By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
July 7, 1998
Outside Wrigley Field, surrounded by thousands of other Cubs fans, David Boreanaz hit the ground and bowed.
“I’m not worthy,” he said, half-jokingly. “I’m totally in awe. I’m mesmerized right now.”
The same could be said for the gaggle of teenagers nudging each other, asking, “Hey, isn’t that Angel?”
Why, yes, it is. The actor who plays the mostly good vampire on the WB’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was in town last week to tout the show, which returns to its regular 7 p.m. Tuesday time slot next week on WGN-Channel 9. Fans also can catch reruns from the debut season at 8 p.m. Mondays.
Boreanaz will return to work July 20 to begin shooting the popular drama’s third season. He’s also psyched that producers are spinning off his own show, “Angel,” in 1999. Angel won’t be written out of “Buffy,” though. Characters from both shows will cross over.
Angel’s survival may be news to many fans who saw him disintegrate into a vortex after on-again-off-again girlfriend Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) stabbed him with a sword on the season finale. She still loved Angel, but he’d reverted from hero to evil bloodsucker – thanks to a gypsy curse – for most of the season.
“It’s confusing, because she got me,” he said, watching from a skybox as Kerry Wood pitched another winning game. “She took a sword to me. Everyone was like, `He’s dead. He’s gone.’ But a sword can only kill a vampire if you behead him. And that didn’t happen.”
Ah, the logistics of slaying a vampire are difficult even for Buffy. But the 6-foot-1/2-inch tall actor said the logistics of pairing him with his petite love interest have caused headaches for the director.
“Sarah is very tiny and she sometimes has to be put on boxes when we do our scenes together,” said Boreanaz, 27. “But it all works out. She’s so good that it can’t help but work out.”
Born and raised in Philadelphia and educated at Ithaca College, Borneanaz said he got the acting itch 20 years ago after seeing Yul Brynner in a production of “The King and I.”
“No, I never wanted to shave my head like him,” he said, laughing. “But I was just impressed by his stature and presence when he came out for his ovations. I was taken in by him on all levels, and he seemed to be a very sound, solid and balanced man. I was only 7, but I remember thinking, `I want to be a king. I want to be that
Yul Brynner-type guy.’ “
Well, he’s not a king but he is an Angel.
“That is true,” he said. “A fallen Angel, no doubt. (In the upcoming series) I will be bad and good. I’ll have the ability to snap a neck and save a soul. You’re never quite sure. That’s kind of the thing about his character. He’s like a recovering alcoholic in a sense. It’s kind of like his fight for humanity. He sees the weaknesses in people and he understands it because he’s tasted that.”
