all him G-Man Extraordinaire--because, after seven years playing FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files, that's the title that actor David Duchovny has earned. With his dry delivery and keen wit, Duchovny brings an edge to his low-key portrayal of the believer to Gillian Anderson's skeptical Dana Scully. After his successful debut last season as the writer/director of "The Unnatural"--a humorous, baseball-centric episode that became an instant fan favorite--the multifaceted Duchovny is again back behind the camera. This outing--dubbed "Hollywood A.D."--is closer to his heart, and explores what happens when Assistant Director Skinner helps turn one of Mulder and Scully's cases into a Hollywood film.
A month ago, Duchovny shared some thoughts on The X-Files and more. As of this writing, The X-Files' final episode of the season is being scripted--and the fate of series still hangs in the balance.
Your second writing/directing effort, "Hollywood A.D.," is a satire that seems to draw on some personal, recurring themes about Hollywood--not to mention the fact that it stars your wife, Tea Leoni, and friend Garry Shandling. Did you treat this outing as if it were a personal film for television?
Duchovny: That's exactly what I feel I'm doing. I mean, I couldn't write anything that wasn't personal. This one is obviously about the difference between reality and acting, Hollywood and the rest of the world, truth and fiction--all of which is very personal to me.
What are your thoughts about continuing The X-Files?
Duchovny: I never say never. It all depends. At this point, it's just about money. Anybody that tells you that creatively there is anything left to do on that show.... The only creative thing left to do is the sheer high-wire act of "How can I keep on making this show?" That's really all--you can't really say that there's more to do. All you can say is, "Wow, I can't believe you keep on doing it and it's still good." And it is. But creatively, that's kind of a weird response.
What do you think makes The X-Files appealing, from the network perspective, at the moment?
Duchovny: The X-Files is amazing. The X-Files is a dinosaur. They will never spend money on a television show like they spend on The X-Files. Only because they grew up in the two to three years before cable fragmented the audience where you could actually rationalize spending that kind of money to get a huge audience. You'll never get an audience like this again. The X-Files makes a hideous amount of money, a huge amount of money. They could spend $50 million an episode and still make fourfold that. The X-Files is obscenely successful. It's worldwide. I mean, it's the only [global] American show besides Baywatch, which is a kitschy thing. They don't watch ER anywhere else, they don't watch NYPD Blue anywhere else. Those are great shows and they're very popular here, but The X-Files is popular everywhere.
Why do you think that is?
Duchovny: Even though we're FBI agents, we're dealing with issues that are interesting to all people--and whatever else is out there. Of course, when we do colonize other planets, they'll be like, "That's so unrealistic!"
Are you concerned about breaking free from your alter-ego of the past seven years?
Duchovny: I've been asked this question a lot: "How are you going to break this image?" And I really don't know how to answer it, because I can't. I'm lucky enough to have been in a show that is so strong in people's minds that they want to see me in a certain way. And then I think about other actors. If you think about a great actor like Robert De Niro--here's a guy who's done 45 films, maybe. Do you think he gets angry when all people do is say, "Are you talkin' to me?" I think he might. At first I thought it was just me and William Shatner. But look at Jim Carrey. I mean, forever, forever, they're gonna say to him, "I didn't know that you could be dramatic." And forever they're gonna say to me, "I didn't know you could be funny." I think all actors deal with it. How you first come out, where you make your splash, where you get famous--that's going to be the mold that you're always going to be fighting. That's just the nature of the business.
Are you tired of playing Mulder?
Duchovny: If you were in a running series called Hamlet for seven years, it would be the same thing. I would be tired of getting my mother to admit that she had slept with my uncle, just as I'm tired of shaking the Cigarette Smoking Man and telling him to admit that he'd slept with my mother. Maybe it is Hamlet! Maybe I'm happy to be on the show!
This season has seen a subtle shift in Mulder and Scully's relationship. What do you think lies in store for the dynamic duo?
Duchovny: I think everything is up in the air because of the movie-franchise aspect. If we truly knew that it was ending this year, next year or whenever, you could actually write toward an ending. I think you could actually disrupt the nature of Mulder and Scully's relationship and make it sexual--make it something--and actually deal with it, in that case. But because everybody involved in the writing and producing end of the show wants to keep it a lucrative enterprise, they want to keep it the way it is. But it's tough to do--seven years, keeping people in exactly the same spot.
What was it about Return to Me that struck a chord with you?
Duchovny: When this script came along, I thought it was very straight-ahead sentimental and a nice story. There's no mystery in this movie. The audience knows what's happening the whole time. There's no twists and turns. The joy is in watching what you know will happen, happen. It's not the kind of movie that I run out and see--I don't run out and see anything.
When you accepted the role in Return to Me as an amiable lead in a romantic comedy, were you purposely trying to distance yourself from Mulder?
Duchovny: No. I'm less aware of what people think of my image. There's nothing I can do about it, so I just do the best work that I can do in the best movies that I can get.
