Gunn actor interviewed about the end of Angel.

To tie in with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's release of Angel Season Five on VHS, we caught up with actor J. August Richards to discuss the show. Contains minor spoilers.

Find out what he had to say about the cancellation, being directed by David Boreanaz and future plans.

Where's Gunn going to end up?

You never know what's going to happen. One time I said to Joss, "You should have a vampire drag queen on the show." He looked at me, and he said, "You're on."

What kinds of strange things have you done on the show?

My character got tortured. A huge torture scene. I felt like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. It was the weirdest thing. It was always something new on this show.

Has Angel been good for your career?

Absolutely. I had to do this whole legal speech. I thought "Great! This scene will be great for my tape if I have to go in for a professional type." Then as I watched it again, I groaned, because the viewer will probably wonder why I'm talking to a puppet. So, maybe I can't use that scene.

What are your plans after Angel?

Nothing specific, but this is the exciting time again. It's funny, because I feel like I'm getting back to my roots as an actor, which I'm really excited about. You know, auditioning.

Who would you say is the biggest joker on the set?

David Boreanaz. You're in the middle of a scene, the camera's rolling and it's on you, and he's off farting or pulling down his pants.

Was he like that even when he was directing?

No, no. And that's why I wished he would've directed every episode. Because as the director you have to make the day. So he didn't joke at all. I saw a side of him that I'd never seen before, and I loved it.

Is he a fierce director?

[He's a] very laid-back director. As an actor, he understands us... He was like "Now let go. Now just let go."

What's difficult with a director? What doesn't work?

Line readings. When they try to act out the scene for you, because the language is limited or maybe they can't express exactly what they're looking for so they have to show you. That's dangerous for somebody like me, because I'm a natural mimic. Once I see it your way, I'm stuck and I'm terrible. So that's the worst possible thing, for me.

What won't you miss?

Hearing Andy bitch about getting in the makeup. That I won't miss.

How was it when Charisma left the show?

It was weird coming to work every day without her. She became such a good friend and still is. So, you know, it was kind of a bummer.

Was the show going out on a high?

Absolutely. I had nothing but confidence that our writers would continue to come up with really fun stuff for us to do.

Do you think there might be another spin-off series?

Not at the moment. I mean there's been some talk but it's been more on the unofficial side, about us doing Angel movies on DVD. I think that's really unofficial. But I think we'd all be up for that because we really love the characters that we play.

Will you stay in contact with the guys?

Oh, I sure hope so. I really, really hope so. You feel like you've made these friends for life and some of the relationships do carry on. But are you in contact every day? No. So maybe I'm kind of expecting that.

Was the day you learned of Angel's cancellation very sad?

No, not at all actually. It was really cool because David got in front of everybody and said, "You know, you guys, there's nothing to be sad about, we should be very proud of ourselves, we've been on for five years." And that's the truth. I mean, we made it to a place a lot of shows don't.

Did it come as a huge shock?

I should've expected it. Every other year, everybody was like "Oh, I don't know if we're coming back." But this year, everybody was like "Oh, we're definitely coming back." So I should've known.

What do you think went wrong?

I don't know that anything went wrong. Maybe the reality craze has taken a chunk out of us. Maybe the decisions that the entertainment industry as a whole is making are hurting the traditional format.

The cancellation took us by surprise but you know ironically there was something okay about it. I remember when I was a little boy watching Entertainment Tonight, and hearing about shows that went to a hundred episodes and wishing that I could be a part of a something like that, and here I am.