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The X-Files Star David Duchovny on Being Protective of Fox Mulder
David Duchovny discusses how he worked to maintain consistency when it came to how his character, Fox Mulder, was written during The X-Files.
Article Summary
- David Duchovny explains how he safeguarded Fox Mulder's canon history on The X-Files with various directors.
- Duchovny reflects on challenges ensuring Mulder's traits stayed true, citing the season one episode "Fire."
- The X-Files saw Duchovny star in 193 episodes, with his portrayal praised alongside co-star Gillian Anderson.
- With a reboot in the works from Ryan Coogler, Duchovny wishes the new team luck as interest in the franchise grows.
Part of being an iconic character for as long as David Duchovny has been for FBI Agent Fox Mulder on the Fox series The X-Files, is being protective of it. While speaking on his podcast Fail Better with Emily Deschanel, the star of the equally memorable forensic procedural series, Bones, on the same network. As per the nature of episodic television, there tends to be a series of directors rotating their respective visions each season to fit the creator/showrunner's vision, as was the case on the Chris Carter-created series.
The X-Files Star David Duchovny Recalls Having to Work with Directors on Being Consistent with Fox Mulder's Characteristics
"It was a bit of a pet peeve of mine when I was doing 'X-Files' — not so much the other shows that I've done — but, as with 'Bones,' it's episodic, but every episode is pretty high drama. It can be life and death," Duchovny said. "Sometimes the directors would come on and they'd know they had a great script and [since] this was on the X-Files, this could happen, you know? Like, 'Holy shit!', this is a great script,' and they really wanted to kill it. Those guys were dangerous. So often they would say, 'We've never seen Mulder like this before,' and I'd say, 'Yeah, like 10 other times we've seen Mulder like this before.'"
Duchovny recalled what happened in the season one episode "Fire," where it's revealed that Mulder had a fear of fire rooted in childhood trauma. "I remember like in the middle of the episode, I had this thought. I I think I went up to [director] Chris Carter — who wrote that episode I believe — and I said, 'Didn't Mulder and Scully watch a building burn down in the pilot? I think Moulder was fairly cool with it, you know, it didn't bother him," he explained. "It's like this kind of stuff, you know where you're going, you're kind of the curator of the character, and sometimes you have to go, 'I can't actually do that.'"
Duchovny would appear in 193 of the series' 217 episodes, which includes the original nine-season run from 1993-2002, two revival seasons in 2016 and 2018, and two feature films. The X-Files garnered critical acclaim for the Californication star and Gillian Anderson, who won an Emmy in 1997 for her work in the series as FBI Agent Dana Scully.
While season 11 garnered mixed reviews, putting an end to the original Carter incarnation, the franchise has turned to Ryan Coogler (Sinners) for a reboot of the series, garnering interest from Anderson for a potential return in some capacity after the two spoke. Duchovny, who hasn't been privy to any talks we know of, wishes Coogler's team "luck." For more, including Deschanel's run on Bones, you can check out the episode.
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