The X-Files Australian Conne-X-ion
David Duchovny in Australia:
A Current Affair

For those who weren't fortunate enough to catch the David Duchovny segment on ACA (14/6), here's my transcript of the event. And while I'm here, I must give a big thanks to my brother for alerting me to this nice bit of REL TV. I try my best to scour the daily media, but I have time and priority issues. (eg. the afternoon needs to be spent doing homework, not sitting in front of the TV, paper, magazine, radio...) Gratitude would be appreciated, but it's not mandatory. I do this stuff out of love, not for money or recognition. Anyway, enjoy. :)

*** Mike Munro: Well, for actor David Duchovny, there must be a sense of deja-vu about this year. After leaving TV's long-running X-Files series to concentrate on a movie career, he's right back where he started - chasing aliens. Because that's the major plot for his role in his new movie. (interview is being conducted in a hotel room)

MM: So, David, how is life after X-Files?
DD: You know, I felt like I wasn't - in some ways - I wasn't being honest with myself, just being there and - and doing the same role. I just, I wasn't motivated to stay there. I think - uh - I'm really proud of the - the eight years that we did, I think we did a great TV show and I'm proud of the - the character. I mean, I love - I love the fact that I've been involved in the show. But for me, it was just...time.

(cut to clips from Vienen...Doggett/Mulder conversation on oil rig, conspiracy in a church picnic and Mulder/Scully phone conversation.)

*Millions of fans know him as FBI Agent Fox Mulder, but David Duchovny has shaken off his spooky X-Files character, and he's now here in Australia to promote his first major film role.*
(interview is being conducted while walking alongside the Sydney Opera House)

MM: What did you think of Sydney when you - when you - when you initially saw it on the Olympics. What - what were your impressions?
DD: Well, I mean, it's as beautiful as it looks in person. I mean, it looks - uh - it looks kind of magical.

MM: You were a lifesaver at one stage, weren't you?
DD: Lifesaver, that's a nicer way to put it. We just say lifeguard, but you actually have me saving people. Lifesaver. Also lifesaver's a little candy.

MM: Yeah, that's right.
DD: Yeah, I was a lifeguard.

MM: On Fire Island in New York.
DD: Yeah, in the ocean, yeah.

MM: So, I know you're only here for a short time, but perhaps you could give it a quick go on our beaches maybe.
DD: You, you - you're known for having the - uh - toughest lifeguards in the world, right, they always have those competitions where those guys run out through the surf with their rowboats. We - we're a much less sophisticated crew.

MM: That's because we've got the toughest sharks in the world.
DD: You got the sharks, you got bigger waves, everything.

(cut to clips from 'Kalifornia')

*Duchovny got into acting by mistake while studying Literature at Yale University.*
(interview in hotel room again)

MM:Was it true that your roommate actually suggested that you could earn more money doing commercials rather than bar-tending as you were?
DD: My friend said - we'd go on all these commercial castings - and all you gotta do is book one and you'll - you'll make as much money in one day that you would bartending whole summer. That sounded like a good trade-off to me, but of course, I didn't book any.

MM: Lowenbrau ? Didn't the Lowenbrau commercial...
DD: Yeah, last day of the Summer.

MM: Right. And that basically paid for your living expenses for the next year.
DD: For the next year, yeah.

MM: How would you sum up your leap from TV actor to movie actor?
DD: I think it's gradual. You know, I think some people make a splash when they do it. Umm, like Bruce Willis, would have had the good fortune to - to do 'Die Hard' while he was doing 'Moonlighting'. So, umm, and then you've got plenty of people who don't make the transition for whatever reason. I don't think it's always talent, a lot of it's luck and timing.

MM: Will 'Evolution' be your 'Die Hard'?
DD: I don't think so.

(cut to clip from 'Evolution'...alien collecting scene)

*'Evolution' is a comedy, in which Duchovny plays a scientist who discovers, with Orlando Jones, that alien creatures are taking over Earth.*

MM: Did you think 'oh no...not more aliens'?
DD: Yeah, I thought maybe I can't do it, I thought maybe - maybe I shouldn't do it. But then again, that's like succumbing to some idea that you might have of yourself. I mean, I don't feel like I'm combating an image so I didn't feel like I either have to parody an image or get away from the image. So, in the end I just thought yeah, I wanna do a big comedy and if aliens are in it, well then aliens are in it.

MM: You even mooned - showed your butt off - at one stage in the movie.
DD: Yeah...yeah...yeah.

MM: Whose idea was that?
DD: It was my ass's idea...my ass talked to me.

(cut to clip from 'Evolution'...mooning scene)

MM: You've got a thinking ass.
DD: And speaking.

MM: And speaking?!
DD: It was like 'muhh' (puts hand to mouth) And I'm like...excuse me, what? 'Muhh, muhh'.

MM: But that was your idea?
DD: I wouldn't go so far as to call it an idea. You know, I think that's overpraising the - the mental process.

MM: Just happened, did it?
DD: Yeah, it's like, I would never want to call mooning an idea. You know, like, inventing the lightbulb is an idea. You know, mooning is just some stupid thing that you do on an impulse. And that's what - that's what I did and you know, it ended up being in the movie.

MM: David, enjoy your time here in Australia. I know it's only brief, but uh, but thankyou again.
DD: Thankyou. Thanks. Pleasure.

(clips of Duchovny's promo in Sydney, fans holding up 'Evolution' signs, Duchovny posing on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, background music is Bree Sharp's 'David Duchovny')

(cut back to studio)

MM: Yeah, very natural guy. And 'Evolution' opens around Australia on July the 12th. Back in a moment.

***

ACA website:
David Duchovny talks to Mike Munro about life after The X Files.