d like the scene to kind of develop this way rather than this way.” So, it’s really a lot of character stuff and ideas that we have that we implement into the storyline and/or into a script.

Question: I love the bit in the season premiere where you’re trying to crack the Queen’s guard, like trying to getting him to smile or something. Was that your idea, or was that something that was written in the script?

D. Boreanaz: Well, at first, it was written a certain way. It was a much longer scene than it was, actually, the way it came out. The idea of the way it was written first was that kind of stare down and me trying to break him, but what we wanted to do was we worked the scene where it was more or less me trying to catch him breaking and actually thinking I did break him when he blinked and all that stuff. So, just turning it around and making it a bit more of a non-predictable scene, because at first– I mean Booth would know who he’s messing with and I think the scene was originally saying like he doesn’t know who he’s messing with. It’s stuff like that that we change around.

I know he’s a Queen’s guard. I know that I can get in trouble. I understand that, so I explain that in the front of the scene rather than me not saying anything at all about that. There are things like that that we just change around.

Question: This might be premature, but have you thought about beyond Bones, like when the series does come to an end many years down the line? Do you want to stay in TV, or do you have your eye on film? What are you thinking?

D. Boreanaz: I focus primarily just really what’s happening in the moment. Obviously, I always like to plant seeds. I planted some seeds, whether that’s developing a show myself to take to a network, getting on board that way. To me, it’s always been something I’d like to do. It’s exciting – develop a story and an idea for a show.

Obviously, film work would be fantastic. It’s just finding time. It’s developing into a leading man that I’m doing right now. So, I’m comfortable with that.

Question: Just switching gears a little bit, what were your favorite TV shows when you were growing up and the kind of guy that you watched on TV?

D. Boreanaz: Well, growing up, it was like Starsky & Hutch, Planet of the Apes, Chico and the Man, Soap… I mean that’s for like the early days when I remember watching television, stuff like that. Those are the things that kind of influenced me.

Question: What about those characters like totally got you as a viewer?

D. Boreanaz: Well, I mean Starsky & Hutch, it was just two guys. They were really cool in a car that just did stuff. Chico and the Man was an unorthodox kind of comedy and Freddie Prinze was just an amazing talent; Soap, a great humorous dialogue. Then also like all the Norman Lear stuff. I mean his dialogue is priceless. You couldn’t even show some of that stuff today the way that was written. I mean to me, that’s the best stuff ever put out there. You can’t touch that stuff. Even today if you aired some of that stuff, it would be too much for network television. I mean that’s just way smart and not being able to identify it at the time, but being affected by it obviously because I remember it now. That’s stuff I inspire to. So, things like that.

Question: Yes, it had a lot of social commentary. Earlier you mentioned wanting to sort of emulate the Moonlighting character. Bruce Willis obviously had a brilliant career. Are you still looking toward movies and kind of following the arc of his career path?

D. Boreanaz: I’d love to, yes. I actually bumped into him I think it was the second season of Bones and I bumped into him and he couldn’t have been nicer. If I had to model anything, it would be like kind of a list of him or the way his career has unfolded and getting a really good action piece, to really jump into something that I love to do. I mean I think one thing the show misses out is using more action stuff with me. I think they used maybe 3% or 4% in the past three years and I know Hart is going to focus more on doing more action sequences that help that in this area because I mean it’s just one area that I love to do. I love doing that kind of stuff.

James Garner too was big. He was fantastic.

Question: What did Bruce say about the series or did he say, “Hey, I saw”–

D. Boreanaz: No, he was very cool. He’s like, “Yes, I know the series.” He said, “You’re doing a great job.” I said, “Well, I’m trying to follow in your footsteps, following your lead because I have such high respect for you” and he couldn’t have been nicer.

Question: I was curious; how does he London version of Brennan and Booth do the job compared to Brennan and Booth? Do they do it different?

D. Boreanaz: I don’t think they did it differently, but they did it similarly, just with a different tactic. One of our focuses going into the London show that we worked on specifically was when we were around them, seeing the two of them, we kind of mirrored them. We looked at them and said, “Wow, that’s really us.” That kind of helped with our connection, our relationship with them.

Question: Earlier, you mentioned that you take Zack out of prison for some help and then you put him back in.

D. Boreanaz: Well, I don’t take him out of prison. He escapes. I’ll just say that.

Question: Does that mean that the Gormagon storyline comes back?

D. Boreanaz: God, I hope not. Gee, I hated that.

Question: I thought that was awesome.

D. Boreanaz: Gormagon or whatever. Yes, I was out on that one. I’m not a big fan.

Question: So, you don’t know if that’s coming back or not.

D. Boreanaz: I don’t think it is, no.

Question: Sorry, this is going to touch on Gormagon again. Is there any fall out from how Seeley sees himself as an agent from that whole experience because this was someone you saw all the time?

D. Boreanaz: No, not really because I think things will be explained a little bit deeper when Zack comes back for an episode.

Question: I understand that Grave Digger is making a reappearance.

D. Boreanaz: Yes, that’ll be good. That’s something that we kind of kept open ended. That show was originally shot as a closed show and then they recut the ending and it’s become a fan favorite. So, we should definitely have a visit from him again.

D. Boreanaz: I just want to thank everybody for responding to our show and supporting us for the past few years. We look forward to a really good fourth season and some good surprises ahead.

[Note: In case you are interested, I highlighted my own questions in navy. That way, those of you who asked me those questions will know that I was thinking of you when I asked David about them.]

Read Part 1 of the Interview