Ubiquitous
6 years ago
In the City of Angels, the sun is shining brightly on Good Friday. But
beyond a heavy black door, away from harsh light, vampires, demons, and
a rogue demon hunter or two gather in the darkness of an abandoned
warehouse.
Okay, so the Hollywood studio thats serving as the location for EWs
Angel reunion shoot isnt actually a warehouse, nor a meeting place for
the undead. Rather, the cast of the WB drama is very human, and
expressing very human levels of excitement at being together again, 20
years after their show debuted.
Its good to see everybody! says David Boreanaz, 50, the shows
titular vampire who, upon arrival, immediately makes a beeline for the
dressing room to find his costars. Spotting Charisma Carpenter (shallow
cheerleader-turned-champion Cordelia) and Amy Acker (shy Texan
physicist Winifred Fred Burkle) in makeup chairs, he plops himself on
the counter and sits, legs swinging giddily, catching up with them
while theyre curled and coiffed. Look at that smile, he says,
gesturing to Carpenter with affection. We just picked up where we were
last time we talked to each other. Speaking of picking up, Acker, 42,
enjoyed the series experience so much, she has already declared shed
be ready for a revival, which would be season 6. Every show should be
this fun, she says. We were so spoiled.
Angel premiered on The WB on Oct. 5, 1999, as a spin-off of creator
Joss Whedons original vampire series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and
furthered the story of a bloodsucker whom the Romany cursed with a soul
as punishment for a century of mass murder. Leaving Buffy (Sarah
Michelle Gellar) and Sunnydale behind, Angel arrived in Los Angeles to
continue his quest for redemption by helping the helpless, one at a
time. Over the course of five seasons (all of which are available to
stream on Hulu), Angel was aided by fellow Buffy expats Cordelia Chase
(Carpenter), Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (Alexis Denisof), and Spike (James
Marsters), and new allies Fred (Acker) and vampire hunter Charles Gunn
(J. August Richards), among other humans and demons along the way until
The WB abruptly canceled the show in 2004. (We will get to that
unmerciful killing later.)
Angel was the brain spawn of Whedon and Buffy writer David Greenwalt,
whod been the one to pen the first kiss between the Slayer and her
vampire-with-a soul boo Angel. It all made sense on paper, says
Whedon, 55. But until you have a show, you dont have a show. The duo
began carving out a heavier series than Buffy for a minute it even
got too dark and the network had to intervene that would explore a
different message from Buffys what-kind-of-person-will-you-be? themes.
Instead, it would focus on the idea of dealing with the consequences of
your actions. We thought, lets do a noir thing thats about addiction
and redemption, and well put them in L.A., says Greenwalt. The
stories will be darker and, more important, hell be darker. What they
ended up with certainly had intense moments, but also plenty of humor
and heart, too.
Life Beyond the Breakup
Spoiler alert from almost two decades ago: Buffy and Angels love
didnt last for all undead eternity. Still, Whedon wasnt ready to say
goodbye to Boreanazs thoughtful portrayal of the damned creature who
was so damn easy to love. Although Angel premiered alongside Buffys
fourth season, the heavens opened and the idea for a spin-off actually
struck Whedon during the parent shows second season when Whedon saw
Boreanaz play a female role in an episode during which Buffy and Angel
are possessed by a high school student and teacher, respectively. I
watched David very emotionally, unabashedly, and poetically playing a
woman, and in that moment was like, This guy can anchor a show, he
says.
Whedon pitched Greenwalt the idea of taking the brooding, cursed-with-
a-conscience vampire to L.A. with a mission to save others in return
for ultimate absolution. We started talking in terms of redemption,
says Whedon. We realized, while Buffy is about the heros journey
that becoming the person you are that happens in adolescence Angel
is about dealing with the person youve been. Or, as co-creator
Greenwalt, 69, puts it: Buffy has this wonderful purpose and fights
evil, but still wants to go to the prom and get the right dress. Angel
is a much darker and, in a sense, more complex character.
Even with a lead who inspires confidence and a complicated character to
explore, spin-offs can be risky (see: Party of Fives Time of Your
Life, Dawsons Creeks Young Americans). Plus, snatching the love
interest from a successful show could anger fans. But for Whedon,
keeping the character on the original series was a potential death
sentence even for an undead vamp. Buffy is a show about the
experience of life, he explains. And the experience of life where you
go to college and your high school boyfriend sticks around? That show
is only about how terrible that year is, and then it stops. The new
series targeted an older (though not quite as old as its protagonist),
relatively untapped demographic. Angel is the oldest guy to ever be on
The WB, jokes Greenwalt (whom the cast affectionately dubbed
Greenie). Hes, like, 228 years old, right? Where Buffy is a high
school metaphor, theres not a lot of great metaphors for your 20s.
Theyre really kind of wasted years when you just look good and young.
Telling a postgrad narrative, the co-creators felt, allowed them to
reach more people.
Thats not to say grown-up Angel didnt have its share of teething
problems. When the network saw the script for episode two, they balked.
They completely freaked out and they were right because in our effort
to go dark, we went a little too dark, says Greenwalt of a scene in
which Angel lets a girl die and then licks her blood up off the ground.
If youre gonna go that dark, you have to earn it. So, we shut down
for a few weeks, revamped some things and we were off and running.
Convening the Coven
As it turns out, when Whedon wants to tell you something important, he
invites you to eat. Initially, when Boreanaz received the lunch invite,
he panicked, thinking he was being fired. But when the actual
conversation transpired, all the actor could think about was the Irish.
In the midst of shooting a Buffy scene that flashed back to the 18th
century, Boreanaz showed up to lunch in his ponytailed wig, preoccupied
with the brogue he was trying to perfect. I think we started talking
about the Grateful Dead, remembers Boreanaz. Then hes like, Yeah,
were thinking about spinning your character off. And Im like, All
right, but Im concerned about my accent that Im supposed to do in
the scene. Says Whedon with a laugh, Davids not a great squealer;
the word confetti doesnt come to mind.
Apt, since Boreanazs Angel loved a good brood as much as a pint of
body-temp blood. But Greenwalt realized a sulking lead can make an
audience grow somber too, so he came up with a way to add some, um,
charisma to the series. Immediately after I said yes, I said we have
to bring Charisma Carpenter to the show because we need to brighten the
darkness of Angel, says Greenwalt. Agrees Carpenter, 48, When you
bring a big bright smile to this dismal, dark thing, it provides a
conflict or contrast that makes it interesting.
Enter Cordelia: the sharp-tongued, Sunnydale High May Queen who heads
to L.A. with the hopes of becoming a star. But, as the series
repeatedly reminds us, in L.A. big dreams can pretty quickly become
real nightmares, and before long Cordy joins Angel to help the helpless
and her empty checking account. We sat Charisma down and she was
pretty excited, but she was like, If it flops, can I go back to
Buffy? says Greenwalt, who assured Carpenter she could. While Whedon
believes Carpenter was right to ask that question, he was also seeing
potential for the character beyond a bright spot in a dark room. In
Cordelia, he found he had an opportunity to tell an origin story,
something he had to skip with Gellar as Buffy. You get to watch her go
from somebody who is completely shallow and self-involved to somebody
who is a hero, he says.
When the show premiered, the original main trio was rounded out by
Irish actor and Roseanne alum Glenn Quinn, who played Doyle, a lovable
half-demon cursed with visions of people in danger, whom Angel could
then save. After nine episodes, Quinns character was written out and a
self-proclaimed rogue demon hunter, Denisofs Wesley, entered the fray
instead. He wasnt quite as rogue as he claimed to be, nor was he
unfamiliar, having appeared in season 3 of Buffy. I commend this
gentleman because he had to come into a situation, says Boreanaz of
Denisof. Obviously it was a great character, but he filled that
missing hole.
As is his style, Whedon invited Denisof (Chilling Adventures of
Sabrina) to breakfast. We came up with this summer of rebellion that
Wesley had had and then he arrives on a motorcycle with big ideas of
himself, says Denisof of the character-building discussion with
Whedon. Other than fitting him in, there wasnt really a plan, long-
term, for him, but it ended up being an extraordinary roller coaster.
Part of that bumpy ride included a seasons-spanning love triangle with
the introduction of timid Fred (Acker, who joined the show in the
second season) and vampire hunter Charles Gunn (Richards, who came
aboard toward the end of the first).
Both Richards and Acker were relatively new to the industry when they
auditioned for their parts, and both took unorthodox routes to landing
them. His hair dyed red in a bid to show The WB he wasnt too clean-
cut for the role, Richards (who can be seen next this fall on Council
of Dads) walked into his audition channeling advice to investigate the
opposite of what your characters saying that hed garnered from an
episode of Inside the Actors Studio with Meryl Streep. I remember
feeling really good about it, and then Joss just looks at me and goes,
My wifes hair is that color, says Richards, laughing. When Whedon
came across Acker in the audition room, it was more of a hair-blown-
back-in-awe experience. Amy walked in the door as I was handing her
photo to [producer] Marti Noxon, and it flew out of my hand and hit
Marti in the face, says the co-creator. That was about as suave as I
got. She was just the most captivating human Id ever seen.
The Road to Redemption
Angel found its rhythm and tone, paying homage to classic film noir and
mixing genres along the way. Credit to the writers and showrunners,
they were very brave about creating a heady cocktail of drama and
humor, says Denisof. Whedon sums it up best: Its apocalyptic goofy
noir. From the darkest scenes (such as Angel attempting to kill Wesley
as he lay in a hospital bed) to the most ridiculous (a spell turning
Angel into a Muppet comes to mind), there was no denying it was unique
television. And for a show pegged on such a bleak premise, there were
lots of laughs both on and off camera and karaoke, thanks to the
introduction of an all-singing, aura-reading demon named Lorne, played
by Andy Hallett, who passed away in 2009. Plus, Boreanaz was a total
prankster on set. There was almost no take that didnt end with all of
us just laughing because David had started something, says Denisof.
Adds Carpenter, But then hed be able to stop, and three hours later,
were still laughing!
Though there continued to be the occasional crossover with the show
that sired it (and a couple more Buffy alums joining the show, like
Mercedes McNabs Harmony), Angel evolved into its own beast, often
maintaining the case-of-the-week, procedural element but also
introducing larger, season-spanning narrative arcs. For more than 100
episodes, Angel battled on, gradually coming to terms with the truth
that evil will always exist, its how you confront it that matters.
Theres a wonderful power in genre [television], muses Greenwalt.
You can do deeper, more emotional metaphors, and yet people still feel
slightly removed from the issues because they say, Oh, thats
fantasy. Some of those more emotional moments included a story arc
where Angel and the vampire who sired him, Darla (Julie Benz), have a
son. After some accelerated aging in a hell dimension, Angels now-
teenage son Connor was played by Mad Mens Vincent Kartheiser. For
Angel to have a son, I mean that just opened up so much, says
Greenwalt. It was just great for him to have to go through even more
living hell.
At the reunion shoot, the cast discusses favorite episodes. On a show
with so many offbeat and daring turns, its hard to narrow them down,
but one adventure does keep coming up: the trip to a demon dimension
called Pylea, only accessible by passing through a mystical portal. We
drove a car through the entrance of Paramount studios! exclaims
Boreanaz. Since Pylea wasnt Earth, vampires could stand in sunlight
without combusting. Suddenly a cast that was largely confined to night
shoots Sixteen-hour days in a stinky alley with people yelling at
you to let them sleep! recalls Carpenter fondly could film in
daylight. Youd have thought wed be happy, but it happened to come
during a heat wave, says Denisof. It was sweltering and we were all
in our brooding, dark clothes. A much-needed distraction during
shooting came in the form of Whedon going undercover as a green horned
demon and performing a dance number that lasted a good few minutes more
than he expected. I didnt have four minutes of a dance made up, and I
was terribly out of shape, says Whedon with a laugh.
Those were the lighter days. When Angel had to revert to his soulless
demon counterpart Angelus, things grew more uncomfortable. Embracing
the dark headspace necessary to pull off the depraved demon was
actually the lesser of two evils for Boreanaz; the literal headspace
was worse namely a risen brow and fangs. This was before easy CGI
effects, so all of that was real and it was a long, uncomfortable
process, says Denisof of the vampire makeup. We were all pretty
sensitive to what David had to go through when he was in Angelus mode.
As soon as they yelled cut, Boreanaz would immediately rip the brow
piece from his face, so fast that one time a chunk hit James Marsters
(fellow vamp Spike) in the face. A dark look passes over Boreanazs own
human brow as he casts his mind back to the experience. Still, from
behind the camera, Whedon was a fan of the Angelus turns. Its always
fun to have an electric character, he says. He inevitably ends up
being an empowering figure because he sees through you and being able
to face him means that youre stronger.
Going Down Swinging
Heading into the fifth season, the cast and crew initially expected
there to be a sixth, but when cancellation news hit during production,
story lines that had the potential to run for years suddenly had to be
wrapped up in half a season. That included an arc with Marsters, who
had just joined the show as Buffy veteran vamp Spike, filling the space
left by Cordelias departure. Marsters, 56, describes the dynamic as
the college friend who comes over to stay with you and he swears to
God its for just one week, but he will not get off the couch and never
leaves. Though there was much more to explore in Angels new foil,
Whedon (Greenwalt had departed the series by this point but remained a
consulting producer) made the most of the episodes he had. Its very
important to me that something goes out as strong as it can be, says
Whedon, who went on to write and direct The Avengers and Avengers: Age
of Ultron. And there was enough time for us to take it where we
thought it should go.
In a show where death is tantalizingly dangled in front of the
characters in most episodes, it was time to make good on those threats.
Once again, Whedon invited a cast member to eat with him. This time, it
was Acker. We sat down at coffee and he said, I just wanted you to
know, Im killing Fred, says Acker (Person of Interest, The Gifted).
And he waited, really a long time before he said, Youre still gonna
be on the show. Laughs Whedon, I took my moment, Im not going to
lie. Acker later told Whedon it was the second part of the sentence
that terrified her more. When Whedon said shed still be on the show,
he meant as a blue demon named Illyria, who takes over Freds body,
killing her in the process. Whedon gave Acker some scenes for her new
character to mull over, then invited her and Denisof to his house to
run through them. The creator landed on Illyrias hue then and there,
by utilizing a multi-colored lightening function in his kitchen to
flick through different shades. He got to the blue lights and he was
like, Yeah, this is it, recalls Acker.
While Fred lived on in a certain respect, by the series finale,
Wesleys fate was sealed. In the ultimate showdown with the Circle of
the Black Thorn (a secret society of the most despicable harbingers of
the apocalypse), the former Watcher meets his end in the arms of the
women he loved, thanks to Illyria transforming herself back into Fred
for those dying moments. I still get feelings about that scene, says
Denisof. It was saying goodbye to a lot of things all at once. I
remember on the day it was hard to keep it simple be in the scene and
not have the end of the show, the end of the character and the end of
an era all coming into it. I cant say it didnt. As for the fate of
the rest of the Angel Investigations team? Well
When the series finale aired in May 2004, audiences were split on the
seemingly open ending. The episodes last scene sees a secret society
of apocalypse harbingers opening the gateways to hell right into Los
Angeles. The remaining members of the group look on as thousands of
demons, creatures, and giants crawl onto the streets. As a dragon flies
overhead, Angel turns to them and says, Personally, I kinda want to
slay the dragon. Lets go to work. Cut to black.
Whedon knows what youre thinking, but doesnt agree. That aint a
cliff, he says. I understand why people would want closure, but for
me, that would be like adding a cliff note to the end. What I always
wanted to say is, trying to become worthy of the life that you have is
a lifes work. The fight is for always. And thats the series true
message: The pursuit is never-ending. I always hope that people feel
the difficulty and possibility of redemption within the show, says
Whedon. The price will always be high, he continues, but if as
Angel says were willing to do the work, it will always be worth
it. It certainly was for Boreanaz. Im so proud of what we all
accomplished, he says. Theres such strength in all of these
characters; they struggle and they do find redemption somehow.
Watch the full episode of Entertainment Weekly Cast Reunions:
Angelstreaming now on PeopleTV.com, or download the PeopleTV app on
your favorite device.
--
Watching Democrats come up with schemes to "catch Trump" is like
watching Wile E. Coyote trying to catch Road Runner.
beyond a heavy black door, away from harsh light, vampires, demons, and
a rogue demon hunter or two gather in the darkness of an abandoned
warehouse.
Okay, so the Hollywood studio thats serving as the location for EWs
Angel reunion shoot isnt actually a warehouse, nor a meeting place for
the undead. Rather, the cast of the WB drama is very human, and
expressing very human levels of excitement at being together again, 20
years after their show debuted.
Its good to see everybody! says David Boreanaz, 50, the shows
titular vampire who, upon arrival, immediately makes a beeline for the
dressing room to find his costars. Spotting Charisma Carpenter (shallow
cheerleader-turned-champion Cordelia) and Amy Acker (shy Texan
physicist Winifred Fred Burkle) in makeup chairs, he plops himself on
the counter and sits, legs swinging giddily, catching up with them
while theyre curled and coiffed. Look at that smile, he says,
gesturing to Carpenter with affection. We just picked up where we were
last time we talked to each other. Speaking of picking up, Acker, 42,
enjoyed the series experience so much, she has already declared shed
be ready for a revival, which would be season 6. Every show should be
this fun, she says. We were so spoiled.
Angel premiered on The WB on Oct. 5, 1999, as a spin-off of creator
Joss Whedons original vampire series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and
furthered the story of a bloodsucker whom the Romany cursed with a soul
as punishment for a century of mass murder. Leaving Buffy (Sarah
Michelle Gellar) and Sunnydale behind, Angel arrived in Los Angeles to
continue his quest for redemption by helping the helpless, one at a
time. Over the course of five seasons (all of which are available to
stream on Hulu), Angel was aided by fellow Buffy expats Cordelia Chase
(Carpenter), Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (Alexis Denisof), and Spike (James
Marsters), and new allies Fred (Acker) and vampire hunter Charles Gunn
(J. August Richards), among other humans and demons along the way until
The WB abruptly canceled the show in 2004. (We will get to that
unmerciful killing later.)
Angel was the brain spawn of Whedon and Buffy writer David Greenwalt,
whod been the one to pen the first kiss between the Slayer and her
vampire-with-a soul boo Angel. It all made sense on paper, says
Whedon, 55. But until you have a show, you dont have a show. The duo
began carving out a heavier series than Buffy for a minute it even
got too dark and the network had to intervene that would explore a
different message from Buffys what-kind-of-person-will-you-be? themes.
Instead, it would focus on the idea of dealing with the consequences of
your actions. We thought, lets do a noir thing thats about addiction
and redemption, and well put them in L.A., says Greenwalt. The
stories will be darker and, more important, hell be darker. What they
ended up with certainly had intense moments, but also plenty of humor
and heart, too.
Life Beyond the Breakup
Spoiler alert from almost two decades ago: Buffy and Angels love
didnt last for all undead eternity. Still, Whedon wasnt ready to say
goodbye to Boreanazs thoughtful portrayal of the damned creature who
was so damn easy to love. Although Angel premiered alongside Buffys
fourth season, the heavens opened and the idea for a spin-off actually
struck Whedon during the parent shows second season when Whedon saw
Boreanaz play a female role in an episode during which Buffy and Angel
are possessed by a high school student and teacher, respectively. I
watched David very emotionally, unabashedly, and poetically playing a
woman, and in that moment was like, This guy can anchor a show, he
says.
Whedon pitched Greenwalt the idea of taking the brooding, cursed-with-
a-conscience vampire to L.A. with a mission to save others in return
for ultimate absolution. We started talking in terms of redemption,
says Whedon. We realized, while Buffy is about the heros journey
that becoming the person you are that happens in adolescence Angel
is about dealing with the person youve been. Or, as co-creator
Greenwalt, 69, puts it: Buffy has this wonderful purpose and fights
evil, but still wants to go to the prom and get the right dress. Angel
is a much darker and, in a sense, more complex character.
Even with a lead who inspires confidence and a complicated character to
explore, spin-offs can be risky (see: Party of Fives Time of Your
Life, Dawsons Creeks Young Americans). Plus, snatching the love
interest from a successful show could anger fans. But for Whedon,
keeping the character on the original series was a potential death
sentence even for an undead vamp. Buffy is a show about the
experience of life, he explains. And the experience of life where you
go to college and your high school boyfriend sticks around? That show
is only about how terrible that year is, and then it stops. The new
series targeted an older (though not quite as old as its protagonist),
relatively untapped demographic. Angel is the oldest guy to ever be on
The WB, jokes Greenwalt (whom the cast affectionately dubbed
Greenie). Hes, like, 228 years old, right? Where Buffy is a high
school metaphor, theres not a lot of great metaphors for your 20s.
Theyre really kind of wasted years when you just look good and young.
Telling a postgrad narrative, the co-creators felt, allowed them to
reach more people.
Thats not to say grown-up Angel didnt have its share of teething
problems. When the network saw the script for episode two, they balked.
They completely freaked out and they were right because in our effort
to go dark, we went a little too dark, says Greenwalt of a scene in
which Angel lets a girl die and then licks her blood up off the ground.
If youre gonna go that dark, you have to earn it. So, we shut down
for a few weeks, revamped some things and we were off and running.
Convening the Coven
As it turns out, when Whedon wants to tell you something important, he
invites you to eat. Initially, when Boreanaz received the lunch invite,
he panicked, thinking he was being fired. But when the actual
conversation transpired, all the actor could think about was the Irish.
In the midst of shooting a Buffy scene that flashed back to the 18th
century, Boreanaz showed up to lunch in his ponytailed wig, preoccupied
with the brogue he was trying to perfect. I think we started talking
about the Grateful Dead, remembers Boreanaz. Then hes like, Yeah,
were thinking about spinning your character off. And Im like, All
right, but Im concerned about my accent that Im supposed to do in
the scene. Says Whedon with a laugh, Davids not a great squealer;
the word confetti doesnt come to mind.
Apt, since Boreanazs Angel loved a good brood as much as a pint of
body-temp blood. But Greenwalt realized a sulking lead can make an
audience grow somber too, so he came up with a way to add some, um,
charisma to the series. Immediately after I said yes, I said we have
to bring Charisma Carpenter to the show because we need to brighten the
darkness of Angel, says Greenwalt. Agrees Carpenter, 48, When you
bring a big bright smile to this dismal, dark thing, it provides a
conflict or contrast that makes it interesting.
Enter Cordelia: the sharp-tongued, Sunnydale High May Queen who heads
to L.A. with the hopes of becoming a star. But, as the series
repeatedly reminds us, in L.A. big dreams can pretty quickly become
real nightmares, and before long Cordy joins Angel to help the helpless
and her empty checking account. We sat Charisma down and she was
pretty excited, but she was like, If it flops, can I go back to
Buffy? says Greenwalt, who assured Carpenter she could. While Whedon
believes Carpenter was right to ask that question, he was also seeing
potential for the character beyond a bright spot in a dark room. In
Cordelia, he found he had an opportunity to tell an origin story,
something he had to skip with Gellar as Buffy. You get to watch her go
from somebody who is completely shallow and self-involved to somebody
who is a hero, he says.
When the show premiered, the original main trio was rounded out by
Irish actor and Roseanne alum Glenn Quinn, who played Doyle, a lovable
half-demon cursed with visions of people in danger, whom Angel could
then save. After nine episodes, Quinns character was written out and a
self-proclaimed rogue demon hunter, Denisofs Wesley, entered the fray
instead. He wasnt quite as rogue as he claimed to be, nor was he
unfamiliar, having appeared in season 3 of Buffy. I commend this
gentleman because he had to come into a situation, says Boreanaz of
Denisof. Obviously it was a great character, but he filled that
missing hole.
As is his style, Whedon invited Denisof (Chilling Adventures of
Sabrina) to breakfast. We came up with this summer of rebellion that
Wesley had had and then he arrives on a motorcycle with big ideas of
himself, says Denisof of the character-building discussion with
Whedon. Other than fitting him in, there wasnt really a plan, long-
term, for him, but it ended up being an extraordinary roller coaster.
Part of that bumpy ride included a seasons-spanning love triangle with
the introduction of timid Fred (Acker, who joined the show in the
second season) and vampire hunter Charles Gunn (Richards, who came
aboard toward the end of the first).
Both Richards and Acker were relatively new to the industry when they
auditioned for their parts, and both took unorthodox routes to landing
them. His hair dyed red in a bid to show The WB he wasnt too clean-
cut for the role, Richards (who can be seen next this fall on Council
of Dads) walked into his audition channeling advice to investigate the
opposite of what your characters saying that hed garnered from an
episode of Inside the Actors Studio with Meryl Streep. I remember
feeling really good about it, and then Joss just looks at me and goes,
My wifes hair is that color, says Richards, laughing. When Whedon
came across Acker in the audition room, it was more of a hair-blown-
back-in-awe experience. Amy walked in the door as I was handing her
photo to [producer] Marti Noxon, and it flew out of my hand and hit
Marti in the face, says the co-creator. That was about as suave as I
got. She was just the most captivating human Id ever seen.
The Road to Redemption
Angel found its rhythm and tone, paying homage to classic film noir and
mixing genres along the way. Credit to the writers and showrunners,
they were very brave about creating a heady cocktail of drama and
humor, says Denisof. Whedon sums it up best: Its apocalyptic goofy
noir. From the darkest scenes (such as Angel attempting to kill Wesley
as he lay in a hospital bed) to the most ridiculous (a spell turning
Angel into a Muppet comes to mind), there was no denying it was unique
television. And for a show pegged on such a bleak premise, there were
lots of laughs both on and off camera and karaoke, thanks to the
introduction of an all-singing, aura-reading demon named Lorne, played
by Andy Hallett, who passed away in 2009. Plus, Boreanaz was a total
prankster on set. There was almost no take that didnt end with all of
us just laughing because David had started something, says Denisof.
Adds Carpenter, But then hed be able to stop, and three hours later,
were still laughing!
Though there continued to be the occasional crossover with the show
that sired it (and a couple more Buffy alums joining the show, like
Mercedes McNabs Harmony), Angel evolved into its own beast, often
maintaining the case-of-the-week, procedural element but also
introducing larger, season-spanning narrative arcs. For more than 100
episodes, Angel battled on, gradually coming to terms with the truth
that evil will always exist, its how you confront it that matters.
Theres a wonderful power in genre [television], muses Greenwalt.
You can do deeper, more emotional metaphors, and yet people still feel
slightly removed from the issues because they say, Oh, thats
fantasy. Some of those more emotional moments included a story arc
where Angel and the vampire who sired him, Darla (Julie Benz), have a
son. After some accelerated aging in a hell dimension, Angels now-
teenage son Connor was played by Mad Mens Vincent Kartheiser. For
Angel to have a son, I mean that just opened up so much, says
Greenwalt. It was just great for him to have to go through even more
living hell.
At the reunion shoot, the cast discusses favorite episodes. On a show
with so many offbeat and daring turns, its hard to narrow them down,
but one adventure does keep coming up: the trip to a demon dimension
called Pylea, only accessible by passing through a mystical portal. We
drove a car through the entrance of Paramount studios! exclaims
Boreanaz. Since Pylea wasnt Earth, vampires could stand in sunlight
without combusting. Suddenly a cast that was largely confined to night
shoots Sixteen-hour days in a stinky alley with people yelling at
you to let them sleep! recalls Carpenter fondly could film in
daylight. Youd have thought wed be happy, but it happened to come
during a heat wave, says Denisof. It was sweltering and we were all
in our brooding, dark clothes. A much-needed distraction during
shooting came in the form of Whedon going undercover as a green horned
demon and performing a dance number that lasted a good few minutes more
than he expected. I didnt have four minutes of a dance made up, and I
was terribly out of shape, says Whedon with a laugh.
Those were the lighter days. When Angel had to revert to his soulless
demon counterpart Angelus, things grew more uncomfortable. Embracing
the dark headspace necessary to pull off the depraved demon was
actually the lesser of two evils for Boreanaz; the literal headspace
was worse namely a risen brow and fangs. This was before easy CGI
effects, so all of that was real and it was a long, uncomfortable
process, says Denisof of the vampire makeup. We were all pretty
sensitive to what David had to go through when he was in Angelus mode.
As soon as they yelled cut, Boreanaz would immediately rip the brow
piece from his face, so fast that one time a chunk hit James Marsters
(fellow vamp Spike) in the face. A dark look passes over Boreanazs own
human brow as he casts his mind back to the experience. Still, from
behind the camera, Whedon was a fan of the Angelus turns. Its always
fun to have an electric character, he says. He inevitably ends up
being an empowering figure because he sees through you and being able
to face him means that youre stronger.
Going Down Swinging
Heading into the fifth season, the cast and crew initially expected
there to be a sixth, but when cancellation news hit during production,
story lines that had the potential to run for years suddenly had to be
wrapped up in half a season. That included an arc with Marsters, who
had just joined the show as Buffy veteran vamp Spike, filling the space
left by Cordelias departure. Marsters, 56, describes the dynamic as
the college friend who comes over to stay with you and he swears to
God its for just one week, but he will not get off the couch and never
leaves. Though there was much more to explore in Angels new foil,
Whedon (Greenwalt had departed the series by this point but remained a
consulting producer) made the most of the episodes he had. Its very
important to me that something goes out as strong as it can be, says
Whedon, who went on to write and direct The Avengers and Avengers: Age
of Ultron. And there was enough time for us to take it where we
thought it should go.
In a show where death is tantalizingly dangled in front of the
characters in most episodes, it was time to make good on those threats.
Once again, Whedon invited a cast member to eat with him. This time, it
was Acker. We sat down at coffee and he said, I just wanted you to
know, Im killing Fred, says Acker (Person of Interest, The Gifted).
And he waited, really a long time before he said, Youre still gonna
be on the show. Laughs Whedon, I took my moment, Im not going to
lie. Acker later told Whedon it was the second part of the sentence
that terrified her more. When Whedon said shed still be on the show,
he meant as a blue demon named Illyria, who takes over Freds body,
killing her in the process. Whedon gave Acker some scenes for her new
character to mull over, then invited her and Denisof to his house to
run through them. The creator landed on Illyrias hue then and there,
by utilizing a multi-colored lightening function in his kitchen to
flick through different shades. He got to the blue lights and he was
like, Yeah, this is it, recalls Acker.
While Fred lived on in a certain respect, by the series finale,
Wesleys fate was sealed. In the ultimate showdown with the Circle of
the Black Thorn (a secret society of the most despicable harbingers of
the apocalypse), the former Watcher meets his end in the arms of the
women he loved, thanks to Illyria transforming herself back into Fred
for those dying moments. I still get feelings about that scene, says
Denisof. It was saying goodbye to a lot of things all at once. I
remember on the day it was hard to keep it simple be in the scene and
not have the end of the show, the end of the character and the end of
an era all coming into it. I cant say it didnt. As for the fate of
the rest of the Angel Investigations team? Well
When the series finale aired in May 2004, audiences were split on the
seemingly open ending. The episodes last scene sees a secret society
of apocalypse harbingers opening the gateways to hell right into Los
Angeles. The remaining members of the group look on as thousands of
demons, creatures, and giants crawl onto the streets. As a dragon flies
overhead, Angel turns to them and says, Personally, I kinda want to
slay the dragon. Lets go to work. Cut to black.
Whedon knows what youre thinking, but doesnt agree. That aint a
cliff, he says. I understand why people would want closure, but for
me, that would be like adding a cliff note to the end. What I always
wanted to say is, trying to become worthy of the life that you have is
a lifes work. The fight is for always. And thats the series true
message: The pursuit is never-ending. I always hope that people feel
the difficulty and possibility of redemption within the show, says
Whedon. The price will always be high, he continues, but if as
Angel says were willing to do the work, it will always be worth
it. It certainly was for Boreanaz. Im so proud of what we all
accomplished, he says. Theres such strength in all of these
characters; they struggle and they do find redemption somehow.
Watch the full episode of Entertainment Weekly Cast Reunions:
Angelstreaming now on PeopleTV.com, or download the PeopleTV app on
your favorite device.
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