Boreanaz moved to Los Angeles with a degree in filmmaking, but found, like many other struggling actors, gaining work initially difficult. Boreanaz slept on a couch at his sister's place, visiting film sets and doing production assistant work to learn more about the industry in which he hoped to be more involved. He was a
background extra in the 1993 film
Aspen Extreme as a fan waving at skiers. He also prepared props for
Best of the Best II (also released in 1993), which stars
Eric Roberts, where he also had a small uncredited role; Boreanaz is seen briefly standing to the left, as the characters Tommy Lee and Alex enter a nightclub (which is a front for an illegal fighting ring). Boreanaz's first paid acting appearance was a 1993 guest spot on the American sitcom
Married... with Children, as
Kelly's unfaithful biker boyfriend, who gets pummeled by her father, Al. He was cast in the television series
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, after being suggested for the role to Marti Noxon by one of Boreanaz's neighbors, after he was seen walking his dog past their house on a regular basis. In the cult series, he played the mysterious
Angel, a
vampire cursed by the
Romani people with a soul as punishment for his murdering a Romani girl; this initially resulted in debilitating remorse and then a life of contrition. The show became enormously successful and Boreanaz starred in a spin-off series,
Angel, which gave the character a chance to evolve and concentrated on Angel's battle for redemption for the numerous murders he had committed before regaining his soul. He appeared on
Buffy from 1997 to 1999, when he began starring in
Angel, which ran until 2004, with a recurring role on
Buffy after his departure. He also appeared in the film
Macabre Pair of Shorts, wherein he plays a vampire's victim (in the segment "MPS"). Boreanaz's only starring role in a major theatrical film was in 2001's
slasher horror film
Valentine, alongside
Denise Richards and
Katherine Heigl. In 2002, he had a supporting role in the film ''
I'm with Lucy''. In 2003, he appeared in the music video for singer
Dido's hit single "
White Flag", and was the
voice of Leon (
Squall Leonhart) in the video game
Kingdom Hearts, but did not reprise his role in the sequel. In 2005, Boreanaz began starring opposite
Emily Deschanel on the primetime television series
Bones. He also appeared in
These Girls, a Canadian film in which he played a biker; the film received a limited theatrical release in Canada in March 2006, after premiering at the
Toronto International Film Festival and the
Vancouver International Film Festival. He has also starred in the independent films
Mr. Fix It and ''
Suffering Man's Charity (released on DVD as Ghost Writer
), as well as the direct-to-DVD sequel The Crow: Wicked Prayer in which he starred alongside Tara Reid. In 2006, he starred in another DVD release, The Hard Easy'', which also starred
Steve Buscemi,
Vera Farmiga, and
Nick Lachey. In that same year, he also voiced
Hal Jordan in the direct-to-video
DC Comics animated feature
Justice League: The New Frontier. In the season-three finale of his TV series
Bones, Boreanaz's character
Seeley Booth is seen in his bathtub reading an issue of
Green Lantern. As well as being a producer on
Bones since its third season, Boreanaz also directed at least one episode every season since season four.
BuddyTV ranked him number 13 on its "TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2010" list and number 18 in 2011. In the 2011 film
The Mighty Macs, Boreanaz played the role of
Ed T. Rush, NBA referee and husband of Immaculata basketball coach
Cathy Rush. In 2013, Boreanaz starred in the miniseries
Full Circle as Jace Cooper. The same year, Boreanaz starred in the independently made fantasy drama
Officer Down as Detective Les Scanlon. Boreanaz has also appeared on
American Dad! as Seeley Booth in the episode "Less Money, Mo' Problems", on
Family Guy as himself in the episode "
Road to the North Pole", and in the
Baby Blues episode "Teddy-Cam" as the voice of Johnny. On March 22, 2017, Boreanaz joined the cast of a
CBS drama project based on the
United States Navy SEALs. The project received a series order on May 12, 2017, and became known as
SEAL Team, which premiered on September 27, 2017. On February 12, 2026, Boreanaz joined the cast of
NBC drama project called
The Rockford Files based on the
1970s original series. ==Personal life==