David Duchovny plays FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder in the multi award winning show The X-FILES.. He has a huge following on the Internet, and there are a lot of FAQs out there. Since I couldn't think of anything original, I thought I'd just quote. This first bit is from 'THE X-FILES SPECIAL EDITION 1' published by Manga publishing, the people that did the comics in England. Its from Winter 96 so its a little out of date. I've added some stuff in [] brackets if I know things have changed.
Name: David Duchovny
Character: FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder
D.O.B.: 7 August 1960
Birthplace: New York City
Residence: Los Angeles
Marital Status: Single [not anymore, he married actress Téa Leoni]
Education: B.A., Princeton Univ.; Masters in English Literature, Yale Univ.
Height: 6'
Weight: 170lb.
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Green
Distinguishing Features: Mole on right cheek
Professional Profile:
David has come a long, long way since his professional debut, in a Lowenbrau beer commercial in
1987. the actor who is now world famous for his perfectly low key portrayal on THE
X-FILES of the truth-seeking FBI special Agent Fox "Spooky"
Mulder was actually in pursuit of a doctorate in English at Yale when the acting bug bit. In between
his duties as a teaching assistant and working on his Ph.D. dissertation ("Magic and Technology in
Contemporary Poetry and Prose"), David took acting lessons at The Actors' Studio in New York.
Eventually acting took precedence over academics and he left school. Following his beer ad, he
appeared with Melanie Griffith in Working Girl (1988). From there his career took off.
Among his many credits are roles in New Year's Day (1989), Twin Peaks (1990),
Denial (1991), Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991), Beethoven
(1992), Chaplin (1992) and Kalifornia (1993). In '93 he caught the eye of
X-FILES creator Chris Carter, who instantly cast him as intrepid G-man Mulder.
Personal profile:
David's family name- which his father, Ron, spells Ducovny- means"spiritual" in Russian. Dad is a former publicist for the American Jewish Committee, a playwright and book author. David's mother, Margaret, taught grade school in Manhattan. He is the second of three kids with a sister, Laurie, in New York and a brother, Daniel, in L.A. David played basketball and baseball in high school and college, nowadays he keeps fit by jogging and working out. A part-time poet (he did live readings in L.A.), David worked with Carter to develop the story for the first of season two's thrilling two-parter, "End Game" and "Colony" [as well as several episodes since then]. Although he denies personal belief in UFOs or beastwomen from New Jersey, David isnt so sure that life exists only here on Earth. There just may be others...out there.
Character Profile:
Soon after completing his training at the FBI academy, which followed a stint at Oxford to study psychology, Agent Mulder developed a keen interest in the paranormal. He quickly earned the nickname "Spooky". Convinced that his missing sister, Samantha, was abducted by extraterrestrials, Mulder has made the bureau's unexplained, unsolved "X-Files" his personal obsession. Yet uncovering the truth often proves to be a tricky business, within and without the FBI. However, aided by his loyal partner, Dana Scully, Mulder manages to stay one step ahead in playing this mysterious and often dangerous game.
Now for David Duchovny in his own words.
I bought the September 25th 1997 edition of a magazine called 'Now', because it had a picture of David on the cover and promised 'David Duchovny talks for the first time about his wedding'. What I found inside was not quite what I had hoped for. There are a few pictures and a two page 'interview' that was rather less than inspiring.
Whilst it is pretty much a waste of 60p, it makes an okay FAQ,answering questions about David in David's own words. So here it is.
If there is truth out there David Duchovny's alter-ego, FBI Agent Fox Mulder, will find it. In his never-ending quest to solve any case thrown at him, Duchovny's £70,000-an-episode character on The X Files has acquired cult status and made the 37-year-old actor one of the hottest stars of the nineties.
Q: When did you first meet Téa Leoni?
In 1992, when we were both starting out. We were introduced by a TV show producer, but we just said hello and that was it. Earlier this year we met again at a party in LA after the Golden Globes. That was different.
Q: Your wedding, four months after meeting, took everybody by surprise, including your co-star Gillian Anderson. How did you keep it such a secret?
I finished shooting The X files in Vancouver and flew to New York to meet Téa. We got a wedding licence and got married.
Q: Both you and Téa are known as being attention-shy. You wore a false moustache to get the official papers at New York's marriage licence bureau, didn't you?
Yeah, but I guess it didn't work. I hate it when my privacy is invaded.
Q: Why did you choose the venue you did?
the garden of Grace Church School was where I went through eigth grade and where my mom Margaret works as an administrator.
Q: What did you both wear to the wedding?
I wore a beige Armani suit and Téa wore a very pale pink floral gown by Lily et Cie.
Q: Why couldn't you cut the wedding cake?
We had a tough time slicing into it. I asked what they'd baked inside.
Q: What about a honeymoon?
that will have to wait. I was working on an X files movie until the end of August, and then had to go back to Vancouver to film the next series. It's a tight schedule.
Q: Tell us about your first real romance.
That was a long time ago. There was this girl I met in December of my first year at Princeton University. I saw her on the first day of school and decided somehow I had to meet her.
I signed up for a political science class just because she was in it. She didn't show up until December and asked me for my notes. I gave them to her and she became my girlfriend for the four years I was in college and a year after we graduated. If we'd met later in life, we might have stayed together, but we drifted apart.
Q: Was that when you lost your virginity?
No, I was much younger. My best buddy lost his when he was 12- which Im certainly not condoning- but after that I felt my virginity was a burden.
Q: Why does your father spell his name Ducovny, without the 'h'?
He took the 'h' out because he was tired of it being mispronounced. When my parents divorced, my mom put the 'h' back in. I'm told the name means 'spiritual' in Russian and the Slavic languages, which I think is beautiful. I don't care how people say it as long as they get the maning.
Q: How did your parents' divorce affect you?
My parents divorced when I was 11 years old. It was probably the most important emotional moment in my growing up. I don't think you ever recover from something like that. You're forced into an adult world of emotions that you're not prepared to deal with.
Q: Why do you think The X-Files is so popular?
People are looking for that feling of mystery, that tingle you get when you feel God. I'm not making those kind of claims for The X Files, but we're dealing with the same kinds of issues. We're dealing with the inexplicable.
Q: Do you believe in UFOs?
Not really. I mean, I'd like more proof.
Q: Have you ever had a paranormal experience?
Actually, I saw something in the sky during the spring of 1982. I was at Princeton and running along the beach in Ocean City, New Jersey, on a bright, sunny morning when I looked up and saw what I thought must be a ship or plane, about 100 yards directly above me.
It made no noise. I just thought it was a really odd looking plane- triangular shaped, somewhat similar to today's Stealth bomber. Then, when I looked up again, it was gone.
Q: Fox Mulder is obsessed with aliens, isn't he?
It's probably fair to say that Mulder thinks about UFOs the way other men think about sex.
Q: Have you ever seen a ghost?
If you mean have I witnessed an apparition in white, then no. But I have definitely felt the presence of loved ones sometimes.
Q: Did anyone in your family ever have a similar experience?
My Scottish grandmother said that when she was a little girl she saw her grandfather- who had drowned a couple of years before- come into the house and go up to the crib to see the baby, nodded, and walked ut. I really believe she thinks she saw that happen.
Q: How do you explain such a paranormal phenomenon?
the living ahve such a desire fir the dead that it's possible we project some kind of energy to recreate them.
I think that there's definately some kind of dialogue that goes on between the living and the dead. I don't know exactly where that energy comes from, but I do believe in it.
Q: What was it like playing a transvestite on TV in Twin Peaks?
It's not often you get to wear a bra and panties and get paid for it. I shaved my legs to the top of my thighs, which led to embarrassment when I went swimming.
Wearing all that stuff- the lipstick, the bra, the outfit- made me realise what womenput up with. It was wierd looking in the mirror and seeing a woman staring back. I wasn't an attractive woman but I had great legs.
Q: In one episode of The X Files you appeared in a pair of small red swimming trunks. Did that trigger much fan mail?
Yes, and it's all thanks to those swimming trunks. maybe I'll donate them to a museum. They can stuff them with two plums and a gherkin and put them on display.
Q: What annoys you the most?
When people recognise me and nudge the person they're with saying:'Oh, look, it's Mulder.' I'm not Fox Mulder.
Q: What's the next movie we'll see you in?
Playing God, which is due for release in Britain in the New Year. I play a drug addicted surgeon who loses his licence and comes under the control of a mob boss.
Q: Where can your fans send you letters?
Anyone can write to me at The X Files Production Office, 110-555 Brooks Bank Avenue, Building 10, North Vancouver, British Columbia, VJ7 3S5, Canada.
Q: Is there a way fans can be sure their letters will certainly reach you?
Enclose cash!
David is also mostly vegetarian and does yoga.
From the E! Online chat:
From mysterywoman: How is yoga? Still
practicing?
Always practicing. Practice makes perfect.
For a better set of interviews, try Addicted to David Duchovny, or a site by Jen Linville.
