Bones: Where To Watch Emily Deschanel After The Fox Series
When "Bones" made its primetime debut in 2005, expectations for the procedural were understandably mixed. After all, the show was based on a beloved series of novels by Kathy Reichs. But source material aside, "Bones" hit the primetime landscape with little star power, fronting former "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and "Angel" star David Boreanaz serving as arguably its biggest name.
Of course, his quippy FBI tough guy Seeley Booth was never the real star of the show, with then-rising star Emily Deschanel being cast in the show's title role of Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan. The actor seized the moment and then some, delivering a performance that, over the course of the series' lengthy 12-season run, showed a range that covered high drama, hilariously aloof, and virtually every conceivable emotion in between. Deschanel's 245-episode run on "Bones" helped make the actor a star and the show an unexpected hit. While she'll likely always be known for playing Dr. Temperance Brennan, she's more than moved on since the show ended, including a head-turning role on TNT's lauded crime thriller "Animal Kingdom."
Deschanel made her "Animal Kingdom" debut a couple of years after "Bones" left the airwaves, doing so as ex-con Angela Kane, former bestie of Julia Cody, the late mother of main player Joshua "J" Cody. And if you've seen Angela's arc on the show, you know she brings a whirlwind of trouble when she re-enters the orbit of the Cody clan.
Deschanel has kept quite busy since leaving her signature role behind
The gritty and often duplicitous role of Angela Kane was about as far from that of the hyper-cerebral, frequently heroic Temperance Brennan as you can get. As Emily Deschanel explained to Collider in 2019, that was sort of the point, stating, "I mostly wanted to play a different character and do something different, with a different tone, and this was something that was different and seemed like a fun thing." Of course, Angela eventually meets an untimely end in "Animal Kingdom." Thankfully, Deschanel has continued to push herself as an actor since.
That includes booking a one-off job on ABC's hit cop drama "The Rookie," where she portrayed Sarah Nolan, the oft-talked about but rarely seen ex-wife of Nathan Fillion's title character, Officer John Nolan. Though Deschanel has only made one appearance on "The Rookie" to date, she more than made an impact playing the former Mrs. Nolan. And with any luck, she'll find her way back to the action sometime down the road. Until then, Deschanel has kept busy with a role in the overlooked but critically-adored 2022 indie "Continue," then signed on to lead the Netflix drama "Devil in Ohio."
If you've yet to catch the eerie, eight-episode creeper, it finds Deschanel playing a psychiatrist whose life spins wildly out of control when she takes in a distraught 15-year-old patient who may be eyeing a more permanent place in the family at any cost. And Deschanel is clearly having a lot of fun with that relatively classic genre setup.