David Boreanaz on CBS’ ‘SEAL Team’ and Tonight’s Game-Changing Episode

The CBS series SEAL Team is switching things up, as Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz) and Bravo Team learn that an entire team of their SEAL brothers has been ambushed and killed, leading to an immediate departure when their deployment date is moved up. As the men leave their families behind for Afghanistan, viewers will get to experience the underlying toll it takes on everyone during deployment, as they work to find those responsible. The series also stars Max Thieriot, Neil Brown Jr., AJ Buckley, Toni Trucks and Jessica Paré.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actor David Boreanaz talked about this shift in the series, what sort of headspace the team is in, as a result of what’s happened, balancing the family moments with the action, why he still does as much of the action himself as possible, directing an upcoming episode, whether he’d like to direct a feature film, and why SEAL Team is the right fit for him.

Collider: With this next episode, you’re going to start to change things up a bit with the show. What led to that decision and how did you feel about that decision when you found out the direction the series would be going in?

DAVID BOREANAZ: Well, I didn’t find out about it. I knew that we were always, from the beginning, as a producer, going to take the show into deployment. That was always the plan, rather than just saying, “Hey, we’re gonna go on a deployment for one episode, and then come back.” What’s important is to get it right, and CBS allowed us to do that. They were on board to allow us to shoot the show the way we want to shoot it, with the style and look. Taking it on deployment gives us an opportunity to have two different shows in one show. You’re with a group of high-risk Tier 1 operators that are at the highest level, as far as what they do and the dangers involved with keeping us safe, which is little seen in our lives at home. How Bin Laden was taken out, even what the President saw is not really what you see on our show ‘cause he saw satellite footage. We go inside, we go in the barracks, and we go now into deployment on the base and show what is behind those walls. You want to look at it as a M*A*S*H environment, where everyone drinks their own moonshine and they’re out laughing and singing by the bonfire. We show how they bring their lives from afar into this. The story I had from one of them was that he would bring fresh grass to J-Bad, so that he could smell grass because it reminds him of home. We have a tomato garden that Jason is going to be tending to. You’ll see them bringing what they love to a place that they have to make home, which is horribly risky and, at all times, on the edge of your seat. It will be fun.

Not that things weren’t real before, but things are about to get very real for these guys, with a whole team of their SEAL brothers getting killed in action. What sort of headspace are they in, as a result of what’s happened and what they now have to do?

BOREANAZ: It’s a fast tidying up to get out, first of all. It’s even faster when they find out that after the entire Echo Team that they lost, the Bravo Team has to go in and not only take care of finding out who did that, which they will and which will be an arduous task, but they’ve gotta sleep in those bunks. Now, you’re seeing guys that are going over and quickly replacing Echo Team and sleeping in the bunks of the guys that were just killed, 24 hours prior. They’ve gotta keep their head in their gear and not think about it too much. From that, there will be a lot of cracks and a lot of wild nights, out in the base. Also, they have to deal with figuring out who did this. We’re talking about some contract killers that will be involved and a whole plot that will unravel with a lot of characters driving that. There’s the relationship with Jason and Mandy. There’s a relationship with a new girl that’s coming that could be a romantic interest for Jason and how he handles that.

What do you most enjoy about getting to play the family moments on this show?

BOREANAZ: I like the fact that Jason is so conflicted, internally, being a Navy SEAL Tier 1 guy. Their brains and their mentalities are really just wired to go. They don’t think about it, they just go. So, when you have moments with family, you have to downshift. The gears grind in their heads while they try to figure that out and make sense of it. They feel like a bunch of misfit toys in a family environment that brings them to wonder if they’re doing the right thing. And then, you find these silent moments where it’s sad because they want to be there for their son’s graduation or first communion, or a girl’s first dance, but they can’t, so they struggle with that. You tend to see a lot of break-ups and separations and PTSD or drug abuse. It’s very dark, but yet it’s also very humorous, in a way, how they deal with injuries. They try to laugh themselves out of pain. It’s crazy to think about how a guy who just got his arm blown off is doing Tommy Boy quotes to get through it. I don’t know how they do it. Something goes off in their mind, and it’s full speed.

Do you still try to do as much of the action as you can, or have you learned to let the stunt people do the stunts when they think it’s best for them to be doing it?

BOREANAZ: I do a lot of it. My body doesn’t respond and recover the way it used to, but I do 95% of it. I love doing it. I walk off with a lot of limping and soreness, the next day, but it’s fun. War wounds are good. But I still have a stunt person. In the pilot, I didn’t jump off the bow of the boat on the cargo ship, even though I wanted to. He was like, “No, dude, you’ll break your neck with your helmet on!” So, I was like, “Okay, I’m all set.”

You’ve previously directed episodes of Bones. Have you given any thought about tackling an episode of SEAL Team? Is that something you’d like to do, down the road?

BOREANAZ: Yeah, I’m going to be doing Episode 21, which will be fun.

Does it feel very different or more challenging on this show?

BOREANAZ: It’s a different type of show. You’re really there with them. I do know that Episode 21 will involve a crash site, helicopter and people injured. I’ll shoot it very POV and very real-time. I love real-time contained episodes. Episode 10 was like that, setting that tone where you’re always up against something because of time. I think our show operates best in real-time. That’s something I’ve advocated for a long time, and we’ll see more of that. I think that’s really the mark of our show, being with these characters, live and in real-time, in their workplace and in their environment. You thread in some personal moments and keep that alive with the characters to drive the plot. I don’t like to get involved with plot heavy shows or procedural shows. If you asked me to do Law & Order, that’s not me. I’d be so confused. I really would.

The more experience that you get as a director, have you thought about directing a feature film?

BOREANAZ: I think that would be fun. In today’s landscape, television, features and plays are all intermingled. How you approach it is different and the timing is different, as far as how much time you have to do a project. Being in television for so many years, you get so many pages done in one day, as opposed to a film with a high budget, where you can work on that. With a low budget, you have 16 days or 28 days to shoot something with a certain budget. It helps to drive the TV formula of getting things done, when on an independent film, because you’re used to doing it that way. I’m sure that will happen. I just work presently, in the moment, and I don’t really look ahead.

And you’re a little bit busy right now.

BOREANAZ: Yeah, to say the least. But, no one knows what will happen tomorrow.

I don’t think there’s anything more haunting than the visual of coffins draped in the American flag. What was it like to film that moment? Is it impossible not to be affected by seeing a visual like that, even if it is for a TV show that you’re making? 

BOREANAZ: It is a very strong visual, knowing the circumstances, in passing that. It’s your fallen brothers and you’re lost because there’s no brother left behind. When that happens, it’s just heavy. Losing a brother is very difficult for them. It was a very impactful moment to see that image and be on the other end, behind the eyes of the character, looking at that. It changes them forever. They stand together to find out how this happened and take care of it. Their job is to take care of it, and they will take care of it, but not without some casualties.

When you signed on for SEAL Team, what made it the right fit for you, especially coming straight off of Bones?

BOREANAZ: I liked the idea that there was nothing there, to be quite honest with you. I read the pilot and the character was just written blah. It was like, “Here’s a free canvas.” I could pretty much do what I wanted to do, and that was fun. I could create. I could paint and make something of that. And then, secondly, it was really Chris Chulack. I signed on for his vision. Chris is an amazing, passion director who can see the show for what he wants to do and knows how to shoot these shows. His vision, alone, was the most important to me. And getting on the phone with one of the real guys was also important. It came to me and I passed on it, and then it came back to me, and that was another sign that I should be doing it. As arduous as it is, getting things done, at times, and getting the scripts right, there’s so much joy in it because I love the crew and I love the cast. We create such great dynamic moments while we shoot it. It’s like a family. These people are such a group of misfits and they do such a great job. They’re just so unique. They’re beyond risk-takers. They’ll do anything for each other, and I love that.

Most of us came to know who you are from Buffy, which led to having your own spin-off with Angel. And then, you did Bones and it was on for 12 seasons. Do you ever get nervous about finding that next thing?

BOREANAZ: Maybe if I had been nervous, then I wouldn’t be here talking to you about SEAL Team. I don’t really obsess about the next thing. I just do what comes my way. I can’t obsess about starting out and building a character, and how I’m going to change people’s perception of me. That comes with work and with preparation, and with going into a character and taking it on. Succeed or fail, you change, as a person who’s bringing that into a character. I don’t think about it much. I just do.

SEAL Team airs on Wednesday nights on CBS.

The CBS series SEAL Team is switching things up, as Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz) and Bravo Team learn that an entire team of their SEAL brothers has been ambushed and killed, leading to an immediate departure when their deployment date is moved up. As the men leave their families behind for Afghanistan, viewers will get to experience…