David Duchovny: Coming and Going

The star of "The X-Files" talks about coming to the big screen in the romantic comedy Return to Me, and not going back to the small screen for "The X-Files" no matter what.

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With his final season on "The X-Files' beginning to wane, David Duchovny's mind is not really on playing Fox Mulder, But it is on the script he just wrote and will direct for the show this spring. He performed writer/director duties for "The X-Files" once before--last year's episode "The Unnatural," which was about an alien who left his people to become a base-ball player in the Negro Leagues--and he's anxious to get some feedback about this script. Between takes on the set, "X-Files" creator Chris Carter mentions to Duchovny that he's read his script. "Oh yeah?" Duchovny responds, as casually as if Carter had told him he liked the color of his socks. "What'd you think?" "I really like it," Carter says. The two don't discuss it much further, but Duchovny is satisfied, and considering that his relationship with Carter has gone down the tubes since he filed suit against 20th Century Fox last year, claiming they undersold the show in syndication to keep him from getting the profits he felt he contractually deserved, a pleasant exchange like this is indeed probably encouraging. When Duchovny's finished with "The X-Files," he hopes to turn full-time to the big screen, and he hopes his new movie, Return to Me, a romantic comedy costarring Minnie Driver, will aid that transition. While the high stakes play out in his career, Duchovny's personal life offers him the most stable environment he's known. His wife, Téa Leoni, gave birth to their daughter, Madelaine West, last April. In his trailer he shows me the Kermit the Frog puppet he got for her. "This is the first toy I fell in love with," he says. Then, as he shows me how it sings and hums, he laughs a lighthearted laugh that one guesses could never come out of Fox Mulder.

LAWRENCE GROBEL: All the new parents I know stay home and end up watching television. Are you a fan of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"

DAVID DUCHOVNY: I watch it. I always get it wrong at the $250,000 question. Sometimes earlier.

Q: Who would you call as your lifeline?

A: I'd have Téa sit in front of the Encyclopedia Britannica and I'd call her. I don't know why these people don't do that.

Q: How has being a father altered your relationship with your wife?

A: You look at a call sheet for "The X-Files" and I'm number one on it. I used to be number one on the call sheet at home and now I'm like number three or four. It's OK. Even though you spend less time together, there's a bond. You're in something huge together.

Q: Tim Allen has said he thinks a father can never get as close to his kids as a mother does.

A: It seems to me a biological fact that the baby is suckling at my wife's breast all the time, getting full sustenance--nutritional and emotional--from that. But my daughter loves to see me and I love to see her. I put her on my chest naked, I let her smell me, we do all the things that people tell you to do. I'm really looking forward to meeting the person as she evolves. It's fascinating to see something come in so unformed and yet with such a strong identity. Already at nine months I can get a feeling of who she is. I know she's got a sense of humor.

Q: Now that you're married and a father, your conversations with your shrink must be different.

A: I talk about different things, but the issues are always the same. You arc who you are. At some point you're formed, unless you're taking excessive quantities of mind-altering drugs.

Q: Has your relationship with money changed?

A: No, that's the same. My wife, fortunately, loves to play with money. I wouldn't say she loves money, but she sees the game aspect of it, and she likes that. I don't.

Q: What's the status of your lawsuit with Fox?

A: I can't talk about It, except to say that I'm not suing for anything other than what I feel is owed me. I'm not suing for damages. I'm not suing Chris Carter. I'm suing Fox over what I feel is my contract.

Q: Do you believe, as was reported, that Chris Carter conspired with Fox to cover up the self-dealing, and was paid hush money as well?

A: Chris was named in the lawsuit, but he's not a defendant. He's involved inevitably--he's part owner of the show, as am I.

Q: How long do you think it will take and what will happen?

A: Probably a couple of years, and then it will either be settled or go to trial. I'm perfectly willing to take it all the way if I have to, because I really feel this is something I'm owed and that they fucked me over. That's not a legal term.

Q: Has it created tension on the set?

A: Not on the set, but obviously there are tensions between Chris and me. It's completely ruined whatever personal relationship we had.

Q: Does it put a bad taste in your mouth about the show, ending this way?

A: No, It's all business and that's all it ever was, It's not like I thought they were going to say, "Hey, we're really proud of the artistic merit of your show, here's the money." The catch-22 of television is like, OK, you don't get any money until you're on a hit show. OK, now you're on a hit show, now on your next show you'll make a lot. But how many hit shows can you be in? It's a lottery. Your hit show is your winning ticket and you should just get all your money. Because who knows? "The X-Files" is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

Q: Has Fox ever given you anything, like a car, to show their appreciation?

A: No. See, I hate the aspect of show business where actors arc like kept concubines-- they get a car or an all-expenses trip to Hawaii. It's ridiculous. Just pay me the money that is in my contract and don't treat me like a prostitute. Don't give me a car and a necklace and then fuck me, which is what they're doing.

Q: Any chance you might reconsider leaving at the end of this season?

A: No. It may continue on without me. Gillian is contracted to do another year.

Q: Think they might want to kill you or Scully?

A: [Laughs] No, because they have the movie franchise to think about.

Q: Are there more The X-Files in the works?

A: I think so. I wouldn't mind doing another X-Files movie.

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