Caffeinated Clint
At the upfronts last month, Fox remarked that this year’s “X-Files” revival snared successful enough ratings for another go-round.In a yak with Deadline today, stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson said that while there’s been no official talks to continue the show, if they could find time, and find a way to make the next season even better, they’d likely be up for another season.
At the upfronts last month there was talk about this continuing. That afterlife you spoke of at the very start; is that still there? Is there still unfinished X-Files business?
Anderson: For me, it was important that I thought of this season as being just these six shows when we were doing it. The long insanity of the schedule [demanded it]. I’m open to the conversation, though they haven’t come to us yet. I have no clue when they’re going to. I’m getting on with the rest of my life and I’m booking other jobs, so if it is indeed something that they would like to continue, then that conversation will need to be had. And I have no idea when that will be able to take place at this juncture.
Is there a sense from you of wanting to do more, though? Has this season increased the desire?
Duchovny: I don’t know… I’m pausing, and I don’t know why I’m pausing. I would say, I guess what we found with this season was that it’s possible to still get it. It doesn’t not work. And then the question becomes, if we were going to move on, how do we make it work even better? That’s a question we’d want to ask. This one was, “Phew, we can do it. I guess it did work.” But now it’s like, now what? How do we make this interesting again for all of us? And it is a joy to play, as difficult as it can be. There are days, I’m sure, where Gillian and I would rather go to work and not have to think about it, but ultimately that’s what keeps us alive; these people, those artists, and the chance to be able to use our brains and think on our feet to do the show in that way.
Anderson: David and I have solidified and intensified our friendship and our working relationship since the series ended, so it really is just going back and choosing to work with somebody, and feeling like we are doing something that only the two of us have the experience of. We’re there for each other, and enjoy that in and of itself. It was something I looked forward to with this series, and something I would potentially look forward to doing again. It’s a nice thing to have in one’s life.
Duchovny: I agree with that, and it’s going to sound really pedestrian, and not at all lofty, but when I think back to the beginnings of the show, and what I thought acting was—what I thought I could do as an actor—the gift this show gave me was having to go to work. Having to work as hard as we did, every day, for 14 hours a day, over 10 months, for five years in a row. That was a gift in that I took myself to school, and taught myself how to be an actor. For both Gillian and me, it was really sink or swim at that point, and to be able to do that with great material, and talented people helping us along… it could have gone in another direction, so I’m thankful, I think, just for the hard work that it was in the beginning, and the appreciation it gave me for what I do. It didn’t kill us, anyway.
