Men’s Journal’s Everyday Warrior With Mike Sarraille is a new podcast that inspires individuals to live more fulfilling lives by having conversations with disrupters and high performers in all walks of life. In episode 25, we spoke with actor David Boreanaz.

Listen to the full episode above (scroll down for the transcript) and see more from this series below.

This interview has not been edited for length or clarity.

Mike Sarraille:
Welcome to the Men’s Journal Everyday Warrior Podcast. I’m your host Mike Sarraille. I’ve been looking forward to this one. I’ve got David Boreanaz, who plays Master Chief Jason Hayes on the CBS Paramount Plus, uh, show SEAL Team entering their sixth season, which is a milestone to say the least. it’s been crazy watching the evolution of this. I’m sure that does not fall on deaf ears when I say that,

David Boreanaz:
You know, I think I’m, I’m actually getting younger during this, trying to do this stuff, man. <laugh> I, wouldn’t have said that probably two weeks ago when we were just finishing shooting in Jordan…we were there in the Middle East shooting and it was some pretty heavy stuff that we were doing out there. And, uh, yeah, it’s a grind. It’s hard to say that we’ve actually finished six seasons and we’re going into the premier of season six, this Sunday on Paramount Plus. It’s been a ride physically, mentally for me to undertake this character. Um, someone who I thought from afar didn’t really understand what a SEAL was, didn’t really know the capacity of the mental aptitude and the physical strength needed in order to, you know, do what these guys do.

I just kind of went into it a little blindly, and my wife reminded me that, you know, this is like the baddest of the baddest dudes around that you could ever come across. And I was like, oh, okay, cool. And little did I know the amount of stress it would put on my body and also the mental component to it. We pride ourselves in really studying these characters and trying to give the audience an inside look from their perspective. And when I say their perspective, I mean, we are with their SEALs. We are in their missions, we are in their operations and we get a really strong sense of, of the show from their perspective. The executive producer, Christopher Chulack laid that down in the pilot when we shot it six years ago in New Orleans.

And I showed up kind of this young, fresh guy who had no idea what was going on. And we did our first scene with me boarding a C17 and, you know, that went great. It was just a scene. I was throwing my sack around and, uh, doing a, doing a scene with Mandy played by Jessica Paré, and it went great. And then the next night it was like, totally you’re being thrown on a ship. It’s windy as hell. There’s these containers we had to open and they put the equipment on me. It was like helmet the nods. Um, <laugh> the, the, the pack, the gun. And like, literally when they put the nods down, I was like, Hey, this is a fucking joke. Right. <laugh> because I can’t see, I can’t adapt. Um, it was, it was a big wake up call, um, just for the, um, the equipment itself.

And, you know, I had to adapt pretty quickly and, and, and get the scene through which by the hair of my back, I kind of did. Um, and as we progressed, it was a battle, um, to, to get that gear down. Um, and it was some heavy gear. Um, and that was like, kind of my first kind of like real insight into, oh, this is such a small boot town like that. And it doesn’t even compare, or we don’t scratch surfaces to what the real guys do. We, you know, <laugh>, we play the Hollywood thing and, um, you know, again, it’s, you know, we can yell, cut. Uh, these guys don’t yell, cut. They just keep going, man. And, um, they carry a heavy cross. Um, but yeah, six seasons it’s, it’s, uh, looking back it’s, it’s been quite a ride and a lot of stories, a lot of memories, a lot of moments that I can talk about, but, uh, you need more than 45 minutes for that one. Uh, cuz these guys are, are, are an amazing group of fellows and they’ve taken me on and uh, I’ve learned so much from them. Um, you know, both in, in my private life with them as well as just getting to know their stories and what their struggles are all about.

Mike Sarraille:
David you’ve you’ve given me so much to unpack. It’s not even <laugh> funny. So well first off was Jordan. Cause I can only imagine, I mean time, money, the, the budget it’s gotta be, you guys are filming just nonstop long days for your little sleep.

David Boreanaz:
Yeah. It, we, you know, we we’re efficient to begin with. I mean, we, we, when we started our show off, it was like, oh, we got 12 hours to shoot the show. And then we got it down to 10 hours. And then we were rocking days that were like under 10 hours, you know, the efficiency of the people that are even on the crew itself for ex-military guys, whether they’re in the Marines or dev crew, um, you know, producers, writers. Um, so we adapted that style and you know, we could really, you know, we can crush elements and the way we shoot this, uh, has a very sense of like a documentary feel to it. Yeah. Because you’re always with the SEALs and it’s, it’s very active. Um, and when I say active it’s like we throw the camera in people’s faces and we just go, we don’t rehearse there’s no last looks there’s no, this is not a Hollywood game.

David Boreanaz:
We, we show up and we are ready to roll. And when the camera is rolling, even though you think it’s not on you, it will end up in your face in your emotions feeling that raw energy that, you know, kind of defines our show. So going to Jordan, it was, you know, the communication barrier and trying to understand like how to communicate that to the Jordanian crew, which they were fantastic. But you know, there’s that, that slow kind of impulse that’s like, you know, don’t speak Arabic. We have people that are helping us with whether you’re dealing with 150 extras, um, you know, or whatever that may be in the background. It’s tough. And it was hard. Um, and the ground was rubble. It was a, a lot of concrete, a lot of stones. Yeah. Um, you know, the heat was heavy. Um, so, you know, we just, you know, we went in and, and adapted and, and we made some moves and we pivoted and we got the job done, but it was tough. But, uh, I think it’s definitely gonna show and being impactful for this season. I think probably our best season we’ve ever done

Mike Sarraille:
The, the efficiency you talk about, man, that sounds like a SEAL team, you know? Yeah. That, that comes from working with each other four years. Yeah. Um, you said something about do there, isn’t a SEAL that wouldn’t tell you. They would rather go against a numerically superior force three times larger than our force on land than going on the water and taking the ship down bottom line, worst nights of my life. And we actually took some army soft guys and they did a caving, uh, caving ladder climb, uh, after a long boat ride. You’re slopping wet. Yeah. The gear becomes sloppy. You’re trying to look through the nods, which are fogged up and, and they did it. But afterwards they’re like, that was the worst thing we’ve ever done. Kudos to you guys. We never want this maritime mission. We’re gonna go back to what we do. And these guys are, are some of the best man. Um, I, I mean, there’s, there’s times it was, we’ve done a long climb and, and somebody’s already over the rail and I’m literally just petered out and I’m like, Hey dude, grab my, my, my harness right now. Uh, they grab it and yank me and just pull me over. And I lay there for about a minute. So, uh, don’t

David Boreanaz:
That, that’s, that’s the, uh, I mean, that’s the brotherhood, I mean, right there is distinguishable about like, what really is, it’s not really about yourself, like look left and right, look, look at the person next to you, man. Like you have to get them through it’s that’s the, the model that I’ve learned is, um, you have to take yourself out of the equation in a way and surround yourself with that weak link, that person next to you needs that hand. And yeah. You know, you see these SEALs go on to big fortune 500 companies. There’s big businesses. Or even, even if they’re, they’re running top, not security businesses or, you know, they’re, they’re speaking for, you know, on behalf of, uh, for a general manager of a major sports teams, these guys know how to get the best out of people. And it’s very simple too, right?

David Boreanaz:
It’s it’s this equation of you are there for the person next to you, man, and you have to pull them through it’s, it’s a team effort. It’s not take ego, get it out of the door, strip yourself and become this one flowing unit. And it, it really makes sense in a, in a lot of ways when we were in Jordan and I was sitting there with Tyler Gray, who was ex dev crew guy, um, who, you know, suffered some major that, and we were sitting in like in the streets, uh, you were in Jordan shooting for Syria and we were in a pretty sketchy part of the neighborhood. Um, a lot of Syrian refugees were basically there. It was a camp mm-hmm <affirmative> and I’m sitting there on the gear. And I was like, Tyler, I really understand now, like when we rehearse or go over movements into a door, why I have your back, why I’m having 360 degrees of covering just going into a door.

David Boreanaz:
And he said, yeah, let me give you another example. You see those people about a hundred yards up on the rooftop. Imagine that person with an RPG, you see the woman in the left hand side, in that little window there, and that drape flowing, think of her with a, you know, with a gun. You know, how about the person behind you, you know, with the windows like everywhere you look, there was a nook cranny and a crevice, and you man, you’re majorly exposed, you’re so exposed. And it really hit me being in that environment for what it was. You know, obviously we were portraying these as characters, but to really feel and look around, man HED really tripped me out was like this experience, that person over there, or you, you see a flicker of a light over there. Um, you get to understand what these men go through and the courage they have.

David Boreanaz:
And I think that’s the big words, the courage, because we all fear, man. We all have fear whether you doctor, you know, whether you’re Tom Brady fear is, is, is like the evolution, fear is like the fuel, right. But you have to have the courage to go through the fear, take the fear and use it. And you know, these guys, you know, when presented a situation like that in real with real life situation, it’s, it’s daunting. And, uh, he really got to my head that day, man. It was like, and I was just picking him for, you know, questions and was like, Tyler, what would this, what would they do if this happened? And you know, where would you go if you were here, you’d go into that door. It’s like, you’d get your ass in that door quick. So, um, quite an experience being over there. And, um, and, and, and, and seeing these, these, these sequences that would play out in your head and, you know, you relate to, to our show and as a character, you develop that. And I think exponentially for us being in Jordan in that environment is just gonna heighten the show so much more.

Mike Sarraille:
You, you know, urban combat is, uh, if I recall this statistic, you, you have 70% more casualties in urban combat than you would in, let’s say mountainous terrain, like, uh, Afghanistan, even though, uh, you know, the Taliban were, were, were seasoned fighters, but, um, you know, you described something earlier, you said season one, you know, wi eyed. Yeah. And, and that’s what I love the realism of how you guys have evolved wi eyed at a young age, all for love of country. And you guys have shown that, that evolution of, and there’s a point, you know, the first, maybe three combat deployments are for love of country. And then it becomes about the brotherhood. Yeah. And what you’re describing about that, those attributes that exist within the characters and in real life SEALs, I mean, we put a precedence on attributes, like teamwork in conformity.

Mike Sarraille:
When I say conformity, conformity is not necessarily a bad thing, conformity to standard operating procedures, things like that. We still want people to be individuals and, and God knows watching the characters, each person has their, uh, personalities. Willie Nelson said, people view people it’s their, uh, their greatest strength. But, you know, we had a phrase long live the brotherhood, and it is a tribe. Um, and it is, I mean, it is the greatest support network. It becomes part of your, your DNA, um, for the, the characters that are still around. Uh, have you seen that bond strengthened over the years? Uh, I mean, is it lost on you guys? Have you, have you come together and said, dude, could you imagine like doing this in real life? All we’ve been through? No.

David Boreanaz:
You know, AJ and I always joke, man, we’d be, we’d be freaking done, dude. I’m sorry. One, two minutes into real life. We’d be like, I’m done, dude. There’s no way I would survive that live. First of all, the swim and like, you know, jumping off of a plane and then parachuting and then swimming and then getting to your mark. It’s like, yeah, it’s crazy. And I think for us, it’s the brotherhood started, um, you know, the pilot, it was, it was a really strong sense of understanding each other and trusting each other, like to, to have their back. Like these guys I’d come in late to the pilot and they just took me in and like, you know, were there for me, like, what do you need? How can we help you? And there were moments where I’m going downstairs with nods on that don’t even work. And I’m, Tyler’s teaching me how to look underneath it. And these stairs were like, really with like this much, just that in itself was like, guys, you’re in front of me. I’m coming in last. You gotta slow the fuck down because I can’t, you guys are clearing rooms in front of me. I’m not even

Mike Sarraille:
Which is said, which is said all the time.

David Boreanaz:
It’s like, please, dude, like I get it. And they got it. And you know, you guys have been training for what, three weeks to get into this thing. I, I just kind of dropped in and, and started with y’all. And, but, but there’s that bond that gets created through season one, it was created through the mission that we went on and discovering each other’s characters through, uh, you know, the situation for each one of these characters, whether they’re dealing with something back home, how they deal with it when they pack it away, how they get front side focused, you know, how they keep their heads on, you know, on a swivel, you know, and for me it was, you know, adjacent, he’s a team leader he’s gotta compartmentalize, he’s gotta talk to havoc. He’s gotta deal with the chaos of what’s going on around him.

David Boreanaz:
He’s gotta tell his men what to do. He’s gotta make decisions. He’s, he’s gotta be quick and decisive and he can’t be laid back. He cannot, he’s just gotta know he’s gotta drive that nail. And that brotherhood continued from season one to, into season two. And it all bled into each other, um, so much so that, you know, like we would have people over at the house and, you know, have these great Christmas parties, you know, families knowing each other there for each other, seeing real team guys come and go on that show that, um, for better, for worse, we’re just had to go back, you know? Um, there, it, it, it, there’s a, I don’t know if addiction is really the aspect of it’s like that feeling of being in the environment is something for them that, that smell it’s, it’s just, they, they it’s like being on a black Hawk and you know, it’s like, oh, you Tyler’s like, Hey, we’ve been in black Hawks so many times when I usually fall asleep.

David Boreanaz:
But when I get on that black Hawk and I smell that gasoline and I, I hear the roar, it just brings you back, man. And you’re like, I fucking need it. It’s just this need inside your veins that pumps your veins and gets you so excited. And that’s what we learned off of each other is characters as we grew. Right. Cause we have real guys there that are telling us situations, how do we approach this? How do we shoot this? And we’re gonna do it real, and we’re gonna do it the way that you guys would do it. And that just built over seasons. And, um, it created a huge bond. And that’s part of the brotherhood that you speak of

Mike Sarraille:
That is, uh, so you’re not wrong at all it, and I hate to say addiction, but I also use the word drug. It does combat. Um, I don’t, you know, there’s a lot of people that a lot of service members that lost their lives and I don’t wanna be trivial about it, but it does. There’s something about it where I think it brings out both the best and the worst in man mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, um, I, I will say I saw the best from our guys. I saw the worst from the enemy. Yeah. Um, you, I watched Michael Monsour jump on a grenade, three feet from me, uh, and give his life for me. And he was possibly awarded the medal of honor, but you know what I’m sensing from you now in, in, in, in your tone, I felt like I never belonged at the last place I served the guys.

Mike Sarraille:
You did set the mental, uh, aptitude and, and how just insanely smart the guys were. And you said it like, there’s a lot of guys from my last place that are going to Harvard to get their MBAs, Wharton, uh, booth, uh, none of which I could get into. So I had to go to the university of Texas, uh, no, no, no hit on Texas, but <laugh> I watching selfless valor and nightly basis was, uh, was insane. And I’ve gotta say, man, you guys make it look a lot cooler, uh, than it was in reality. Uh, usually I didn’t call it a mission unless I tripped on my own feet on night vision, uh, at least three, uh, three times. Um, let’s talk about master chief, uh, Jason Hayes, cuz the, the, the guy’s about asking he does have to make very hard decisions. What have you learned from that character or, or is there a moment, a specific scene when, uh, you know, the master chief had to make a call where you’re like, man, I would not wanna be in that position in real life where he’s gotta make a hard call that costly possibly costs one of his, uh, one of his guys’ lives.

David Boreanaz:
Yeah. There’s so many, I mean, instrumental moments that kind of defined and, and kind of built his character up. I mean, I remember being the pilot again and, and, um, there was, there was a scene where, you know, my character jumped off the, the front of the ship and he’s in full gear and he drops in. Yeah. And he’s with his buddies ship explodes. And the, our, our team was supposed to come by and pick us up. So I actually got in the water, I had all this equipment on, I had a seven millimeter wetsuit on bro. And I was like, I get in the fucking water, you know? And I’m, I’m just splashing around the boat. Misses me. The guys are always to pick me up. There’s like a stunt boat. That’s like, like, look at me, I’m starting to cramp up. I’m fucking sucking down the river.

David Boreanaz:
And I’m, I’m thinking to myself, what the hell did I get myself into here, man? Like just personally, I’m like, I’m gonna fucking die today in this fucking I’m like, I’m literally saying help and this guy’s not helping me. So our boat comes back and the guys grab me, they pull me in, I get slammed in the face. I gotta cut. Like right here, I’m fucking bleeding. And, and you know, I’m trying to get this wetsuit off. I can’t breathe. I felt like pythons just sucked all the air outta me. And I was able to regain composure and I’m fucking pissed. And the boat or camera boat pulls up. They’re like, oh dude, what happened? We gotta get, get you back to, we gotta get you back to, uh, you know, the, the land there. I was like, fuck it, man. Let’s go, let’s fucking shoot the scene.

David Boreanaz:
Let’s fucking go. It was like that moment click it’s almost kinda like clicked. And you know, uh, <laugh> Mark Owen who, you know, brought the show to CBS originally who was badass and you know, you know, his whole story, he was just like in the shadows, just kind of watches. Like this is the fucking guy that came in and we, he knows like, that’s the fucking drive. Right. And that was just an experience that I had personally to kind of go, I’m like, you know what, we’re gonna fucking get the scene. We’re gonna get it done. And I can only imagine <laugh> if for real, I had to jump off a boat and get picked up and I don’t get picked up and I’m fucking, you know, and I got real bullets flying at me. I wouldn’t wanna be in that situation. Um, but there’s, there was something deep inside of, of me that said, you know, you know, I come from a very heavy sports kind of background.

David Boreanaz:
I used sports as a big metaphor in my life and training. I was like, we’re gonna get this done. It’s the fucking, this is what we’re gonna do. And it was kind like the tipping point for me to understand what this character really was about. Deep down. Yeah. You have the drive. Nothing’s gonna fucking knock you down. You get hurt, brush it off, you deal with the pain and you, you figure it out. <laugh> you just you’re in that adrenaline space. Um, there were other moments along the way, in so many seasons where I would not wanna be with my dog carrying ’em around in the snow, you know, lost, uh, trying to take care of my dogs. Like that’s a whole nother aspect of is that understand these guys have such love for their dogs, man. Like it’s huge companion. Right? And we get it teammates.

David Boreanaz:
It’s all, it’s unconditional love. It’s it’s like something there for these guys to talk to without getting a response. Just total acceptance, man. It’s like total empathy, right? Like you get it, man. Uh, but wouldn’t want to be in that type of situation, lost, freezing, and, and having to deal with the elements itself. Um, so there are a lot of these little moments along the way that, um, I had to push through, uh, as, you know, look, we’re acting these situations in these scenes, but because we pride ourselves in putting ourselves in the elements and shooting it for real, like we’re getting into a black Hawk and we’re gonna shoot. We’re gonna be strapped down. There’s gonna be a camera around here. We’re going up. We’re not doing it on a green screen. We’re not doing it on a rig we’re and we have done it on rigs a couple times, but by season five, they’re like, you know, there’s a safety protocol here, guys.

David Boreanaz:
You guys are going up and you’re spinning all over the place and shit. And Jordan, I was up there for 26 minutes. It was just me and Tyler and that one for a long time in the desert. And it was dark. We didn’t expect to be up there for that long. And we had another real team guy there who was directing it. And he was like, that was getting a little sketchy. You know, you, you get in these moments and you’re like, Jesus Christ, man. <laugh> and you get through it. And yeah, you’re, you’re thankful and you’re blessed to be able to get through it and be like, Hey, we got some great footage, but then you look back at it and you go, man, was that really like, this is a fucking television show, man. This is <laugh>, we’re portraying this. We’re not, you know, we don’t wanna put ourselves in harm’s way.

David Boreanaz:
Safety’s always first and foremost for us. And we’re doing these types of things, but there’s these little moments of scenes that have built Jason Hayes over the six seasons. There’s so many of ’em. And even if it’s a personal moment of reflection and being in his apartment alone and understanding his traumas, his trigger points, how he has to deal personally with the loss of his men, right? The loss of 42 guys on his phone that he, you know, he still has packed away in his phone. You know, the trauma of, of that. Um, the trauma of dealing back home and not being accepted, like just all of that, just pounds and adds up. And that’s a, you know, once again, those are demons and those are things that we know everyone fights on their own levels. Right. You know, then you get into PTs and then you get into TBI, then you get into like plant medicine. Then you talk about HYA, Waka. Like it’s all there, man. You know what, and it’s, uh, it’s something that I’ve been a part of for six seasons and it’s been some really great highs and some of the really, really bad lows in my life through those six seasons. But one changes thing.

Mike Sarraille:
Oh, but you know, the, the in one yeah, safe safety, uh, we want you guys to be safe, but it’s also the real, the, the reason that there is a season six is that you guys are pushing the limits to make it as realistic as possible. Yes. For us viewers, while keeping the story, the stories of our fallen alive man, and for that, uh, genuinely man appreciative. Cuz when you watch the show, you see sort of storylines of true stories from, from combat, you know, the

David Boreanaz:
SEALs. Yeah. And at first we did kinda of like, you know, people are skeptical. They see, you show about SEALs and special operators. They’re like, ah, this is gonna suck. The equipment’s not gonna be right. You know, it’s not gonna look good. It’s, it’s gonna be bad. They’re you, you know, they’re gonna do these bad storylines. And we managed to win those people over. Cuz we, we just kept to what was real. And we kept to what stories needed to be told. We continue to put the light in the darkness and you know, as far as the equipment is concerned, I think we have the best equipment. Yeah. You can even look at, I mean, Justin menik does such a great job with all the equipment pan he’s. He finds stuff. That’s like, even guys don’t even have vests, man. They’re pretty badass.

Mike Sarraille:
So you guys have actually nailed that one you have when you watch it. It’s, it’s pretty, pretty realistic. Always, uh, looking for the, uh, the next sort of 1% on, on the, the up and coming, uh, equipment or whatever’s coming off, uh, what we call cots commercial off the shelf. Um, so we’re gonna have a little fun before we, we go to a mid, uh, Midroll break. We’re gonna play. Who would you, so, uh, whether it’s the SEAL character or the actual cast member to include yourself all are viable answers. Who would you most likely take into a gunfight?

David Boreanaz:
Who would I take? Yes. Like take out, like if I had to like know

Mike Sarraille:
If you had to go into a gun fight, who would you choose? One, one guy.

David Boreanaz:
Oh, to have it on my side.

Mike Sarraille:
Yes.

David Boreanaz:
Oh. To have on my side, um, you know, for Jason Hayes, from my character would say it would probably be max, Terry Clay. Yeah. He’s a sniper he’s he’s got that. He’s got that zone in like, you know, he’s not gonna, he’s not gonna be a, this radical gun Slinger, like fucking Sonny Quinn. Um, you know, Neil Neil’s up there too. Brola too is pretty close as well. Um, max has a nicen snip shoot shoot man. He’s he’s, he’s pretty focused up.

Mike Sarraille:
I would

David Boreanaz:
Want him on my back dude.

Mike Sarraille:
Definitely helpful today answers good answers. Who’s most likely to show up late, late to work as a SEAL or as a, uh, or to set as a cast member.

David Boreanaz:
That’s a tough one, man. You know, I, you know, I think that we’ve all been relatively really good as far as showing up is concerned. I don’t wanna throw anybody into the bus man, character wise, but character wise, it’s Jason Hayes and we’re talking characters, not real people, I would say, you know? Yeah. Yep. Sonny Quinns, a little late to the party sometimes. Um, and uh, but he’s somebody that you definitely want on your left side because he gets the job done and he’s, he’s, he’s such the, that character is such a true bond to Jason Hayes where it’s like, I think more and more this year than it’s ever been. Um, because he just, there’s this bloodline of understanding this, these two and how they kind of work. And if they’re at the bar hanging out or if they’re on a mission and then like him pushing Sonny to make a call and you know, he just thinks that he’s just this, you know, the knuckle dragger, like yeah, he’s not, he’s more than that, you know, like push him to, to be the best that he can possibly be.

Mike Sarraille:
Well, you brought up the bar. So now this is fair game. What character is probably the biggest lightweight on SEAL team.

David Boreanaz:
Oh, uh, uh, <laugh> well, you know, uh, I love Neil man. I, you know, I, I, I love him, man. You know, he’s definitely one, he could definitely sip some old fashions for a long time, but his character, I would think would be a little,

Mike Sarraille:
Little, little white lightweight,

David Boreanaz:
Yeah, little light, you know, he’s got, he’s his character’s very tune new to his family as is his storyline is, and that’s been something that we’ve, uh, we’re looking forward to, if there’s potential season seven, to shake that up a

Mike Sarraille:
Little bit. Oh, there will be, there will be. Yeah. What who’s most likely. And, and I ask these questions, who’s most likely to cut themselves with their own knife.

David Boreanaz:
Oh, wow. Um, man, I mean, Jason Hayes would cut himself pretty open for his bloodline for his brothers at any moment. So, um, with himself, man, he’s gonna put itself out there and he’s gonna metaphorically do that.

Mike Sarraille:
Who’s most likely to bite someone, you try to take a bite out of their food.

David Boreanaz:
I, I would say, uh, Trent. Tyler. Yeah, for sure. He’s you’re

Mike Sarraille:
Not, you’re not gonna give, I’ve

David Boreanaz:
Never, I swear to God, this guy can eat like two cheeseburgers and under fucking minute and he can sleep standing up like no other,

Mike Sarraille:
Ah, man, I was trying to set up, uh, the hair missile for at least, uh, one.

David Boreanaz:
Yeah. Well the hair missile definitely would, uh, he’s under major supervision right now. He’s kind of retired, but uh, yeah. You know, I wouldn’t mess with his food. No,

Mike Sarraille:
No, man. Uh, Bel was, uh, let’s just say a few of those, uh, dog handlers definitely had some scars on their, uh, their hands. Yeah. Um, that was, uh, that was, that was good. Okay. So we’re gonna take a quick Midroll break and we’ll be right back. And we’re back. We were talking about Jason, uh, Hayes and just how you know, the character, uh, has developed how deep the character is. Um, I know, and this is crazy. I heard this in an interview, you have a lot of vets that come up to you and thank you guys for, for doing what you do with this show. Um, that’s insane, man, that that’s gotta, that’s gotta sort of take you back in the moment that you, you guys are, are even helping, uh, vets who are struggling with some of these, uh, these silent wounds that we talk about.

David Boreanaz:
Yeah. And those silent wounds are deep and, um, you know, something that it’s hard to talk about sometimes because being in this type of community, being accepted into it and these, these, these operators aren’t operate anymore and lose a brother is to whatever that may be to suicide or, you know, that rate has gone up in the past six months. Crazy man. Um, yeah. And, um, you know, it’s, it’s when you get like a veteran come up up to you and say, yeah, thanks for saving my life. I call this veteran’s hotline. You just really reflect on that moment and go, this is why we do this type of show. This is why the character to me is so important is the reward is being able to help someone like just here to help. If, if, if my character can make a slight impact on, on a guy who’s really struggling, whether it’s depression or whatever that might be or traumas and says, you know what, I, I really need to lean into a brother now or make a call and that one call can help because he saw the show or saw the character you identified with it, then we’re doing our job.

David Boreanaz:
Right. I’m doing my job. Right. And that to me is a huge, huge reward. And I don’t take that lightly. I look at it as, this is what it’s about. This is the, is going out and beating your body up. Yeah. You know, we, we do it in a very realistic way. Our bodies get beat up, you know, you’re, <laugh>, I’ve had, uh, one knee surgery already because of this, you know, your back hurts your, you know, when I put that helmet on, which was, uh, Mark’s, you know, original helmet, it’s like, dude, I’m wearing his helmet that he went on 13 deployments with. And if that thing could talk, man, Jesus, I remind myself like, again, this is just a show, but if we can reflect that reality and show them that, and they can be affected by it and they come up to us and say, you know, thank you for saving my life for getting me started. That’s a, that’s very impactful.

Mike Sarraille:
The, the greatest currency in life. When I say this all the time is impact, man. And, uh, while you may be playing a character, I mean the amount of the impact that’s happened, uh, amongst the, the veteran community. That’s massive dude. Um, and you know, you talk about the, the, the impacts of the job, especially these guys who have 10 plus combat deployments under belt. That’s, that’s insane. The, the second you get, get out and maybe I’m speaking personally here, I don’t wanna speak for anyone else, but it was like when I stopped doing the job, uh, and motion stopped. That’s when the injury started to really come out. It’s, you know, motion is lotion, uh, one left, you know, I’ve already replaced one hip, uh one’s on the, uh, the way, um, the, the impacts are it crushes your body, especially, you know, you’ve to the endocrine system where, where guys are just beat to hell help.

Mike Sarraille:
By the age of 35, I was issued hearing aids, a sleep apnea machine, which when you’re single is not exactly, uh, a, a, a, an attraction for a lot of the ladies out there. Um, no, it was, and it continues, but, and, you know, I can tell, you’ve been talking to a lot of SEALs and you talked about ayahuasca, you know what, what’s your opinion. And I went and did the psychedelics man. Yeah. And I’m a, you know, Roman Catholic kid, parents were very, you know, anti-drug. Yep. But I, I went and of course I’m 42 at the time went and did I began okay. Uh, and had a spiritual experience. And I called my dad afterwards and said, Hey, pops, this is what I did. He’s like good on you, man. Good. Um,

David Boreanaz:
Good.

Mike Sarraille:
What I mean are, do you huge, huge, do you support these other modalities?

David Boreanaz:
Yeah. Big, big supporter of plant medicine. Yeah. I, uh, was fortunate to be able to do that. Got the call this past three months ago and did it, and was had just an extraordinary experience. Um, you know, we’re not talking about synthetic drugs here. We’re talking about yes. Something that comes from the indigenous culture that is of one medicine. Yahoo was 5,000 years old. It’s the grandfather of the, the drink, uh, mother ayahuasca was, you know, revealing in itself. And even before I went, it was revealing everything’s on the table then like, everything’s there, everything just unfolds and you deal with it and you, you, you, you go through it. Right. And I remember going there and talking to the guy, uh, and he’s like, you know, listen, man, you’re at a good boiling point right now, your emotions are high. It’s just gonna work for you.

David Boreanaz:
Just be open then like really be open. And that was my mantra. Like really be open, like see it for what it is glean into the, the dark side of it. Right. Meaning, you know, you start to have these visions internally. You’re not gonna go to, you know, the cartoon is flipping pancakes and make you laugh. Yeah. You wanna go to the guy who’s like moan is lawn and got like a sweater on looks weird. That’s what I mean about going through the dark side of the soul. Right. To understand, to uncover that, to find the pain, to forgive yourself, to heal yourself and yeah. Big supporter of it. I, I, I, I plan on doing, you know, sitting with some smaller circles now that I’ve kind of initiated myself into it. Big, big advocate through, again, through some SEALs through Kenny, through Ryan, like these guys become my brothers and, um, it’s good to be able to talk to somebody who’s been through that and understand it and yeah, big component of what can help you with your traumas.

David Boreanaz:
Right? What can help you with PTs? What can help you TBI? Like all of those things facing it. And a lot of people are afraid, you know, obviously they don’t wanna do it. They don’t wanna unpack all that stuff again. Um, you know, you, it’s a calling, right. You get called to do it, and I’m not telling people to go out there and do it. I’m not saying I’m not putting that on them. That’s, that’s their choice. Right. That’s, that’s their, that’s their barn. That’s, that’s their lane, you know, you control your three foot world. Right, man, that’s your, that’s your business, man. That’s, that’s that’s you and everything else outside that you can’t control it. And one of the things I really learned being on this show for six seasons is that, but yeah, big support of plant medicine really am

Mike Sarraille:
You, you know, I resisted it for two years. I’d known about it for a while and finally said, Hey, let’s give this a shot. It is interesting how societal norms are sort of breaking down the maybe preconceived notions about LSD, which this is not synthetic, like you said, this is, this is plant-based drugs, but good on, uh, Congressman, uh, Dan Crenshaw, who also is a former SEAL for proposing the bill, uh, for use of certain psychedelics within, within the VA to help possibly get these guys on, on the right path. And, uh, it was definitely, uh, interesting, you know, as you, you said something earlier about compartmentalizing. Yeah. And it’s interesting outside of the mission sets that you guys do the combat scenes, you’re shown a lot of the back in the homes, uh, back in society and the issues. I mean, it’s just so eerie how well you guys have done it with the families and the constant repeat deployments and how hard it is to juggle that part of your life. I mean, we used to say, Hey man, your real family comes second. The seal teams come first when you’re at certain places. But, um, what I mean a again, it must be it, you must realize how hard it is to, to, to maintain a family, a functional family, uh, while doing that job, uh, through these,

David Boreanaz:
I couldn’t imagine then I couldn’t, I couldn’t imagine being a real, you know, team leader and not in being able to tell ’em like, Hey, you know, I’m going away. I can’t tell you anything like that. That’s just crushing. It’s crushing, man. Just knowing that you can never possibly see your son or daughter again is just, or your significant other. This is that to me is man, I don’t know how those guys do it. I really don’t man. I that’s. When you really, really think about that, um, sure. It sounds like when it’s presented to you, it’s like, oh yeah, you know, it’s part of the job you do, but no, man, it’s, it’s intense and it weighs on their minds. Right. It weighs on their mental capacity to understand that you’re trained to do this. You’ve been through buds and you’ve been through another exponential kind of training in order to make it as a SEAL or a team leader. And it’s like the mental adversities you have to go through in order to gauge that. Um, yeah, they train, they train that. It’s, it’s trained in you. And then when it’s all over, it’s like, how do we, how do we understand it? How do we like, what, what, where’s the book on that? Like, where’s the, where’s the love man. Like

Mike Sarraille:
That’s when you find that book, let me know. Yeah,

David Boreanaz:
I will. And it’s, uh, you know, you know, I shutter over the fact that bank of America’s giving loans out to, you know, which is great, fine, but you know, what about our veterans, man? I mean, it’s just it, we can go on this topic forever and ever. Yeah, me, a lot of it, but it’s, it’s just disturbing that our veterans, people that have served this country are men and women do not get specific rights or granted health insurances, free homes like across the board, man, just across the board, it shouldn’t even be a debate. It shouldn’t,

Mike Sarraille:
I, I agree with you. You’re not gonna hear it. Uh, you know, uh, any complaints from me on that one, uh, there are a lot of great organizations out there. Sometimes it seems like it’s, there’s, there’s so many great organizations for vets. It’s hard to cut through the noise. Yeah, it is. And which ones are credible and which ones aren’t. Yeah. And

David Boreanaz:
Which Tyler told me like early on, like make sure you’re behind ones that are, you know, legit man, the grassroot ones. And I have been, and I I’ve thoroughly enjoyed their energy and their vibration man and their presence. And what they give back is, is tenfold. And I’m, you know, that’s, that’s a part of like, you talk about compartmentalizing and understanding like how to deal with putting your family aside, taking your boys out somewhere, knowing what you’re gonna be called to do something. And this is, this is your job. You don’t have a political stance on it. This is your job. Your job is to get this done. This is who the hit is. And this is you’re gonna take out or who you’re gonna capture. This is it <laugh> command. Doesn’t fucking care. This is what you’re doing. This is what you’re doing. You’re, you’re struggling at home.

David Boreanaz:
I know in this season we really examine, um, you know, specific injuries to specific characters, what they’re going through at home and how command is like, you got a job to do. You gotta get this done. You’re not coming home. Do you get this done? And you got other characters, like, are you kidding me? Like, so, and so is going through this and we we’re, we’re gonna fucking continue. It’s like, yeah. As a team leader, I gotta bring these guys together and I go, you guys, this is what we have to do. It sucks, man. This is what we’re trained to do. It’s fucking heavy man

Mike Sarraille:
With that. What, what can the viewers expect from season six,

David Boreanaz:
Man? It’s so crazy. I, I, I, can’t the way we ended season five and massive explosion, RPG hits. They don’t even know who’s gonna survive this. Yeah. Each and every one of these characters are gonna be hit hard mentally, physically. Um, you know, there’s not gonna be anything on the table as far as like coming out, clean on this one. Um, and we’re gonna really dive into that and there’s gonna be some really, really emotional, sad moments for each and every one of these characters to deal with while they’re deployed, while they’re in Syria, the storyline of being in Syria, dealing with these drones that are happening right now, right? Like dropping bombs on, on people and situations and used against us. It’s like, it’s, it’s can, it’s, it’s kind of like ironic how our storylines are filtered into like what’s really happening out there, man.

David Boreanaz:
And I, I give that such great to Spencer hood nut and the writers and the people who put these stories in play. Um, but there’s gonna be such change and, um, to each and every one of these characters so much so that at the very end of season six, you’re gonna have a moment that you’re gonna look at it and you’re gonna see it and you’re gonna go, fuck, I understand this journey because you have to go through the darkness of it and the pain and the emotional turmoil and the vulnerability of every one of these characters to get, to earn to what happens at the end of season six. It’s fucking huge. And I mean that in a way of the brotherhood and that’s something that’s very special to seasons

Mike Sarraille:
What you’ve got me provoked to watch this, that’s

David Boreanaz:
Gonna be cool

Mike Sarraille:
When you read the script for this season, was it almost, did he take you back? Like God, the writers are up in the game.

David Boreanaz:
I mean, every script is part of their process of taking a piece of you and like saying, okay, we’re gonna rearrange and put this and, and you’re gonna play this and you’re gonna have to deal with this cert situation. Um, you know, playing this character, uh, yeah, it’s daunting. You eating, you go, oh God, here comes this arc man. And I gotta deal with this arc. And I gotta get into the skin of this guy and really feel the, the skin of it. And, and again, that’s that the payoff is being focused to do that. And now looking back at it going, man, it’s gonna be wild. And you know, paramount plus has given us the opportunity to do that. This show was not a network show. It was not meant to be on a, a poppy kind of glossy kind of look of a show.

David Boreanaz:
You know, the pilot was shot. They loved it. It was great. And they’re like, yeah, this is a fucking movie, man. This should be, you know, it should be on a, it’s the best cable show for, for network television. And you know, it was, and you know, we just didn’t, we didn’t, uh, you know, we didn’t, we didn’t formulate to what your network show is, right. Whether that is, and it’s nothing against their network shows. CBS is awesome. Absolutely. But it just didn’t fit their, their graph man and paramount plus came in and was like, bro, let’s elevate this man. Let’s, let’s kick it up. Let’s you know, it’s not about being able to say fuck, or like, get the fuck over here, whatever that is like, you know, like that’s is you gotta earn all that stuff. Right. But the elevation of the physicality of it and what we’re shooting. And I mean, geez went to Jordan shop for a month, man. We’re shooting in there is that just like serious historical things going on. I mean, I mean shooting in assault and its like, it’s so biblical and it’s like, you’re like, this is just gonna be profound. There’s so much footage. I don’t even know how we’re gonna get, get it squeezed in, but we will. And it’ll be awesome. So

Mike Sarraille:
Well I’m, I’m, I’m glad to hear about that. About the leap to uh, to paramount plus. And it sounds like they have elevated the game as well and in the realism should be off the, uh, the charts,

David Boreanaz:
You know what quality man elitism it’s like, you want to be the best at what you do, right? Like it’s like, okay, we’re finally on the team. That’s gonna fucking win a super bowl, man. Like this is the team man. <laugh> this is like, I always compare the SEAL as a bunch of hockey players. Like the NHL is warrior. Like you watch the playoffs, this warriors straight across the board. These guys play with torn, ACLS, broken collarbones. And they’re out there every night during a grueling run and they don’t talk about it until after their kid got to playoffs. Right. That’s a, that’s a true steal to me, man.

Mike Sarraille:
I, I was warned you would work in a hockey analogy summer <laugh> Pittsburgh penguins, right? No

David Boreanaz:
Philadelphia flyers.

Mike Sarraille:
I know I’m joking. I’m joking. No

David Boreanaz:
Building mob right now. So it’s okay. We’re uh, it’s good to have a coach like John in there now who understands his son is a Marine I think. And uh, yeah, he’ll apply some of those, those tactics. I love the fact that way. The first comment he came out real briefly. He’s like, you know, know, we, I don’t like what our locker room is like right now. I don’t like our room. Let’s start there. Right? I’m not naming a captain. Let’s just start with, with the room.

Mike Sarraille:
Well guys, you heard it, uh, C season six, if you don’t have paramount plus pick it up. Uh, you gotta watch the show, but Hey David, uh, we, we end the show in a certain way, man, because you you’ve led you’ve directed before. Yeah. You’ve been in a ton of shows. You’ve led, you know, if we can leave our listeners with men’s journal just a few nuggets on how to improve their lives, then we’re gonna do it. And so great. First one is biggest regret of your life.

David Boreanaz:
Don’t really have many, you know, I just think that they’re learning experiences. And I think that you go through it and you say, Hey, you know what, man, if I don’t go through it and, and then you don’t see change and change is significant to, uh, a better soul.

Mike Sarraille:
Every step has brought you somewhere.

David Boreanaz:
Yep.

Mike Sarraille:
Toughest decision you’ve ever had to make in your life.

David Boreanaz:
Uh, man, every decision is definitely something that you revel in and something that you really put, everything that you have into it. And man, I, I don’t have one. I really don’t have any regrets. I don’t have any tough decisions. I, I know that there are choices that you made decisions in order to, oh, we’re gonna live in this area for a certain time with my family. And it’s gonna be hard on my children because I’m working I’m so far away. Um, I’m so invested in this character sacrifice, you know, it all kind of adds up. There’s not one particular stands out

Mike Sarraille:
Invested in this char character is probably an understatement. Um, for, for David Boian what, what are those one to three tenets that you’ve lived your life by there’s non-negotiables that have led to the majority of your success in life.

David Boreanaz:
You gotta have faith, man. You gotta, you really have to have a sense of faith in what you’re you’re doing, who you’re all about. And you have to really put that out there and you have to just, you know, hope all in times of trouble that you’re gonna get through this. And prayer is so important. I think being a, you know, brought up Catholic boy, Italian Catholic, I think those three things are so important to have in your regimen. Um, but you know, God doesn’t take off time, man. God’s always with us, God is he’s here. He’s with us. And it’s just a matter of shutting it all off and talking to him, you know, you’re never alone at a restaurant. You may be physically alone, but God’s always with you

Mike Sarraille:
Love it. When all is said and done, and your time has come, how are you gonna look back on your life and evaluate whether you’ve lived a life of impact and purpose.

David Boreanaz:
I’m not looking back at it, man. I’m just going forward. Cause there’s more to do. And I think that that is a testimony to some plant medicine work that I’ve been doing. And I think that there’s, you know, I understand where that light is and that light to me is even more powerful than all of us. And we live in these vehicles, our souls go someplace different and better. So we’re always evolving then.

Mike Sarraille:
Uh, I love the fact that although you’ve had one hell of a career, man, it sounds like you’ve got a lot more to do. Yeah. That’s uh, always evolving to the day, uh, till the day you die. Hey man, I, I want to thank you personally. Um, the impact of Hollywood is not missed on me either. I was born in the bay area of San Francisco, which is not exactly a hotbed for military recruitment, but you know, I remember watching films about certain organizations in the military and the combat and not that they glorified it, but there was something about that that just drew me towards the military. Cause I didn’t have a military lineage in my family man. Right. And then when I met one of these real world characters, the guys you worked with as a young 18 year old, I met a force recom Marine.

Mike Sarraille:
That’s what drove me to join the Marine Corps and then eventually into the, uh, into the SEALs teams. But whether you guys recognize it or not, you are probably the single greatest recruiting tool for these young, young teenagers coming outta high school who wanna live the adventure who want to learn to become a leader like master chief, Jason Hayes, man. Right. And that is that in itself is, is massive impact. So thank you to you, the entire cast for keeping the stories of our fallen alive and, and uh, and again also the work you do with veterans and, and just getting one person to, to say the three most powerful words in any, any language I need. Help.

David Boreanaz:
Yeah. Jump David.

Mike Sarraille:
Amen. Thank you brother. And I’m excited about season, uh, six, which airs on

David Boreanaz:
Paramount plus you know, you, you sign up now you put code Bravo in it. B R a V O. You will get one month free man.

Mike Sarraille:
P Bravo. Okay. And it airs this September 18th,

David Boreanaz:
Correct? 18th. Yep. September 18th. We kick off man. The chopper takes off and it’s, and we’re not, we don’t look back. We keep going forward.

Mike Sarraille:
All right, brother. Thanks.

David Boreanaz:
Appreciate it.

Mike Sarraille:
All right guys, till next time, this is the Men’s Journal Everyday Warrior Podcast. I’m your host, Mike.