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

By Sophie Tedmanson, Entertainment reporter

HE writes poetry, has a degree in English literature and thinks Hamlet is a mummy's boy, so it should come as no surprise that David Duchovny is too intellectual for his own movie.

The American former star of television's The X Files was in Sydney yesterday for the premiere of his new sci-fi comedy Evolution, but during some light-hearted banter with the media he made the actor's ultimate faux pas – he bagged his own movie.

"No, it's not the kind of movie I would go and see," Duchovny said, before quickly realising his gaffe.

"That's not to say that I don't think Evolution is a good film, because it's successful for what it is. If I happened to find myself in a theatre screening, which I did, I found myself enjoying it.

"My challenge as an actor differs very much from my affinities as a viewer of film."

Although he has won awards for comic turns on TV, Duchovny is best known for sci-fi roles.

He made a name for himself on The X Files playing alien-obsessed FBI agent Fox Mulder and he appeared in the hauntingly twisted Twin Peaks. Now, in Evolution, which thrives on "infantile humour", he plays one of four misfits who try to save the world from alien domination.

But Duchovny doesn't actually like science fiction and describes his foray into the unknown as a stroke of "luck or chance or fate".

"I had no particular affinity for that genre when I took The X Files," he said. "And the reason I did Evolution is because I wanted to do a comedy.

"The fact that it has a science fiction element is ironic, but I decided to work on it before I read the script and it was very distressing to me on page 11 when the aliens landed."

Duchovny has a cult following because of The X Files, but said he was glad to leave the series after eight seasons and a feature movie.

"The last time I thought about Mulder I was sitting in my trailer," he said. "I kicked off his shoes and they landed by my shoes and both of them (flipped) up and I saw that Mulder's shoes were more worn than mine. And I thought, 'this is bad, I've spent more time acting than I've spent being (me)'."