David Boreanaz On Son Jaden’s Role In ‘The Rockford Files’ Pilot & A Special Keepsake From James Garner’s Daughter

David Boreanaz has revealed that his son Jaden appears in the pilot of NBC‘s The Rockford Files, and roughed him up along the way. The actor has also spoken about how James Garner‘s daughter Gigi gifted him one of the late star’s sets of worry beads after he took on the iconic role of Jim Rockford.

The SEAL Team alum is at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival. He talked about working with his son, Jaden Boreanaz, who stars in the opening episode of the show, which has been given a full season order by NBC.

No spoilers, but Jaden’s character and some associates have an issue with Jim Rockford, and things get physical.

“You show up on set, you let it go, you just do your thing and live the moment, and he lived it pretty hard,” Boreanaz said. “He got me a few times. He was hitting me with this stick. I had a pad in the back of my leg. Well, that pad was great, but the stick ended up here a couple times on my calf, and I was pinned down.”

The Rockford Files hails from writer Mike Daniels, producers Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly and Universal Television. Once again, Jim Rockford is a charming and rough-around-the-edges P.I. back to solving cases after being wrongly jailed.

Boreanaz expanded on how he sought the blessing of Garner’s daughter Gigi before agreeing to be Jim Rockford.

“I said, ‘Listen, I’m not here to imitate your father. Your father’s an icon, he’s an inspiration, he’s his own thing,’” he recalled. The actor then made sure Gigi was across everything that was happening with the show and she gave him a keepsake in return. “She gave me one [set] of his worry beads that he would hold in his movies and shows. That was a big moment.”

Filming starts in October for a January premiere. Boreanaz said he didn’t seek out the role. “I wasn’t looking to do The Rockford Files. It came to me when I was doing something else. I was in development at NBC with a show called Doctor Vigilante.”

When that did not work out, Jim Rockford came into view. “The Rockford Files is an iconic show, with an iconic theme song and an iconic car. The car’s in it, which is great. The theme song was kind of tough [because] theme songs don’t really exist these days.”