Bones Star David Boreanaz Hated One Aspect Of Playing Seeley Booth

"Bones" ran for 12 seasons between 2005 and 2017, and by all accounts, star David Boreanaz mostly had a great time throughout. Heck, Boreanaz has even revealed that he has the perfect pitch for a "Bones" revival, once again speaking to his willingness to return to the show and his positive view of the previous 12 seasons.  There were a few things that the former "Angel" star wasn't a huge fan of however — one of which involved an aesthetic change that went against what both Booth and Boreanaz were known for.

Ever since Boreanaz broke through with his role as Angel on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" back in 1997, he's been known for his clean-shaven appearance. Despite many a young heartthrob sporting designer stubble through the years, Boreanaz's vampire boyfriend was always more of a clean cut kinda guy, and that continued in his own spin-off, "Angel," which ran from 1999 until 2004. By the time the actor was cast as Seeley Booth on "Bones" in 2005, he had been on TV for almost a decade sporting a clean-shaven look. This just so happened to be perfect for Booth, a former Army Ranger and a Special Forces soldier who in the show has become the FBI liaison to the Jeffersonian Institute.

Throughout "Bones," Boreanaz mostly appeared in classic Boreanaz style with a shaven visage that only occasionally featured stubble. At the beginning of season 10, however, the actor was required to grow his facial hair after Booth is framed and winds up in jail. 

In the season 9 finale of "Bones," a conspiracy blog writer is killed before he's able to meet up with Booth, prompting an investigation. But as Booth and the team from the Jeffersonian Institute look into this mysterious death, things quickly spiral out of control, with classified details of the FBI agent's service record being hacked and leaked. Booth quickly realizes he, his wife, and their daughter are in danger, and evacuates them from their home before he's attacked by three Delta Force operatives. Though Booth is able to dispatch his attackers, he eventually collapses from his injuries. In the hospital, he awakens to find that he's handcuffed to his bed and is accused of murdering three FBI agents. 

When we catch up with him again in the season 10 premiere, "The Conspiracy in the Corpse," Seeley Booth, having been framed for the murder of the FBI agents, is in prison while Brennan and the Jeffersonian team work to clear his name. It's here that we see an uncharacteristically unshaven Booth, which for David Boreanaz presented an irritating problem.

Back in 2014, when "Bones" was gearing up to air its 10th season, Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel sat down with TVLine for a video interview in which they discussed the show's longevity and the then-new season. Asked about his stubble, Boreanaz revealed that he'd "rather not have it" but that he had to do it for his character and the prison storyline. "I thought it was interesting for him," he continued, adding, "It made sense for his character for what he's going through." 

Realistic though it may have been, the actor himself clearly wasn't a big fan of the change. "It itches," he said. "My little girl doesn't like it, she's like, 'Take that off, please.'" Asked if he was going to keep it, Boreanaz said, "It's going to be something that comes off probably in episode 21."

Clearly the stubble wasn't a huge deal for the actor, even if it was a tad annoying. Aside from this slight aesthetic irritation and the "Bones" storyline that Boreanaz claimed was just "bad television," the actor otherwise seems to look back on the series with fondness. That bodes well for the return of the Fox procedural, which in the age of "newstalgia" is surely forthcoming.