TV Interview: David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel On Finale's Cliffhanger

"Bones," 40 min. | TV-14 | Stars: Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin and T.J. Thyne

The end of season 10 of "Bones" is rapidly approaching, but while you wait, check out our interview with stars David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel. We talked about the finale's big cliffhanger, Boreanaz directing, and making their chemistry last.

I know that you guys have been together and acting for obviously such a long time and you’re going into season 10, but how has the chemistry remained intact? I've seen interviews with you two and you're both so funny together.

David Boreanaz: "You’ve seen just the good days [Laughs]. There are bad days. I think what’s unique in this situation, seriously from day one, honestly, blessed to have a co-star that can be open and honest and just tell me, like, 'You’re bothering me today' or, 'I have an issue.' We have complete trust and respect for each other that we can just go aside and say, 'You know what? I’m having a bad day. Just know where I’m coming from, Emily,' and we both support that in each other.

Shooting a television show is hard enough and it takes a lot of time and it takes away from your personal life, your family life and you know, thank God I was blessed with a co-star who is so generous and supportive.

We have a bad day. We recognize it and we go on. We don’t hold onto it, we don’t judge and we just go forward. And I think that kind of helps our chemistry. We use it. We use what we’re going through in our scenes and we’ve learned early on that that helps our chemistry. If anything, it helps our chemistry and it helps us grow with the characters rather than being so stagnant and say, 'Hey, we’re in season nine, so let’s just kick back' and do nothing about it and take it for granted. You can’t. You have to be able to push every moment and every scene. It’s so important. Yeah, we have those moments, but you know, I think that’s what helps us."

Emily Deschanel: "I totally agree with everything David said. We have open communication, which is something we started from the beginning, like he said. We just tell each other if we’re in a mood or the other one’s annoying either of us or something. And you know, we accept that we’re not perfect, but I think one thing, too, is that we both know how important this relationship is both on-screen and off and how important it is for us to get along together both on-screen and off and how we both have a commitment to the show. Like David said, it’s not like you’re like, 'Oh, it’s season nine' and we’re resting on our laurels. We’re working hard.

For six seasons we would meet every weekend and work on stuff together. Now we do stuff on our own. We both – our families have expanded and you know, lives have changed, but we have that foundation and we’re really committed to making this show as good as it can be. And part of that is getting along on-screen and off, like I said, and like, you know, David’s a really fun guy to work with. He's not like a dark person. He can play that, he can do serious stuff and deep stuff, but we both believe in having a good time.

We’re not doing brain surgery here. We’re not curing cancer. We’re entertaining people and we absolutely can have fun while we’re doing that and have fun together with everybody else on our crew and cast. I’m really lucky that David is such a fun person to work with and a great guy."

David, you’re directing the finale, airing on the 19th. Can you kind of talk about doing that and then, Emily, about being directed by David?

Boreanaz: "Well, it’s always a challenge to take on something like the season finale. You get to the end of the season and then everybody’s a little tired and worn out and the patience is thin, and with this specific season finale being that there was so much information that we kind of had to gather up and put out there in one 45-minute hit, it made it difficult and challenging. There were lots of elements that were involved, whether it was dealing with the big, huge hearing in front of Congress or the intense battle between other forces that could come in and jeopardize Bones and Booths’ relationship as well as the outcome of where they’re heading into as far as season ten is concerned. So you take all that into account and it definitely is a journey and something that, by the end of it, you’re pretty exhausted."

Deschanel: "I love being directed by David, and I’m not just saying that. I say it to everybody who’s not on our set. I think David is just really talented as a director as well as an actor. He has a whole other career, if he wants it, when this thing’s over, if he wants to do that he could make a whole career out of it.

He’s great technically, he’s good with the actors, he’d decisive, he knows what he wants, he knows what he doesn’t want, he comes in and, like, I’m always just amazed at how he’s dealing with all these incredible elements and he makes it seem so easy. Yes, there’s huge scenes. Like David said, the Congressional Subcommittee, there’s a lot that goes on in this episode, without giving too much away, but there’s a lot of elements and he does it all with ease, and I love working with him.

So it was a pleasure, once again, to work with him as an actor, with him as a director and I think that the season finale was a great experience. There’s a big cliffhanger. There’s a lot going on for Booth and for Brennan. And so, I think everyone will be pleased. I haven’t seen the episode yet, but everyone who’s seen it has been raving about it, so I’m really excited to see it myself."

Have you two ever thought of writing for the show?

Boreanaz: "You know, that’s a whole different ballgame. I think when Emily and I started the show and we kind of worked really hard with an acting coach that was, we’re really proud of working with for about six seasons, I think, Em, and we do a lot of reworking of some dialogue and brought some ideas to the table that kind of were helpful as far as moving the storylines were concerned or building these two characters that we’ve been living in their shoes for nine seasons now.

As far as sitting down and writing them, I’m pretty good with ideas, but I’d have to really work on that one because I think Emily can attest that my vocabulary’s a little limited. I talk a lot in metaphors and I get my words out but sometimes they don’t make sense."

Deschanel: "I always understand what you mean, though, David."

Boreanaz: "Thank you, thank you, Emily."

Deschanel: "That’s the point, anyways. As for me, I live with a television writer. I know how hard it is. You have to make up a whole story out of thin air, not to mention all the technical stuff. I would be much more inclined to direct before I would try to write an episode. You know, and it’s a very specific voice, our show. I might be able to write a couple lines back and forth of banter, the characters, having done this for a long time, but writing a story, a whole episode and with all of our writers, there’s – I’m not going to name some shows, but there’s medical shows on the air and they don’t have to write, they don’t have to know anything about the medical stuff.

Our writers do all of their research. I mean, they have people to help them, so they do all their research, they have to write all the dialogue regarding the scientific stuff and each time you have to solve the crime in a different way. And if you notice, pretty much every episode I identify the body in a different way in terms of the sex, the race, the age. They are trying to make it interesting and kill people in different ways and discover that in different ways through just bones.

So, I mean, we’ll reach 200 episodes next year. That’s insane. No. So the short answer is no, I’m not interested in writing that stuff."

"Bones" airs Monday night, with the season finale airing on the 19th.