The Truth About David Boreanaz And Emily Deschanel's Relationship

David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel had undeniable on-screen chemistry when they co-starred on the hit Fox TV show, "Bones." Before "Bones," Boreanaz was most famous for his role in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as the OG vampire boyfriend, Angel, and his own spin-off in 1999, "Angel." Deschanel came from a Hollywood family — with her father, mother, and sister, Zooey Deschanel all in the industry — and had minor roles in several movies and TV shows, but she would end up becoming a household name in her own right when she was cast on "Bones."

The popular crime drama — which ended up running for 12 seasons from 2005 to 2017 — starred Boreanaz as an FBI agent named Seely Booth who partners with Deschanel as the genius forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, aka Bones, per IMDb. From the very beginning, the on-screen tension and chemistry between Boreanaz and Deschanel were palpable. While the two characters seem like an unlikely pairing at first, they quickly become friends, then date, and become loving parents to two children by the end of the series.

When the actors announced their characters' nuptials at Comic-Con in 2013, Deschanel joked, "I am getting married to David Boreanaz!" And who wouldn't say that about the hunk? So, what was the real-life relationship like between the "Bones" co-stars?

To the dismay of "Bones" shippers — although Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz convincingly portrayed a happily married couple — both actors were in relationships of their own during filming. After crossing paths at the Playboy Mansion, Boreanaz married his second wife, model Jaime Bergman, in 2001 long before "Bones" began in 2005. Bergman actually made a cameo on the show in the episode, "The Steal in the Wheels." Then in 2010, Deschanel wedded actor, writer, and producer David Hornsby, and Boreanaz attended the ceremony, per People. Hornsby also cameoed in a Season 9 episode of the series.

Of course, after acting alongside each other for more than 12 years, Boreanaz and Deschanel built an extremely close friendship. In a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Deschanel discussed how the two went to an acting coach together every week, which she likened to joint therapy sessions. "People have work husbands and work wives at their jobs," Deschanel told The Hollywood Reporter. "I think that's not uncommon, but it takes it to another level playing opposite each other and being married to each other, for sure."

After 'Bones" ended, Boreanaz told Entertainment Tonight, "We kind of really opened our hearts to each other ... which gave us some really great material to work with." The actor continued, "From there on it just kind of developed and developed ... I'm just so happy and proud of all the work we've done." Boreanaz also revealed that his two kids call Deschanel "Aunt Emily."

More money, more problems, as they say. Not only did "Bones" run for 12 seasons, but at one point it was drawing an audience of over 11 million viewers. As the stars of the show, David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel's contracts with Fox included the actors receiving more money if the show did well ratings-wise. But the stars and producers of "Bones" never received this compensation, so they decided to sue the network in 2015. According to TMZ, the lawsuit was settled in 2019 and the plaintiffs earned a total of $179 million.

In an interview with TMZ, Deschanel and Boreanaz's lawyer John Berlinski described how this was a major victory for artists fighting against huge companies: "As [the arbitrator] said, the facts are clear — as is the extent of Fox's duplicity." He continued, "What we have exposed in this case is going to profoundly change the way Hollywood does business for many years to come."

But no matter what happened behind the scenes, Boreanaz and Deschanel are still proud of their time on "Bones." In 2017, Boreanaz told Entertainment Tonight, "For me, it's always been about the camaraderie and the crew and being able to work with [my] beautiful co-star. She's given me so much love and support that it made it easy from day one."