The X-Files: Duchovny, Anderson Discuss Their "Failure of Friendship"

Posted in: Fox, The X-Files, TV | Tagged: David Duchovny, fox, gillian anderson, The X-Files

The X-Files: Duchovny, Anderson Discuss Their "Failure of Friendship"

The X-Files stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson look back at how the show's success and the pressures from it impacted them off-camera.

Published Tue, 12 Nov 2024 11:39:08 -0600
by Tom Chang
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Mulder and Scully are back together again, for one podcast, at least as Gillian Anderson stopped by her The X-Files co-star, David Duchovny's podcast Fail Better. The two achieved superstardom on the Chris Carter paranormal series premiering in 1993 on Fox. For better or for worse, both stars appeared in every season from its original nine from 1993-2002 and the revival seasons in 2016 and 2018. As for what the future might hold for the franchise, Ryan Coogler, with Carter's blessing, is developing what appears to be a soft reboot of the series, and seems the door is open for both to return – provided Duchovny and Anderson think the story is worthwhile. As with most long-running series, there were bound to be some hiccups along the way which Duchovny harbored regret during the original Fox run.

The X-Files: David Duchovny "Could've Handled Myself Better"

Late during The X-Files run, Duchovny was burned out from the grind of the series and shifted his focus elsewhere, like doing films. Season eight marked a dramatic change that saw the actor appearing in only half the episodes while Robert Patrick's Agent John Doggett would become Dana Scully's (Anderson) new partner on The X-Files after Fox Mulder (Duchovny) was declared missing after his abduction. As the series attempts to infuse new blood, Anderson's Scully would take more of an advisory role as Annabeth Gish's Agent Monica Reyes would be penciled in to take over opposite Doggett in the following ninth and final season.

As ratings suffered, season nine would be announced as its last, with Duchovny returning for the finale, "The Truth." The two revival seasons of The X-Files saw Mulder and Scully back as the focal FBI agents despite how things ended in the original finale, adapting to the smartphone era and a little retconning in the process. Fans, along with Anderson, soured on the most recent return, with the actor announcing before the finale her disinterest in returning.

"When I first started listening and had reached out to you, I wasn't thinking about it necessarily in terms of me or talking to you about the book," Anderson told Duchovny on the upcoming November 12th episode (via People). "It was just more of just really enjoying it and listening to the depth of your conversations that you were getting into with people and appreciating that I felt like I was learning more about you than I knew, or than I ever knew." "We know each other very deeply, and yet we don't know each other either in some weird way," Duchovny added."

When it comes to explaining what Duchovny feels was a "failure of friendship," it goes back to how the two handled their fame and the pressures that come with carrying a successful franchise. "There was a long time, working on the show, where we were just not even dealing with one another off-camera," he recalled. "And there was a lot of tension. Which didn't matter, apparently, for the work cause we're both fucking crazy, I guess. We could just go out there and do what we needed to do." "That is kinda crazy," Anderson agreed. "I mean, it's crazy that we were able to present on camera, you know, the various feelings and emotions and attraction and all that kind of stuff, but then not speak to each other for weeks at a time."

Duchovny suggested that it may have been a smart choice. "Cause we're, like, savin' it up. I don't know," he said. "But I could've handled myself better, you know? And as you know, we went through a crazy-making kind of a process with this thing. We went from — I mean, I was pretty inexperienced. You were really inexperienced. And all of a sudden … It was like a global phenomenon before the Internet. And we're just scurrying, trying to figure out who we are." For more, you can check out the podcast on Lemonada Media.

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