Téa Leoni & David Duchovny: Sci-Fi's First Family
Canadian TV Guide July 21-27, 2001

by KEVIN DICKSON

It's been a busy summer for the Duchovnys at the multiplex. First, husband David saved the world from mutant alien matter in Evolution, now wife Téa Leoni is about to battle dinosaurs in the summer's ultimate thrill ride, Jurassic Park III. At this point, nobody would blink an eyelid if their two-year-old daughter, West, showed up on the big screen. In fact, it was Leoni's recent introduction to motherhood that convinced her to take the part in Jurassic Park III - she plays a mother, searching for her son who is lost amongst the dinosaurs. "In one scene, I was digging through dino dung to find a cell phone and one of the make up gals commented that I didn't seem to be shocked by the smell. I said, 'you don't understand. I wouldn't stop to smell the crap or the roses. I need to get my child safe back in his bed at home.'"

The intensity is echoed in Leoni's commitment to her own daughter. She kept West nearby during the lengthy Jurassic Park shoot - where one fringe benefit for her daughter was her mom's co-star, Michael Jeter, who plays Mr. Noodle on Sesame Street. "We used to get West all bloodied up in the makeup trailer so that she wouldn't be afraid. I recognize that if you write this, it'll sound really sick, but it's not. It's just a healthy way for her to get that it was the land of make believe," says Leoni. "She didn't meet the dinosaurs because they are so lifelike. They're terrifying because something could go wrong electronically, and they could snap your head off by mistake. You can get caught up in the fantasy of it. They're literally seamless."

Leoni first rose to prominence on the sitcom The Naked Truth, an inspired and occasionally very funny series in which she played a tabloid photographer. It ran for four seasons, was cursed with many bad time-slots, and vanished. Leoni's scars from the experience are far from healed. When asked her opinion of the experience in hindsight, she sighs heavily. "I don't think it's changed much from the day I left the show 'til now, three or four years later," she says. "I miss it, in that I miss those days of rehearsals. I've never had a job like that, where you get to go in year after year, meet with your favourite people and make them laugh."

Suddenly, her voice rises passionately, as she speaks about how difficult it was to be involved in a weekly sitcom. "The mediocrity that is the bane of television. Some people, through magic, overcome it, but I think it's too difficult. How do you write a script every week, rehearse it, and put it up?" Leoni asks. "I don't want to put something [on the air] that's not ready ... but it just doesn't work that way. That frustrated me because I always felt that we were on to something, but we were rarely able to get there. Your art shouldn't be like that. You should be able to get rid of the painting when you're ready, when the paint's dry."

With Duchovny's announcement that he's now finished with The X-Files, at least in its small screen incarnation, the couple are both clearly relishing the chance to spend time with their daughter. "It means everything." Duchovny says of fatherhood, "yet nothing specifically. It's a fundamental change in someone's life and because it's fundamental it seeps into everything, so you can't really isolate it as anything."

Leoni and Duchovny always try to have their daughter nearby while working, or try to arrange their schedule so only one of them is working at once. "It's kind of sad sometimes," Duchovny admits. "I was just in New York with Téa because she's working and it was my turn not to work. My daughter, who is only two, is still very mamma-oriented so it's hard for her to not be with her mom all day. She knows that mommy goes to work and she says things like 'work' or when Téa comes home she'll say things like 'miss you - work.'"

The most striking thing about talking to Leoni and Duchovny about their family life is how sane it seems - considering how hard it is to be married, it stands to reason that it must be harder for two artists to be married. Leoni laughs heartily at the suggestion. "No. Yes and no." she gasps. "It's such a great exchange. David's weird, there's no doubt. He's a great, lovable, charming, kind, generous weirdo. And at times I think he's bizarre, and it would be easier with someone I could figure out more consistently and more easily. But the exchange is someone who's constantly surprising me with his kindness and his charm. He, like me, doesn't want to stay put and I encourage him to grow."

Okay then, but it must be strange to be married to a cult figure, a guy who many people can't separate from his on-screen Mulder identity. "Oh, you know, that's not really weird. I feel very safe," she smiles, jokingly. "But, I remember the first year after we were married, women would say to me, 'Oh my god, I'm so in love with your husband.' So, I'd ask them to imagine if I said the same to them. Suddenly, they'd get it and say 'I'm so sorry, I can't believe I just said that!"

During the press for Evolution, Duchovny joked about his lack of interest in household chores. What's Leoni's response? "He's not a terrible husband, but he's a terrible chore-doer and I have to allocate. The trash is overflowing, I want you to look at it and think about it," she laughs. "We could hire someone, and there are many times when we're both working and we need someone to take out the trash. I'm careful about [having too much help around the house] because you can lose touch with your life - suddenly you don't even know you own zip code. I don't think that's right." This sci-fi family has its' feet planted firmly on the ground.

Article courtesy of TV Guide, transcribed by Megan.