Vampire Who's Now An Angel
(From TV Plus, Sunday Mail - March 26 2000)

Los Angeles is a vampire magnet because Hollywood doesn't want to lose its reputation for lost souls.

LA's latest bloodsucker is David Boreanaz, who plays the brooding and centuries-old Angel in Angel - a spin-off from Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Last season, 27-year-old Boreanaz's moody good looks and Angel's rocky romance with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) stoked the Buffy series.  But Angel couldn't conquer his primal nature, so he left Sunnydale - Buffy's hellish hometown - for the City of Lost Souls, to fight fearsome creatures of the night.

It could be a losing battle. "Angel is atoning for his own sins, but he'll also deal with demons and the human condition which he's never been particularly good at," Boreanaz said.

Angel's partners in evil bashing include Doyle (Glen Quinn), a scruffy visionary sent by "The Powers That Be" - a mysterious force fighting for good.  Then there's egocentric Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), the resident snob of Buffy, who's moved to LA to find acting fame.  Boreanaz said Angel is more a joy than a job "All my experiences in life have brought me here," he said.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Boreanaz grew up in Philadelphia, where his father was a TV weatherman.  He studied film production at Ithaca College and moved to LA after graduation.  His plan was to stay behind the camera, but his looks wouldn't let him. "I just fell into roles.  I was walking my dog when my manager saw me and signed me up," he said.

His first big break was a guest role on Married With Children as Kelly Bundy's boyfriend.  "It was nerve-racking" Boreanaz said.  "But it started feeling natural when I saw other people messing up.  I said 'Okay, other people do it', and I just relaxed".