When David Duchovny heard the shocking news of the death of Diana, Princess
of Wales, he said, his first reaction was to assume that the circumstances
of her tragic accident would lead to a positive change in the way the paparazzi
covered celebrities.
Two weeks later, the handsome star of the TV mega-hit "X- Files" and the
new movie "Playing God," which opens Friday, knew his initial reaction was
wrong.
"There are so many wonderful things about
the job I have. The part I don't like is the trivialization of what is important
to you, such as your family and your emotional life."
|
He came to that conclusion as he maneuvered his speeding car through the
streets of Burbank and Los Angeles. He was being chased by a carload of
photographers who had followed him after his appearance on Jay Leno's talk
show.
"It took me an hour to lose those people who were tailing me," a disgusted
but resigned Duchovny said after the incident as he rested in his suite at
a trendy West Hollywood hotel.
"I can't believe that I actually believed that Diana's death would change
things. I was naive."
Duchovny, 37, has learned a great deal about the downside of fame since his
marriage in May to actress Téa Leoni, the 31-year- old star of the NBC show
"Naked Truth." Both actors were extremely popular with the media before the
wedding, and their union, in a secret ceremony attended by a few family members
at a Greenwich Village church school, triggered a tabloid feeding frenzy.
"I was prepared for the scrutiny because people have been writing about me
since the success of `The X-Files,' but I was not prepared for the actual
imposition into my private life. I was not prepared for being chased down
the street.
"We were married in New York, and I wanted to show Téa my hometown. I wanted
to show her the places I grew up. I wanted to show her the places that meant
so much to me.
"You have to stop wanting the approval,
which makes you care about what people say about you. But I want people to
like my work. I do care what people say about me. I wish I didn't care so
much."
|
"But they wouldn't let us out of our hotel," he said. "We felt like rats
in a cage. Their response, of course, is that we shouldn't hide; that we
should be like the old- timers who cooperated and posed for photographs.
They say that if we just cooperated, they would go away. But they don't go
away. After you're done posing, they jump in their cars and follow you."
Duchovny said he fully understands that this type of intrusion is the price
of his celebrated position, but that doesn't mean he approves of it or has
to like it.
"There are so many wonderful things about the job I have," he said. "It is
creative and challenging, I am extremely well-paid and I met a wonderful
woman through this business. The part I don't like is the trivialization
of what is important to you, such as your family and your emotional life.
"It's a weird feeling. As a public person, it's your responsibility to come
to terms with it. You have to stop wanting the approval, which makes you
care about what people say about you. But I want people to like my work.
I do care what people say about me. I wish I didn't care so much."
Although his educational background is rich with private schools and Ivy
League colleges, Duchovny described his family's economic status as "lower
middle-class." He grew up in a house near 11th Street and Second Avenue in
lower Manhattan and attended those private schools on scholarship.
His parents — his father is a Brooklyn-born writer and his mother a
Scottish schoolteacher — emphasized education, and their son responded.
He received an undergraduate degree in English literature from Princeton
and a graduate degree from Yale and was well on his way to earning his doctorate
when he quit to pursue acting.
By the way, the title of his dissertation was going to be "Magic and Technology
in Contemporary American Fiction and Poetry." For some reason, he thought
chasing aliens would be more fun.
"First of all, I was a long way from getting that doctorate," he said. "People
make it like all I had to do is write this little paper. The second misconception
is that I just went into acting with no warning. That's not true. I had already
started acting and was doing both while still in school."
The 6-foot-1-inch actor did stage work until making the move to films. He
made brief appearances in "New Years Day" and "Working Girl" and was first
noticed in the cult TV hit "Twin Peaks," in which he played the transvestite
FBI agent Dennis/Denise Bryson.
More feature films followed, including "Kalifornia," "Chaplin" and "Beethoven,"
but it was his role as the alien-chasing FBI agent in "The X-Files" that
made him a star.
"Believe me, there are plenty of flaws
in this face. And my body is starting to go. I feel like the Terminator
sometimes; every time I move, my body clicks."
|
"My manager sent me the pilot script of "The X-Files" and said, "I know you
don't want to do any TV, but you really should read this script." My agent,
on the other hand, didn't think I should do another TV series.
"I have forgiven both my manager for wanting me to do the show and my agent
for not wanting me to do the show."
The reason for the conflict, Duchovny said, is that he loves the series,
but the heavy workload is taking its toll. The long workdays in Canada, where
the series is filmed, have become arduous, particularly since his wedding.
His wife's show is shot in Los Angeles, and Duchovny reportedly has asked
that his show's location be moved so he can be closer to his wife.
"Let's put it this way," Duchovny said. "Each morning, I drive to work with
my dog, Blue. When we get to within a half-mile of the set, she starts jumping
up and down and getting all excited. I start getting depressed.
"I'm trying to learn from her," he added.
A movie based on "The X- Files" will be released in the summer, and Duchovny
said that might be the last we see of the quirky Agent Mulder. He said TV
work is too demanding, and he expects to concentrate on films.
What we probably will see more of after "The X-Files" has gone off the air
is Duchovny in roles such as the one in "Playing God."
He plays a discredited physician enticed back into medical service by a mob
chieftain, played by Timothy Hutton.
"The character of the mob doctor is always a minor character in films, and
this is the first time this character has been the star," the actor said.
"For that reason alone, I thought it was a part worth playing.
"I don't know if you could call it a career strategy, but I want to play
more of these kinds of roles. I don't want to be in the `Men in Black' and
`Batman' type of roles. I don't want to carry a film that people expect to
make $100 million.
"Id rather be in a small, interesting film that has a chance of making $15
million and still be considered a success."
Duchovny is considered quite the dreamboat, in and out of cyberspace. Legions
of admirers praise his good looks on various Web sites devoted to him —
they're called "hormone brigades" — and his familiar face adorns countless
magazine covers. He is your basic stud.
The only person who doesn't get it is Duchovny.
When he gets up in the morning and looks in the mirror, Duchovny says, he
sees the same flaws he has seen his whole life. "I have so many flaws, but
I won't tell you what they are because then people will start looking for
them.
"Believe me, there are plenty of flaws in this face. And my body is starting
to go. I feel like the Terminator sometimes; every time I move, my body clicks.
"But the good thing about this whole obsession with looks is that it always
fades. That's the justice of looks; they fade.
"I'm just glad that whatever I've got, it was good enough to attract someone
like Téa Leoni."
Little Known Facts About Duchovny
When David was in
the third grade, his parents tried to enroll him in an exclusive Manhattan
private school, but there was only one slot open and he lost out to another
little boy. That other little boy was John F. Kennedy Jr.
When David was a
graduate student at Yale, he used to do a lot of his own cooking. He says
he used to pull out his trusty wok and throw in every food item he would
find in the kitchen until the wok was full. Then he could cook the mess and
store everthing in containers and live off the conconction for a week.
His father, a writer,
was invited to appear on a New York City talk show during the 1960s to discuss
one of his humorous books, "The Wisdom of Spiro T. Agnew." Woody Allen and
Dick Gregory were also on the half-hour show. The moderator asked Gregory
the first question, and the loquactious political activist spoke nonstop
for the next half-hour. The show ended, and the credits started to roll.
The Woodman stood up and started unclipping his microphone. He turned to
Duchovny's dad and dead-panned: "You were great."
The elder Duchovny told David the story on the eve of his son's first appearance
on a national talk show. Luckily the younger Duchovny got to speak.
