It wasn’t an automatic yes for David Boreanaz when he was asked about taking on the role of private investigator Jim Rockford in the NBC update of the hit series The Rockford Files, scheduled to premiere in early 2027.
Rather the Bones and SEAL Team alum had a couple of conditions, one of which was to get the approval of James Garner’s daughter, Gigi Garner. It was Garner who originated the role of the ex-con falsely accused of the crime for which he went to prison, on the critically acclaimed series, which aired on NBC from Sept. 13, 1974, to Jan. 10, 1980.
As luck would have it, about 15 years ago, Boreanaz purchased a bit of Garner memorabilia and, surprisingly, the email he had for Gigi from that time still worked. She replied and they set up a phone call.
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“I called her up and I said, ‘You know that NBC is bringing back The Rockford Files? She said, ‘Yeah, I don’t know who’s going to play my father.’ And I said, ‘Well, they offered me the role.’ And the first thing I said to her is, ‘I need your blessing, but first and foremost I’m not going to play what your father did. What your father did is iconic and he’s already climbed that mountaintop. I inspire to do the same with this character, but I’m not imitating him. I’m not going out, looking at episodes.’”
It turns out that Boreanaz was more into The Six Million Dollar Man and Charlie’s Angels than Rockford, so while he found James Garner inspiring, he didn’t watch the series. Needless to say, Gigi gave him her blessing.
View this post on InstagramThen there’s another twist to the story. There’s the added fact that Boreanaz’s mother had once told him that he needed to follow in Garner’s footsteps.
“When I started Bones, my mother said, ‘David, you need to play something of Jim Garner. You have to. You look just like him. You resemble him. Somehow, you have to do something.’ So, within those 15, I don’t know, 20 years, of doing Bones and then doing a military show for seven years, which I call it the boot camp to get to this show, my mother’s spirit obviously brought that to light somehow. So, I thank my mom a little bit for that energy.”
The second thing that Boreanaz had hoped for and which came to pass when The Rockford Files was awarded a tax credit by the state of California was to film in Los Angeles, which is a huge character in the series, and one that they plan to take advantage of.
“I don’t think you can shoot The Rockford Files anywhere else,” he says. “We would have tried. It probably would have been in Australia. I don’t know. I don’t know where.”
The official storyline for The Rockford Files reads: “Newly paroled after doing time for a crime he didn’t commit, James Rockford returns to his life as a private investigator using his charm and wit to solve cases around Los Angeles. It doesn’t take long for his quest for legitimacy to land him squarely in the crosshairs of both local police and organized crime.”
“For me, it’s really tapping into the vulnerability of this character,” Boreanaz says of playing the character. “That’s a big goal of mine for me for him, is to wear that mask of vulnerability.”
As for Rockford’s other qualities, Boreanaz says, “He’s confident. He’s savvy. He’s fun to watch. He’s interesting. Sure, he can be a little curmudgeon at times, but he gets the job done — not necessarily with his fists, but he walks with his fists in mind. So, there’s a lot of ways that he can get information and get things done using his fists some other way, with his mind or whatnot.”
The Rockford Files, also starring Michaela McManus and Jacki Weaver, will join the NBC 2026-2027 schedule in midseason.
Next, NBC Announces Fall 2026-2027 Schedule, Including The Rockford Files Reboot and Civilian Traitors
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