Celebrity David Boreanaz Says It Would Be Interesting to 'Tap Back' into the Fantasy World of Angel and Buffy The 'SEAL Team' actor reflects on his first roles and their cult followings, noting that Angel was underrated when it came to the mainstream By Gillian Telling Gillian Telling Gillian Telling is a Senior Reporter at People, where she has worked for 10 years. Her work has previously been seen Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone and Cosmopolitan. People Editorial Guidelines Published on August 11, 2024 08:00PM EDT Close Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Fans of the cult-favorite vampire dramas Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel have long been clamoring for reboots — and series star David Boreanaz, 55, agrees that it would be interesting to explore that world again. "You have the cult world that loves Buffy and Angel, they love the fantasy world, they love the portals and the makeup and all the fantasy worlds," Boreanaz tells PEOPLE. "It's definitely something that would be interesting to tap back into, that world, that environment," he adds. Of course, that doesn't mean it's in the works. "I don't know what the character Angel would be [doing now]," Boreanaz says. One thing he does know is that the series he led was complex and interesting, and he understands why it still has such a big fanbase. "Angel I think is still one of those shows that is still underrated," he says. "It was a very adult-themed exploration of action stuff. Both of those shows will live on." Sarah Michelle Gellar (r) as Buffy and David Boreanaz as Angel in "Buffy The Vampire Slayer." Season 2. Hulton Archive/Getty 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Cast: Where Are They Now? Boreanaz, who is wrapping up the final season of his military drama SEAL Team (season 7 premiered on August 11 on Paramount+), is candid about how lucky he is to have landed Buffy in the first place. After studying at Ithica College (where he says he was a long-haired hippie who loved music festivals), he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams. For more on David Boreanaz, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here. He was mostly doing background acting before landing the role of Buffy's love interest Angel — and he says the way he booked it wasn't exactly conventional. David Boreanaz, Andy Hallett on the 2nd season of Angel. 20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection "I got the character Angel through [casting director] Marcia Schulman. My first meeting with her was an hour and 30 minutes, and we mostly talked about Italian restaurants in New York." he recalls with a laugh. "Eventually she she was like, 'Well, should we read the slides?' " He got the job, he thinks, partly because of his interest in connecting with others on a real level. "My instinct for everything I do is, I show up and I show up as whole as I can," he says. That includes being committed to his roles. To play his SEAL Team character Jason Hayes, he stayed physically fit and notes that there were no shortcuts — especially since he was working with former elite soldiers, either as consultants or working as crew. David Boreanaz as Jason Hayes in SEAL Team. Erik Voake/CBS via Getty "I don't take that lightly," he says of honoring the devotion of the men and women who worked for the military. "I take it as inspiration, I take it as motivation, it's discipline. Listen, the show was very difficult to do. It was not an easy show. And when I say that, I mean you had to have the physicality." David Boreanaz Is Ready to Give His Body a Rest After SEAL Team Series Finale: 'I Had 4 MRIs in 4 Months' (Exclusive) He says that after seven seasons, he couldn't handle the intensity and he knew it was time to call it quits. Boreanaz adds that he's had four MRIs in the past four months: "It gets to a point where your body's not moving like it used to!" The first two episodes of the final season of SEAL Team premiere Sunday, August 11 with the remaining episodes airing weekly on Paramount+.