David Duchovny Had Serious Doubts About Starring In The X-Files
20th Television
By Witney Seibold/June 22, 2022 3:15 pm EST
Thinking back to 1993, it’s hard to imagine a time when someone wouldn’t want to be associated with “The X-Files.” Although Chris Carter was not yet a household name — he had previously written a few projects for Disney, like 1986’s “The B.R.A.T. Patrol” — his new series was certainly tapping into something very real in the culture, and a modern audience might assume actors were lining up for appear. But this wasn’t the case, and the audition process wasn’t as frenzied as our imaginations might lead up to believe.
TV vs. movies
“In 1993, there was an elitist division between movie actors and TV actors. And because I was an elitist and thought myself an artist, I was going to do movies. But my manager [Melanie Greene], bless her, said she had a feeling about ‘The X-Files.’ And that I needed to pay rent.”
Woody on ‘Cheers’
Duchovny became more comfortable with TV work after comments from Randy Stone, the casting director of “The X-Files’” pilot episode:
Duchovny brought Mulder to life, and played the role in 191 of the show’s 218 episodes (he bowed out in the series’ final few seasons) as well as in two feature films. “The X-Files” may be a creation of the 1990s, but it remains an enjoyably paranoid supernatural thriller that still holds the standard for all the paranormal investigation shows to come after. Duchovny swallowed some pride, and we all benefitted.
“I had conflicting feelings signing away what I thought would be three to five years of my life to a show about aliens on a network that had kind of crappy programming. But Randy Stone, who’s since passed, said, ‘I know you have a lot of opportunities.’ I didn’t. ‘I’ve only told this to one other actor, one other time — but if you do this show, you’ll never have to work again.’ He was talking about Woody Harrelson for ‘Cheers.’”
