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Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny have been subjected to so many different rumors since their days on The X-Files. Two of the most persistent ones were that they were either sleeping together (remember when people tried to insinuate that Gillian’s now 16-year-old son, Felix, was secretly David’s son because his name is an anagram for “x-file”?) or that they hated each other. The first rumor was just baseless gossip, but there was something to the second one, which they both have confirmed in past interviews. During the show’s original run, things ended up getting so tense between the two of them that they’d go for weeks without speaking to one another.
My favorite TV duo has since mended fences and are now good friends. When David started his podcast, Fail Better, over the summer, Gillian made a really nice Instagram post praising it and naming specific episodes that she particularly enjoyed. David responded in her comments with an open invitation. Well, those two crazy kids were able to get their schedules together and Gillian is this week’s guest! David doesn’t waste any time and kicks off the episode by bringing up their old feud. They talk through it, and funnily enough, both have very different memories (and non-memories) of that time period.
“There was a long time, working on the show, where we were just not even dealing with one another off camera,” Duchovny recalled about six minutes into the episode, published Tuesday. “And there was a lot of tension ― which didn’t matter, apparently, for the work, cause we’re both fucking crazy, I guess. We could just go out there and do what we needed to do.”
“That is kind of crazy,” Anderson agreed. “I mean, it’s crazy that we were able to present on camera, you know, the various feelings and emotions and attraction and all that kind of stuff, but then not speak to each other for weeks at a time.”
Although the two actors are friends now, the pair openly disliked one another during the initial run of “The X-Files” from 1993 to 2002. As noted by The Independent, Duchovny told Metro in 2008 that he and Anderson “couldn’t stand the sight of each other.” Anderson told The Guardian in 2015 that their relationship was “intense,” acknowledging that both parties were “pains in the arse” and “there were definitely periods when we hated each other.”
Perhaps with this in mind, it only took Duchovny 11 minutes into Tuesday’s podcast to tell Anderson that he had a specific memory “of the most dysfunctional we ever were,” and ask if she could guess which incident he was thinking of.
“Tell me,” Anderson replied, seemingly having no idea what Duchovny was referencing.
The “Californication” star said the incident occurred the day after “some Emmys [ceremony],” and that he’d offered to give Anderson a lift to Vancouver on a private jet.
“And you were late, and I was so angry,” Duchovny recalled. “And then we sat on this private plane flying to Vancouver from L.A., not talking, and you wrote me a letter. So, you’re just like, six feet away from me, writing a letter to me… and it’s a beautiful letter. I don’t remember it exactly, but it was appreciative, and it was all the things that I wanted to hear. But it’s just amazing that we couldn’t just have [a conversation]. You know, the fact that it’s a private plane, it’s just all ridiculous.”
“I had no memory that we were even on a private plane together, let alone that I wrote you a letter on one,” the “Sex Education” star admitted.
But Duchovny wasn’t done. He recalled another moment during the filming of Season 1 when the two were butting heads so hard that the show’s creator, Chris Carter, pulled them into his office for a weird proposition.
“Chris was like, ‘Do you guys want to go, like, into therapy?’” Duchovny remembered. “And I was like, ‘You mean, as Mulder and Scully? I’m confused.’”
Anderson said she didn’t recall this instance either, and struggled to name a specific moment in which the two of them were terrible to one another.
Man, things must have been really bad on set if Chris Carter was offering them joint coworker therapy. I find it so interesting that while both agree that things got to a point where they didn’t like each other, they both have such different yet valid memories of events. It’s kinda crazy that the private plane thing and letter, something that’s stuck with David for decades, were merely a blip on Gillian’s radar. I think it’s a really fascinating look at human nature and how we each perceive things differently. As someone who suffers from a lot of anxiety, I have to constantly remind myself that just because I think someone is interpreting something that I did or said a certain way, it doesn’t mean that they actually are.
As a huge fan of both Gillian and David, I listened to the whole episode. I’m so happy that they get along so well now. They spend a fair amount of time clearing the air about different things that went down, with each sharing their perspective and lived experience. David apologizes for quitting the series during its original run without talking to her about it first and Gillian tells him that she never once blamed him. When he mentions that he was hurt when Gillian decided not to come back after the 2016/2018 revival seasons, she explains that she was merely frustrated at how “problematic” Scully’s story arc had gotten and felt it was time to move on. It was a very thoughtful, mature conversation. The funniest part, though, was a recurring joke they kept making about Gillian’s new drink, G Spot, and her “G Spot Team.” She brings one for David to try and tells him that it’s an aphrodisiac, so you can imagine the giggling and jokes that follow. Like I said, it’s a good listen for X-Files fans.
You can listen to Fail Better here. There’s bonus content from Gillian’s appearance for Lemonada Premium subscribers.
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- Premiere of Fox’s ‘The X-Files’ at California Science Center – Red Carpet Arrivals Featuring: Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 12 Jan 2016 Credit: Brian To/WENN.com
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- Premiere of Fox’s ‘The X-Files’ at California Science Center – Red Carpet Arrivals Featuring: Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 12 Jan 2016 Credit: Brian To/WENN.com
Photos credit: Jeffrey Mayer/Avalon, Nicky Nelson/Wenn/Avalon, Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, Brian To/Wenn/Avalon
I liked some of the shows, but not all. Mulder, to me, was at times sort of snotty and supercilious with Scully because she didn’t believe the same as he did.
Imagine private flights being so routine for you that you don’t remember one! You make a good point about different perceptions though. When I describe the things I think somebody else is thinking about me, my therapist reminds me “they’re probably not thinking of you at all,” and I know he’s right but then that hurts my feelings so I just hop on over to a different spiral (haaah). The X Files is still one of my favorite shows and it still holds up really well on re-watch (some of it is really dated now but the stories are still so good!). I was 12 when it started and didn’t have a clue about actors and their personalities so it’s kinda weird to be finding out what was going on behind the scenes now, with an adult perspective.
Gillovny Forever!
Duchovny is an Ivy League snob. He has degrees from Princeton and Yale. Anderson college was in Chicago. Like a few people I know with this background (his) I feel secure in saying that intelligence is not defined by where you went to school, although the y would have you think so.
This! I have a few friends who went to Ivies and they all said the hardest part was getting in (none were kids of donors or legacy admissions). They were surprised how many of their classmates were not the brightest, etc. And they all said said the biggest benefit post graduation was the network/connections. What’s funny is none ever mention the actual education they got, lol!
I didn’t watch the X-Files during its original run, I discovered it on DVD after it ended and before streaming was a thing. I remember reading about how they didn’t like each other by the end of it. But to be able to work together for nearly a decade together and do 22 episodes a season (or whatever it was) is a testament to their professionalism I guess? I can’t imagine doing a job for that long though if I hated my main coworker so much (I barely lasted a year in a toxic workplace that I ended up fired from and while it sucked at the time, it was the best thing to happen to me). I also don’t remember well why David was only in half the episodes of season 8 and was not in season 9 at all apart from the finale, something to do with his contract? Gillian stuck with the series for the entire original season run and kudos to her. Can’t blame her for not wanting to return for that last revival season, the show has pretty much run out of steam by that point.
To be fair Gillian recognizably has a horrible memory. Any time you watch a comic con panel or anything she struggles to remember specifics from that period of time. They had a lot going on LOL!
I love Gillian Anderson and seek out everything she does. She is the better actor of the two in my opinion. I liked The X-Files, but really prefer the monster of the week episodes to the mythology episodes that never came together/got repetitive and hurt the quality of the series, especially because so much of the mythology victimized Scully. (The ending of the reboot is the most infuriating finale, besides possibly Sherlock, I have ever seen). David’s insistence on moving the show to LA from Vancouver really hurt the quality of the show and disrupted Gillian’s private life/time with her child. David should remember the fued more clearly because much of it was fueled by his ego and at least he acknowledges it now.
I preferred the monster of the week shows too! “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” was especially great. A Rashomon episode, with the late great Charles Nelson Reilly. But yeah, Scully being victimized became a gross theme that we were too blind to see back in the day, but by the time of the reboot it was obviously not ok. Don’t blame her for bailing out of more.
Completely agree with your assessment. The show got lost in its own mythology and they did Scully dirty. I don’t blame her at all for not returning.
Her not remembering certain moments may just simply be that for her it’s in the past and all she does remember is that they were pretty nasty with one another but at the end of the day they were professional and got the job done. Whereas for him he may forgive or at least be able to deal with the problems that they had but he won’t forget them.
I’ll never forget the episode with a very young Giovani Ribisi where he was electricity or a conduit of. He was amazing. I had never seen him before.
There’s also an episode with a teenage Ryan Reynolds (“Syzygy”) and one with a child Shia LaBeouf (“The Goldberg Variation”).
It was called “D.P.O.” Jack Black was also in it.
My husband and I each have particular touchstone memories of feeling immensely cared for by each other at personal low points. We both remember each other’s touchstones as mundane, like, “that was just Tuesday,” while knowing it meant the world to the cared-for person. I do like the humanity in different feelings about the same events.