Chris Carter Interview

Q: What lengths did you go to to prevent the plot from becoming known in advance?
CC: I was real paranoid about it. We Xeroxed the script on red paper. I put out dummy scenes. I didn't write a very important scene I knew wouldn't be filmed until the spring. I provided lots of opportunities for misinterpretation. If you put enough bogus information out there it starts to work for you and against itself. Everybody saw that there was an angle to being a spoiler. It's the world we live in. If you want to maintain the element of surprise you have to be vigilant and try to confound people. I realize that I sound as paranoid and secretive as the show itself, but there are some things that are meant to be secrets.

Q: Was the scene where Mulder is relieving himself by the Independence Day movie poster intentional?
CC: I didn't think that would get quite the laugh it did, to be honest. I sent Dean [Devlin] and Roland [Emmerich] a note saying, 'This was not intentional.' It was set dressing. The way it ended up getting shot, though, it gets a laugh. The reaction is coincidental.

Q: At the heart of the movie's story, we see Mulder saving Scully again. Was that something you gave thought to?
CC: We thought it would work best this way. It felt like the natural choice. People are asking about the fact that it's once again the damsel in distress being rescued by the man. But Scully rescues Mulder in the room where the bomb was about to go off, so that he could rescue her later. So there's an equality there. Certainly, Scully is a strong character and she took action in that building. I've always written Scully strong and I don't see the fact that she was infected by this virus makes her the victim, per se.

Q: With what they saw and with so much at stake as presented by the film, can Mulder and Scully really go back to dealing with killer dolls and the like?
CC: Well, Scully was pretty woozy. But, as you see, it will be very hard for Mulder and Scully to prove what they saw, to get anybody to listen to what they have to say. That will become part of their agenda now, getting people to listen to them and to take them seriously. That's always been Mulder's thing, but Scully had seen less.

"..it will be very hard for Mulder and Scully to prove what they saw, to get anybody to listen to what they have to say.."

Q: After nearly six years, can you really keep the entire mythology straight in your head?
CC: The mythology has become so complex now that there are things that I'll have to go back and make sure I'm right about. There is so much stuff that it's hard to remember everything. There are fans who can now sometimes trip me up! There is complexity, but we always attempt to -- and I think we've been successful at this -- recontextualize everything as we go forward. But there is no X-Files bible. That would be limiting. Everything leads from everything else. Writing the movie made me think through the mythology, how it worked, and if the movie was true to what we had done through 117 episodes. We had to use the mythology in such a way that it gave us new storytelling opportunities without squelching new storytelling opportunities.

Q: Do you have a notion in mind for how it all ends for The X-Files?
CC: I have a rough end of how it all ends. I'm not telling anyone, though. That way no one can get rid of me.

Q: Do you think there are more films on the horizon?
CC: If this movie is successful, then we'll get to do more movies and we'll get the chance to continue on the big screen as a series after the show ends.