When David Duchovny got his marriage licence he wore a false moustache. And you thought Fox Mulder was odd. The X-Files star talks for the first time about his marriage and what he really thinks about the paranormal.
If the truth is 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 Ј70,000-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 '90s.
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.
Your wedding, four months after meeting, took everyone 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.
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.
Why did you choose the venue you did?
The garden of Grace Church School was where I went through eighth grade and where my mom Margaret works as an administrator.
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.
Why couldn't you cut the wedding cake?
We had a tough time slicing into it. I asked what they'd baked inside.
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.
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.
Was that when you lost your virginity?
No, I was much younger. My best buddy lost his virginity when he was 12 — which I'm certainly not condoning — but after that I felt my virginity was a burden.
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 mum 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 spell it as long as they get the meaning.
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.
Why do you think The X-Files is so popular?
People are looking for that feeling of mystery, that tingle you get when you feel God. I'm not making those kinds of claims for The X-Files, but we're dealing with the same kinds of issues. We're dealing with the inexplicable.
Do you believe in UFOs?
Not really. I mean, I'd like more proof.
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 was 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.
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.
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.
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 where her brother was sleeping. This 'ghost' looked into the crib to see the baby nodded, and walked out. I really believe she thinks she saw that happen.
How do you explain such a phenomenon?
The living have such a desire for the dead that it's possible we project some kind of energy to recreate them.
I think that there's definitely 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.
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 women put up with. It was weird looking in the mirror and seeing a woman staring back. I wasn't an attractive woman but I had great legs.
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.
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.
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.
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, V7J 3S5, Canada.
Is there a way fans can be sure their letters will certainly reach you?
Enclose cash!
