Season 5 of the television series Bones, premiering on September 17th, will follow Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) and Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), as they contend with the emotional fall-out resulting from the change in their relationship that was brought about by events at the end of last season.

Brennan’s request to have Booth father her child, as well as the strange, profound, almost psychic link they shared during Booth’s coma, left both of them wondering what thoughts and emotions the other is experiencing. While Booth attempts to come to grips with these unleashed emotions, Brennan insists the two of them focus their attention and energy on their main job, of catching murderers that no one else can catch.

During a set visit to the show’s soundstages at 20th Century Fox, co-stars David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel were joined by show creator/executive producer Hart Hanson and executive producer Stephen Nathan, to talk about what fans can expect from the popular television pairing.

Q: What are you working on today?

Deschanel: I just did a scene with Tamara Taylor, who plays Camille Saroyan, in which she is trying to learn about teaching her adopted daughter about sex. And so, she has this book with a cartoon penis in it. And, I did another scene with Eugene Byrd, who plays Clark Edison. In that scene, he comes back from collecting a bunch of bones from train tracks, and I’m really making him work very hard to gather bones from the victims we are working on.

Q: Emily and David, was the chemistry between you guys there from day one, or is it something that has been developing with the series?

Boreanaz: It’s definitely developed, from the moment the two of us met. This is the best twosome in television, as far as relationships of characters are concerned. When I walked into the room and we were testing, there were two other girls. There was this one girl who we all pretty much thought had the part, but when Emily and I worked the scene, there was definitely some magic that happened in the room. And, when you are fortunate enough to catch that lightning in a bottle, you don’t really have a sense of where it’s going to go or how it’s going to transform. You work on it. And, we have been working on our chemistry, since day one.

We continually work on each episode and each moment, in each scene, to develop that chemistry. And, in order to develop that chemistry, you have to trust the other person you’re working with. With that trust comes a lot of things that you can’t really share with other people because it’s between the two of us, and I cherish that. She is not only someone I work with, but she has become part of my family. I can look at Emily and say that I enjoy the moments I have with her because they lead to me becoming a better person. And, in doing so, I learn about her, hence we get chemistry. I think that chemistry has developed in the last four seasons, in a very strong way.

Nathan: From the writer’s standpoint, you can’t ever write chemistry. There are so many shows that might be well-written, but if that chemistry isn’t there between the two stars, it just doesn’t work. We are very, very lucky to have that.

Deschanel: You can have writing that showcases the chemistry that David and I work on, and you can have writing that doesn’t showcase it, so writing definitely plays a part too. I wouldn’t say that it is just from the actors. But, I think it’s important that David and I have a good relationship, off camera, in order for us to have that relationship and chemistry, on camera. That’s important to us, as well as working the scenes to always make things better.
Q: Can you have good chemistry and not like the other actor?

Boreanaz: It depends. I’m sure you can look at shows in the past, where the actors probably had great chemistry, but they didn’t really have a great relationship. What we do for each other is be there. If I’m having a bad day, or if she’s having a bad day, we can talk about it and get through it and use it in our work. It works for us by helping motivate the scene and push the scene along. It also helps us find out something new about each other, so that we do respect those moments.

Nathan: It was there, on the first day. I learned how to write towards it, and they just work on it all the time. We can ask them to do anything, including turning on a dime with the tone. We can ask them to be funny and then touching and then gross, all within one episode.

Hanson: It’s a big gift to write to David and Emily. Stephen and I have both worked on shows where you try to write for a couple and you think to yourself, “Oh, this is never going to work.” Yes, I think people who don’t like each other can have good chemistry, but I think there has to be something. If it’s hate, then you have to see if you can translate that. But, we are very lucky that it is not hate. It would be very interesting to see how the chemistry between Booth and Brennan is completely different from the chemistry between Emily and David. But, the minute the camera starts, it turns into that chemistry that works for our show.

Q: Was it an enormous vote of confidence from Fox to pick you up for two seasons?

Hanson: To be honest, there was a lot of negotiation about how we were going to proceed into the fifth season. One reason for the two-year pick-up had to do with licensing fees. That being said, it’s great. For us who are making stories, it gives us a nice timeline. And, for the actors, it gives them an idea as to how they can settle into it. I felt like it was a great gesture from the network to us. They didn’t have to do that.

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