David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson rose to fame on the hit TV series The X-Files. From 1993 to 2002, they played FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who investigate aliens and other supernatural cases. Fans loved the dynamic between the characters as they disagreed over what is and isn’t real. While their onscreen chemistry was amazing, behind-the-scenes it was a different story for the co-stars.
For decades, rumors have circulated that the actors didn’t get along while filming The X-Files. The former co-stars addressed their issues during the November 12th episode of Duchovny’s Fail Better podcast.
Duchovny started off by discussing how he never got the chance to know Anderson on a personal level.
Obviously, we know each other very deeply, and yet we don’t know each other either in some weird way. The part of this conversation that is the trickiest part for me is, I guess I would talk about like my failure of friendship or my failure of companionship.
The duo then dived into their on set tension. Anderson recalls they’d do their scenes and that was the end of it.
”There was a long time working on the show where we were just not even dealing with one another off camera,” she said. “There was a lot of tension, which didn’t matter apparently for the work because we’re both f***ing crazy, I guess. We can just go out there and do what we needed to do.”
The X-Files Creator Offered a Solution to David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson’s Troubles
Duchovny and Anderson’s friction became apparent to everyone on set, including the show’s creator Chris Carter.
According to Duchovny, at one point Carter intervened by offering a solution to their problems.
I think we were kind of butting heads so early on in the first season that Chris asked us if we would go into fake couples [therapy]. Like, would we go into TV character couple therapy? I remember sitting in his office with you, and Chris is like, ‘Yeah, do you guys want to go into therapy?’ And I was like, ‘You mean as Mulder and Scully?’ I’m confused. I remember that.
The co-stars never went to therapy, but they continued working together amid tension for the next eight years. In 2001, Duchovny left the series, but would make recurring appearances during the final two seasons.
In 2016, he and Anderson reprised their roles as Mulder and Scully for an X-Files revival. The show lasted two seasons and was cancelled after Anderson left in 2018.
Duchovny admitted to being “hurt” when Anderson quit, but said he “supported whatever you want to do.” He also shared he didn’t tell her anything about his 2001 exit.
Anderson then explained her decision to quit in 2018 wasn’t about her co-star, but her character. “It felt like Scully’s trajectory was no longer one of strength and agency.”
It looks like David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson won’t be coming back as Mulder and Scully anytime soon. But fans can still enjoy the memories of the hit TV show.
