David Boreanaz has spent nearly three decades dominating television with three consecutive long-running series. From playing a brooding vampire to an FBI agent to a Navy SEAL team leader, he’s proven his range while avoiding the typecasting that ends many TV careers.
His latest show, SEAL Team, wrapped its seven-season run in October 2024. Now 55, Boreanaz is selective about his next move. He’s confirmed multiple projects for 2025 but won’t commit to another grueling network series. Here’s everything you need to know about his career, family, and what comes next.
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How David Boreanaz Built a 27-Year TV Career
Most actors struggle to land a hit series. Boreanaz has anchored three.
His career began with a stroke of luck in the mid-1990s. After moving to Los Angeles and working odd jobs, he landed a small role on Married with Children in 1993. The part didn’t lead anywhere, but it gave him on-camera experience. Four years later, while walking his dog, a talent manager spotted him and got him an audition for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The show’s creator, Joss Whedon, needed a charismatic actor to play Angel, a vampire cursed with a soul. Boreanaz landed the role despite having minimal acting credits. That 1997 casting changed everything.
Angel became so popular that Whedon created a spin-off series in 1999. Boreanaz led Angel for five seasons until The WB canceled it in 2004. One year later, Fox cast him as FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth in Bones. That show ran for 12 seasons, making it Fox’s longest-running hour-long drama.
In 2017, six months after Bones ended, CBS premiered SEAL Team with Boreanaz as Master Chief Jason Hayes. The military drama moved to Paramount+ after four seasons and concluded in 2024 with 114 total episodes.
His secret? Strategic role selection. Each character offered something completely different, which prevented him from being typecast.
From Vampire to Navy SEAL: Breaking Down His Major Roles
Boreanaz’s three major characters couldn’t be more different.
Angel was a tortured vampire seeking redemption for a century of murders. The role launched him to stardom and established the brooding vampire archetype that dominated TV for years. He appeared in 168 episodes across Buffy and Angel from 1997 to 2004.
Seeley Booth was a former Army Ranger turned FBI agent who solved murders alongside forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Booth was charming, intuitive, and relied on gut instincts rather than science. The character appeared in 246 episodes from 2005 to 2017, and Boreanaz directed 11 episodes during the show’s run.
Jason Hayes was a Navy SEAL team leader dealing with combat trauma and the toll of endless deployments. SEAL Team took a grittier, more realistic approach to military life. Boreanaz not only starred but directed eight episodes and served as an executive producer. The show’s authenticity came from having former Navy SEALs on the writing staff and veterans making up 70% of the crew.
When asked why he chose SEAL Team after Bones, Boreanaz told Collider that the character’s blank slate appealed to him. The pilot script offered little character development, which gave him creative freedom to shape Jason Hayes from scratch.
David Boreanaz Net Worth and Salary Details
Boreanaz’s decades in television have been financially rewarding.
His estimated net worth sits around $30 million, according to multiple sources. During his peak on Bones, he earned approximately $250,000 per episode. With 246 episodes over 12 seasons, that role alone generated substantial income.
His SEAL Team salary wasn’t publicly disclosed, but as the lead actor and executive producer, he likely commanded a similar per-episode rate for the Paramount+ seasons.
Beyond acting, Boreanaz has invested in real estate. He owns property in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family. His wife, Jaime Bergman, launched a nail polish line called Chrome Girl, though details about the business venture remain limited.
Voice acting also contributed to his earnings. He voiced Leon in Kingdom Hearts (2002) and Hal Jordan in Justice League: The New Frontier (2008), though these were one-time roles rather than ongoing work.
His Wife, Jaime Bergman, and Family Life
Boreanaz married actress and model Jaime Bergman on November 24, 2001.
Bergman, a former Playboy model, appeared on the FX comedy series Son of the Beach from 2000 to 2001. The couple has two children: son Jaden Rayne, born May 1, 2002, and daughter Bella Vita Bardot, born August 31, 2009.
Their marriage faced public scrutiny in May 2010 when Boreanaz admitted to an affair with Rachel Uchitel. He came forward after Uchitel hired attorney Gloria Allred and attempted to extort him. Rather than pay, he publicly acknowledged the infidelity.
The couple worked through the scandal and remained together. In recent interviews, Boreanaz has mentioned that his daughter Bella influenced his decision to keep his character clean-shaven on Bones. When he grew facial hair for a prison storyline in season 10, she reportedly asked him to remove it.
Boreanaz was previously married to Ingrid Quinn from June 1997 to October 1999. Quinn encouraged him to audition for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which launched his career.
He’s a dedicated sports fan, particularly of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team and the Pittsburgh Steelers football team. These interests stem from his Pennsylvania upbringing.
Behind the Camera: His Directing Career
Boreanaz didn’t just act in his shows. He learned to direct and shape storylines.
He directed his first episode during Angel’s fifth season in 2004. The experience happened while recovering from ACL reconstructive surgery on his left knee. The injury came from a high school running injury that was never properly corrected.
On Bones, he directed 11 episodes between 2009 and 2017. These included significant episodes like “The Parts in the Sum of the Whole” (which showed how Booth and Brennan met) and “The End in the End” (the series finale).
For SEAL Team, Boreanaz directed at least eight episodes while also serving as an executive producer. This gave him substantial creative control over the show’s direction and storylines. He worked closely with showrunner Spencer Hudnut and director Christopher Chulack to shape Jason Hayes’s character arc.
His directing work demonstrates his commitment to understanding television production beyond just acting. It also positions him for future projects where he can serve in multiple creative roles.
What David Boreanaz Is Doing Now
SEAL Team ended on October 6, 2024, with an ambiguous finale.
Jason Hayes went on one final mission, and viewers never learned if he survived. Boreanaz told Parade that the open-ended conclusion felt appropriate for a character so dedicated to his work. He rejected ideas to kill Jason or have him retire to a desk job because neither fit the character.
As for what’s next, Boreanaz confirmed in December 2024 that he has multiple projects lined up for 2025. In an interview with TV Insider, he described three different potential roles: one passion project, one character who’s retired but gets hired again, and a third he couldn’t discuss in detail.
He’s clear about what he won’t do: another network series. The demanding schedule and 20+ episode orders are too much at this stage of his career. He’s open to streaming shows, films, and even theater, but prefers shorter commitments.
A Bones revival remains possible. Boreanaz told Variety in October 2024 that he’d consider returning as Seeley Booth. He praised his former co-star Emily Deschanel and said the show’s ending was satisfying but not necessarily final.
Beyond acting, Boreanaz works with the United Services Organization. He visited the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis in 2024 as part of his ambassadorial work with veterans. This involvement reflects SEAL Team’s impact on his perspective about military service.
He’s also proud of how SEAL Team helped real veterans. Fans have approached him to say the show encouraged them to seek mental health treatment for combat trauma. That legacy matters more to him than ratings or awards.
Early Life: Buffalo to Hollywood
David Paul Boreanaz was born on May 16, 1969, in Buffalo, New York.
His family moved to Philadelphia when he was seven. His father, Dave Roberts (born Dave Thomas Boreanaz), worked as a weatherman for WPVI-TV and hosted a local children’s show called Rocket Ship 7. This early exposure to television influenced young David, though he didn’t commit to acting until seeing Yul Brynner in The King and I.
He attended Malvern Preparatory School, a private Catholic school, where he played football. After graduating, he enrolled at Ithaca College in upstate New York to study cinema and acting. He graduated with a degree in cinema in 1991.
Following college, Boreanaz moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. The early years were difficult. He worked as a parking attendant, house painter, and gym employee while auditioning. His only notable credit before Buffy was that single Married with Children episode in 1993 as Kelly Bundy’s biker boyfriend.
He’s of Italian and Slovenian descent. His surname, Boreanaz, has Northern Italian origins. He was raised Roman Catholic and has maintained that faith throughout his life.
His sister, Beth Boreanaz, works as a history and math teacher at The Shipley School in Pennsylvania, where she’s taught for over a decade. His mother, Patti Boreanaz, worked as a travel agent.
The family background gave Boreanaz a working-class perspective that he’s carried throughout his career. He doesn’t seek fame for its own sake. In interviews, he emphasizes the work itself rather than celebrity status.
That approach has served him well. Three decades after his Buffy breakthrough, he’s still working, still choosing projects carefully, and still finding new ways to challenge himself as an actor and director.
