Alien Nation: David Duchovny battles supernatural forces -- again.
Dina Sansing, June 2001

David Duchovny is hunting down aliens. OK, so that's not exactly a total shocker.

Well, yes, the actor who rose to fame -- and perhaps infamy -- on Fox's The X-Files is once again tracking down extraterrestrial life. But Duchovny's new role is galaxies apart from the earnest Fox Mulder you know and love.

In Evolution (which is directed by Ivan Reitman, the man who gave us Ghostbusters, the comedy that spawned the genre that now includes Men In Black and Galaxy Quest), David plays a community college professor who discovers alien life that's threatening to take over earth. The good-hearted prof attempts to save the universe -- but with none of the seriousness Duchovny employed on Sunday nights. And having ditched his sidekick Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), the New York-born actor is joined by some hilarious co-stars, including Orlando Jones (Double Take, but best known for his wacky 7-Up ads), Seann William Scott (Dude, Where's My Car?), and Julianne Moore (Hannibal). Yes, the truth really is out there, and this time, Duchovny sets out to find it.

So, we recently caught up with the hunky and smart -- he's halfway through a Ph.D. in English literature from Yale University -- star to get the scoop on his alien obsession. While we wanted to hear why he decided to leave Mulder's dry-wit behind in favor of some slapstick comedy, we couldn't help sneaking in a few questions about the role that put him on the map.

So why do this movie?

"I worked with Ivan Reitman on 1992's Beethoven. After that, I ran into him every now and then. I like his style. I loved Ghostbusters and I loved Animal House. I always said, 'When are we going to work together again?' Finally he said, 'I'm doing this movie Evolution and I really want you to do it.' That doesn't happen very often, that you have a director you really like ask you to do a movie with him."

Did you think twice about doing it since it also involves aliens?

"When he gave me the script, I was loving life. It was perfect -- I wanted to do a movie before shooting my X-Files episodes and this fit in perfectly. When I first read the script I was like, 'Oh, this is funny. Okay, I'm a teacher. Oh, that's a funny scene then...aliens! Why?' Then I sat down with my wife [Tea Leoni] and she read it. I said the style of comedy that Ivan does and that occurs in this movie is 180-degrees different from what I've been doing. So the fact that there are aliens in it is just a coincidence. It has nothing to do with why I'm in this movie. I did it because it was a clever idea."

Were you intentionally trying to spoof yourself? At one point you said to Orlando Jones, "No government -- I know those people -- don't trust them."

"It's funny because I didn't think about Mulder while making of this film. I don't associate Mulder with aliens. Honestly, I don't go around thinking about Mulder, I don't walk around thinking about aliens. I just think about my work as an actor. I never thought, 'Does this sound like Mulder?' And I'm glad I didn't, that would have been hell. Ivan came back from a screening and was kind of mad. He said they all laughed at that scene and he couldn't figure out why. I didn't know why they were laughing either. Then we figured it out. It wasn't intentional, but we'll take laughs wherever we can get them."

Let's talk about the X-Files. Are you definitely not coming back next season?

"No, I'm not coming back."

Did you prefer only appearing in a few episodes this year?

"I liked the schedule of it. It may just be my actor's ego, but I think Mulder's consciousness is the center of the show. It's his quest that everyone has come along on. For Mulder to come back and be peripheral seems wrong to me."

Does that mean you think it shouldn't continue without you?

"No. I think the show has a strong enough frame that you could have any actor in there pursuing that. But if you're going to have Mulder on the show, you should use all that is Mulder. I am really proud of this guy who has gone through so many experiences in eight years. In the last episodes, I just felt like I was a Lamaze coach. And if I came back in cameos, I think that's what it would be."

Did you know you were leaving when you shot that last scene with Gillian Anderson?

"I told them all year long that I was 99 percent sure I wasn't coming back. I only said 99 percent because I don't say never anymore. I was sure. We were doing the last two episodes and I felt like it wasn't right for my character. We were resolving things, but they had nothing to do with Mulder. I thought it was a lost opportunity. I thought they could have done a better send off for Mulder."

Tell me about shooting that last scene.

"I think in the original script Scully gives Mulder a kiss on the forehead. I was so confused at that point -— I didn't trust my feelings -- and I didn't know what would be an appropriate ending. But when the director shot it, he said, 'We've done the kiss on the forehead a hundred times. Let's have them really kiss.' That sounded right to me. It was giving the audience something different at the end."

So is Mulder really the father of Scully's baby?

"I guess."

Did they do it the natural way?

"It would seem not. There's that episode where she asks for my sperm and then has a miscarriage. But I don't know."

Would you ever do another X-Files movie?

"I would love to do another movie. But if the script came my way, I would look at it like I look at any other script. I would want it to be really good."

Do you get asked about extraterrestrials a lot?

"Yes, but only by reporters. When I'm getting coffee they don't go, 'Hey, by the way, do you believe in aliens?'"

Article courtesy of Seventeen Magazine.