Eric Millegan says he has to keep reminding himself to savor the moment — enjoying having “Bones” fans all stirred up with his return to the series after eight years and guessing as to whether his Zack Addy character is really the notorious Puppeteer serial killer.

“Part of me is like, ‘This will get me another job!'” notes the actor, who shockingly reappeared and kidnapped Emily Deschanel’s character at the end of the Season 11 finale last month. “But then I think, ‘This is the kind of thing that doesn’t come along very often.’ I want to appreciate it and not lose sight of that.”

Millegan has finished filming episode 1 of the “Bones” farewell season that launches in January. Deschanel directed it. “It’s the most acting I’ve ever done in an episode,” he says. “I loved it.

“It was tricky for her — she was directing us, then acting in the show, then running lines with her assistant when she had a free minute. She came up with some really great ideas for me and she was very supportive,” adds Millegan, who still retains some of the boyish look he had when he rose to fame as the genius intern. “The very last scene I shot was an interrogation scene with John Boyd. I wouldn’t have been able to relax and really go for it the way I did without her.”

Millegan notes, “David (Boreanaz) directed the last episode I did, and Emily directed this one. My two favorite directors now are David and Emily.”

Millegan has been forced to hone is secrecy skills this year. He was first contacted about returning to the show in January, “and I didn’t say anything — which was a good thing. Because a week later, they said if anything comes out about this return, it’s off.”

He didn’t get a script or an offer for a long time. However, he did get a request to come in and get his head measured for a fake scar — which certainly let him know that interest in his return to his former series home was more than casual.

“I was paid $1,000 to measure my head. That’s the best job ever!” he proclaims.

Now he finds himself back in a similar waiting period. He’s been told he’ll be wanted for an episode for airing midseason, and again later. “I don’t think I’ll find out exactly when until the scripts are written, maybe another month or so.”

Fans are weighing in on Twitter “every day. A lot of them have said things like, ‘We wanted you back, but not this way.’ One guy really wants it, though — ‘You better be the killer. It’s a great idea.'”

About that next job he’d like — “I’d love to get another series. And I certainly wouldn’t mind doing Broadway again or a national tour. My husband (Charles Michel) would prefer to stay in New York.”

Right now, he’s preparing to run his second New York marathon — while also getting ready to perform a cabaret act. Dates are Nov. 5 for the show, Nov. 6 for the marathon.

Isn’t that a little, um, crowded for one weekend?

“The show will be at six, so it will work out,” he says.

Go, Eric, go.

Source: Stacy Jenel Smith for Creators Syndicate