David Boreanaz memorably portrayed the character of Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer before moving on to his own spin-off, but who else auditioned for the role? Boreanaz appeared in the premiere episode of Buffy as a mysterious ally of the show’s protagonists, and many fans would become attached to the forbidden romance between Buffy and Angel over the course of three seasons.
It would come as a disappointment to those fans when Boreanaz left Buffy after the season 3 finale, “Graduation Day, Part Two”, to headline a spin-off focused on the vampire cursed with a soul. Although the show experienced early growing pains, arguably making the mistake of focusing more on guest actors than the main cast, Angel displayed a sharp improvement in quality as it progressed. With its exploration of weighty questions, centered on the meaning of good and the futility of battling evil, the spinoff would gradually eclipse Buffy in its later years. Given that he portrayed Angel, a character that often struggled against his own worst impulses, Boreanaz was crucial in molding the trajectory of Angel from a broody boyfriend to a fully developed, tragically heroic figure. But another actor, who is well known to fans of the Whedonverse, also auditioned for the part.
Nathan Fillion, who would go on to star in a number of Joss Whedon’s projects, tried out for Angel. As the actor revealed in an interview with Backstage, he didn’t get too far in the audition process: “When Joss found out that I auditioned for Angel—he didn’t know—he felt bad. He said, 'I don’t remember you.' I told him not to worry, I never made the first cut.” The audition would open the door to further collaborations between the two, as Fillion would play the evil preacher Caleb in season 7 of Buffy. He also nabbed the leading role of Malcolm Reynolds in Firely and appeared in Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.
It would have been interesting to see Fillion as Angel, however, because so much of the character’s success was dependent on Boreanaz. As James Marsters, who played Spike, recently revealed, the pairing of Buffy and Angel was hardly Whedon’s first choice. He was obviously swayed by the chemistry Boreanaz had with Sarah Michelle Gellar, who portrayed Buffy Summers. Since the relationship between Buffy and Angel didn’t factor into Whedon’s original vision of the show, only being included as a storyline after Boreanaz proved to be a viable scene partner with Gellar, it’s safe to say that the entire history of Buffy might have been different if someone else had been cast in the role of Angel.
Indeed, the implications of Angel’s casting have far-reaching implications. If Angel is never positioned as a love interest, what would that have meant for the first three seasons of Buffy? If no spin-off results because of Buffy, what does that mean for characters like Cordelia, Anya, and Xander? All three were affected by the changes that occur between season 3 and season 4 of Buffy. Likewise, if Angel’s role was limited, then what would it mean for Spike later in the series? While casting is always an undoubtedly crucial aspect to the evolution of any show, Boreanaz’s stint as Angel is especially vital to the history of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Even an actor as talented as Nathan Fillion might not have been right for the part.
