You helped write some of the best stories for the X-Files in season two and season three. We did not see any on season four. Is there any chance you will help write some of the episodes of season five? -- Susan

Yeah, there are a couple of ideas I want to try out. Usually I get involved in the writing of the show when there's something I want my character to go through. It's usually pretty selfishly motivated when I want to see my character do something or experience something. There's a couple of ideas that I've had for a couple of years, actually, that I want to try out this year.

What book are you reading right now? And why did you pick it? -- Elisa

Let's see... I just read A Perfect Storm, which is an account of a fishing boat that sank in the Northeast a few years back. It's kind of a nonfiction, fictional account of that, and I'm reading it because my wife gave it to me and it was a real page-turner. I'm a drive-by reader: I see it, I pick it up, I start reading and if it catches me in five pages, I read it. But I rarely go out anymore and buy a book or go to the library and take a book out. People used to send me more books -- either they used to send me more, or the people who work with me used to give more to me. I can't tell sometimes. Because they know that I write poetry, the fans often will send me books of poetry, which is really nice and actually that's the kind of reading that I can do on the set because you don't have to sustain hourlong spurts of reading narrative. You can just read a poem for five or 10 minutes and then move on.

Have you ever published any of your poems? Have you thought about possibly putting together a book of your work? -- Vicky

I haven't published in any magazines that anybody would know. I guess if it counts, they were certainly in poetry magazines in college and things like that. But I've never tried to publish since then. That's a really good question, because just this past week I was trying to figure out something that I can do in the down time when I'm in my trailer. You know, you work really hard, but there's a lot of time when you're just waiting to work. And I thought I would love to collect all the poems that I've written over the years, maybe work on them, put them in some kind of order with the thought in the way, way back of my mind that maybe I'll put a book together.

My question is "Will Téa Leoni guest star in an episode of The X-Files like Perry Reeves did in "3"? -- Patrick Ramsey

Probably not, because the shows stand alone as what they are and we don't want to be a public couple any more than we have to. It's kind of inevitable that we're public because we're both actors, and we're both on television, but when you start crossing that line in that way...we don't want to make our private life public any more than is necessary. I'm not ruling out doing a movie together at some point, but I don't think we'll be on each other's shows.

What is the one thing you'd most like to do or accomplish in your life? Something that perhaps not many people know you want? -- Barbara O'Neill

I've thought since I became an actor that I had something to express -- I wasn't sure what it was -- and I'm not sure that I express it as an actor. So I think it may be in writing, it may be in politics...I would hope that as I get older and my more immature, selfish needs are met, then I can start giving back to other people.

Hi David. I thought I read somewhere that you said, people didn't think you were very good-looking when you were younger. Is that true? If so, what do you suppose those people think about you now? Do you even care? -- Aileen May

Well, of course. I think I'm nice enough to look at, but I think people make a big deal about my appearance. I think it was like hypnosis, like all of the sudden everybody's been trained: "OK, now cluck like a chicken!" "OK, now say David Duchovny's handsome!" I mean, I was a normal-looking kid, and whoever you are and whatever you look like, there are always things you want to change. I just remember that I wished I was blond. And I wished that my nose were smaller and my lips were smaller and my eyes were bigger... you know, everything. But I didn't really dwell on it -- I just thought about it when I happened to have the misfortune to catch myself in the mirror. It's very funny [the child who played me on X-Files] looked like a child version of me, but I didn't look like me when I was little. Everything changed, as it does in puberty. Things grew and hair changed and it was just crazy. I would never want to go through puberty again: It's like being in an alien movie, where you're busting out of the belly of this other thing that used to be you as a child.

What is your favorite X-Files episode and why? -- Kim Huff

["Small Potatoes"] is one of my favorites, definitely, because of just the acting challenge, getting to play Mulder as Darin Morgan's character. That was a wonderful chance to do some subtle but funny acting. There are episodes that I think are more exciting in terms of thrills, classic X-Files shows. There were two last year that took place in Russia that I thought were real exciting and fun -- I like it when we make it look like a movie, when people say, "Oh my God, I can't believe this is a television show." Those are fun. As far as acting goes, there was a show called "One Breath" in the second season that I was proud of as an actor. I like "Duane Barry" a lot.

When are you getting your own talk show? Would you do one if you got the offer? -- Christina Miller

You know, I go out there on these talk shows and they seem to be quite easy to me, and then I think "Maybe I could do that." and "Would that be fun?" And I just think it would be too hard. Those guys have to put up a show every day, and I'm not sure if talking is what I want to do. But I do enjoy that kind of improvisational, humorous banter, and I also wouldn't mind being on a more serious talk show. So I don't know -- I like Jon Stewart. I wish he'd come back.

Since seeing your hilarious performance in "Small Potatoes," I was wondering if you have any interest in doing a romantic comedy? -- Beth

Of course, I would love to. To me, that's the most difficult thing to do, to pull off being funny without being crass or whatever. You know, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper type of comedy -- very subtle. If you can remain a leading man and still be funny, it's a great gift. I'd love to try, but it's terrifying. If I could create the perfect script at this point -- which I can't, unfortunately -- it would be a great romantic comedy.

Would you ever consider completing your PhD, perhaps later in life? Maybe it's just me, but I think Dr. Duchovny sounds really good. -- Stephanie B.

In a perfect world I would, because I'd have plenty of time and I'd be able to do it. It's such a specialized and focused endeavor that for me to finish my PhD would basically mean me working from eight to 12 hours a day on it, every day for the next year and a half. That's seriously what it takes to write a dissertation. So I won't be doing that. If it were easier, I might have done it. But it's not. [My dissertation topic was] "Magic and Technology in Contemporary American Fiction and Poetry." How proleptic.

I've read that you've studied singing in addition to theater and acting. My question is: will you ever sing on The X-Files? -- Val Thunder

No. I would if I could. Mandy Patinkin certainly took advantage of that, but I can't sing. I can't carry a tune. My wife is a wonderful singer -- she should sing on The Naked Truth. But if I ever sang on The X-Files, I guarantee you, people would switch the channel.

I just signed up for Showtime because you are on the Red Shoe Diaries and was wondering if you will continue to do this show for a while? -- Julie Andrews Smith

Yeah. I open and close each show, and it's something that I continue to do kind of out of loyalty to Zalman King, who gave me that job a long time ago really helped me, and helped me as an actor. When people are good to me, I like to keep working with them.

PLEASE tell us the one question that you always get tired of hearing as well as having to answer it. -- Melody

There are a few of them -- can I give you a few? "Is it true that the show is moving from Vancouver to Los Angeles?" "Do you believe in aliens?" And, "Are Mulder and Scully going to get together?"

David, there is a group of pictures going around the Internet supposedly of you wearing little more than a strategically placed (albeit very large) teacup. However, the body seems wrong -- a different body type altogether from yours. Are these pictures truly of you or are they composites (your head, somebody else's body.)? -- Sandra Tyra

That's me, sure. It's not one of those online tricks. And I like to refer to it as a mug, rather than a teacup.