Moderator Tony Gowell interviewed David Boreanaz in a relaxed and humorous panel on Friday at 4PM in the Hyatt Centennial II–IV. Boreanaz thanked the audience for their warm southern-hospitality greeting upon his arrival. He made jokes throughout, such as adding his own Con hotel with an open bar, and spoke about being present in the moment with his acting.

Gowell began the panel by asking Boreanaz how he keeps his performances fresh over the course of numerous seasons of a show. Boreanaz noted that comfortable is the worst word you can use in that arena, because you never want to get comfortable in a role. You need to bring truth and vulnerability to every moment or it won’t come across as authentic. He aims to be present with every character and every scene. He also noted that repetition gives you time to learn a character. You might not know how to perform a character in a given scene until seasons down the line.

Gowell then noted how technology changes over time and asked about filming a show in later seasons versus when the show first started. Boreanaz mentioned when they started filming Buffy The Vampire Slayer, they filmed on a spool and thread and hoped for no errors in the film gate. Now they have green screens and CGI. On Seal Team, they had an actor who didn’t shave his mustache and the director didn’t approve for the show, so they removed the mustache in editing. He also noted how they film Marvel movies is insanity.

For Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Gowell brought up how there were so many incarnations of Angel that Boreanaz got to play and asked if that was challenging. Boreanaz joked how early in Buffy, he just got to stand there and brood, so it was easy. Sarah Michelle Gellar had all these monologues. But it was there that he got to learn about working on a set, how to find your light, and just seeing how a show is made. He would also do the character completely different if he were playing Angel today because it would be with the maturity he has today versus back then.

Boreanaz joked that he’s never bought a suit in his life thanks to his time on Bones. “You wear the pants, you pull down the pants, they’re your pants.”

When asked what project has been the most physical, Boreanaz said it was Seal Team. When they started, all the actors wanted to do their own stunts. They were down shooting the pilot in New Orleans, and two days into the shoot, he would get back to hotel and sit on the bed and it hurt.

As for putting pieces of himself into his character, Boreanaz’s internal personality is Swavy B. But he also takes certain pieces of his personality for every character he plays. He also notes how, as an actor, you pull inspiration from all sorts of places. During season one of Seal Team, he listened to musician Annie Lennox a lot. He also mentioned how Kobe Bryant would listen to Michael Myers theme music before games to get himself in the mindset he wanted for the game.

As a humorous aside, Boreanaz joked about a crazy story in which he convinced a NYC cab driver years ago that he was a soldier going to Desert Storm in order to get the cabbie to let him drive the cab. He got in the driver’s side and accelerated so hard the cabbie yelled for him to stop.

Toward the end of the panel, Boreanaz talked about working with charities that are important to him. During Seal Team, they hosted a Price Is Right event to raise money for veterans. During the event, a woman told him how she was dealing with PTSD and that Seal Team helped her through a difficult time. Hearing that the show helped a soldier meant a lot to him. He noted it’s important to take care of our soldiers and vets. He works with the Travis Manion Foundation that does great work helping vets—building homes and helping them find hope. For upcoming projects, Boreanaz smiled and said, “We’re good. You’ll know when you know.”