The X-Files
Australian Conne-X-ion
Australian Media
September 2000

The X Factor

At last The X Files' David Duchovny is making his pitch as a sexy movie star in the big- budget slick romantic comedy Return To Me- and co-star Minnie Driver is his greatest fan: "Everything about David is so sexy!" she says. "And he's incredibly open, honest, very easy-going, down-to-earth- notwithstanding the fact that he's one of the most well known faces on the whole planet."

Duchovny returns the compliment:" And, look, Minnie's a great actress. She's always prepared, upbeat and a team player."

Return To Me is an important career switch for Duchovny. For too long he's played a series of losers in a string of forgettable movies- like his drug addicted medic to the mafia in Playing God, the renegades in the downbeat Kalifornia and The Rapture, the phone hustler in Julia Has Two lovers, and the cameraman in Chaplin. Not to mention his sombre unsmiling weekly performance as Agent Mulder.

High time that this good-looking and talented star demonstrated his box- office potential. And his little known talent for comedy.

Continues Driver:" He's so funny. He made everybody laugh on the set. And his manner and delivery are so quiet and slow that you're usually not prepared for how hilarious what he's saying turns out to be!"

Buoyed by his recent TV comedy triumphs, Duchovny had the confidence to try comedy, in a big way. His appearance on the series finale of The Larry Sanders Show scored him an American Comedy award and an Emmy nomination as Outstanding Guest Actor In A comedy Series. This led to his hosting the season finale of Saturday Night Live.

So he was ready to jump when actress Bonnie Hunt- whom he'd met when they worked together on the Beethoven family movies- asked him to star in her first film as director.

Continues Duchovny: "I just read the script of Return To Me and immediately wanted to do it. And I knew that Bonnie would be the best director of her own screenplay.

"The script is so simple and direct, and it's not tainted with the kind of cynicism which seems to affect everything these days. It has a kind of simple inevitability to it, beautiful, emotional and funny. The sentimentality comes through truth, honesty and integrity."

Duchovny plays a widower, Bob, who falls in love with a waitress, the amazing Grace (Driver), who's just received a heart transplant- it turns out to be the heart of Bob's late wife.

Continues Driver: "Just the notion of playing somebody who's so innocent and really beginning her life is wonderful. Grace had no life before the transplant. She's never ridden a bike, never gone running, never done any of the things we take for granted. Yet she's so sweet, but certainly not cloying."

To prepare for the hospital scenes, Driver says she cheated: "I watched the two episodes of NYPD Blue when Jimmy Smits was dying of heart disease. I thought he was so convincing- the shortness of breath, the slowness of movement."

Does she really believe in fate? "Oh, I believe in free will. But if you'd asked me when I was working in Manchester for £90 a week in a really horrible play, whether I thought I'd ever be nominated for an Oscar (Good Will Hunting) and living in Hollywood by 26, I'd have told you to stop being ridiculous. Amazing things do happen all the time! But the most important things are about getting on with people. Like David- my assistant re-christened him 'Mr Do-lovely' because he's just so nice.

By Theo Kingma