David Boreanaz has led three long-running network shows since leaving Sunnydale, and in 2026 he’s taking on his biggest legacy role yet: reviving The Rockford Files for NBC.
The Almost-Return to Buffy
David Boreanaz was never officially confirmed for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale,” but he was widely expected to eventually appear given his history with the character. When Hulu abruptly canceled the project in March 2026, he waited a few months before addressing it publicly.
In July, he said he’d been sad about the cancellation but stayed hopeful the franchise could still have a future beyond it.
Hollywood’s Most Reliable Leading Man
Since Angel wrapped in 2004, Boreanaz has barely had a gap on his resume. He spent 12 seasons as FBI Agent Seeley Booth on “Bones,” then went straight into seven seasons as Navy SEAL commander Jason Hayes on “SEAL Team,” which ended in 2024. Both shows ran longer than Buffy and Angel combined.
Now he’s taking on a role with real legacy weight: James Rockford in NBC’s reboot of “The Rockford Files,” the classic 1970s detective series that won James Garner an Emmy.
Before signing on, Boreanaz personally called Garner’s daughter, Gigi, to talk through the reboot and make sure he had her blessing. She posted about the call herself, saying it won her over completely and calling him “pure class.”
The series is set to premiere on NBC in January 2027, with Boreanaz also producing.
Life Off-Screen
Boreanaz was born in Buffalo, New York, to a father who worked as a local TV weatherman and children’s show host, and a mother who worked as a travel agent. The family later moved to Philadelphia, which is where his lifelong loyalty to the Flyers and Eagles comes from.
He met Jaime Bergman at a Valentine’s Day party in 2001 and married her nine months later, that Thanksgiving, a small wedding that got scaled back after the couple decided against a bigger celebration in the wake of 9/11.
They have two kids, son Jaden, born in 2002, the same year Angel got its own spinoff, and daughter Bella, born in 2009, right in the middle of his “Bones” run. Jaden has grown into a competitive soccer player, and the family has largely stayed out of the tabloid spotlight despite Boreanaz’s decades as a television leading man.
Off camera, he and Bergman have described themselves as homebodies who’d rather cook out, swim, and stay in each other’s company than chase the spotlight.
He’s also a longtime animal advocate, having fronted a PETA campaign with his own dogs years ago, and he’s stayed involved in animal rescue causes since.
Between 2013 and 2018, he and Bergman ran a nail polish line called Chrome Girl with two close friends, a small business the couple built together on the side before eventually stepping away from it.
Where Else to Watch Him
If “Angel” was your entry point, “Bones” is the most obvious next stop, twelve seasons of Boreanaz playing a rationalist FBI agent opposite Emily Deschanel‘s forensic anthropologist, streaming widely. For something closer to the physicality of Angel’s fight choreography, “SEAL Team” leans hard into military action across seven seasons.
For horror outside the Buffyverse, “Valentine” has become something of a cult favorite among fans specifically because it pairs Boreanaz with Denise Richards, and it’s one of his better-known scary-movie credits outside Sunnydale entirely.
For his voice work, he played Squall Leonhart in the “Kingdom Hearts” video game series and voiced Hal Jordan and Green Lantern in the animated film “Justice League: The New Frontier,” both worth a look for fans who know him only from live-action.
If you want to go deeper into his catalog, there’s a run of smaller, lesser-known credits worth a look too: the indie drama “These Girls,” the crime thriller “Officer Down,” and “The Mighty Macs,” a sports drama that’s about as far from Angel as he’s ever gone.
From a vampire cursed with a soul to a Navy SEAL commander to a private eye who can’t stay out of trouble, Boreanaz has spent three decades playing men who keep getting knocked down and keep coming back anyway. Rockford Files might be his biggest test yet, but if his track record says anything, betting against him has never been the smart move.
All seasons of “Angel” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” are available for streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
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