David Duchovny (The X-Files, Return to Me) stars as a frustrated screenwriter who goes through hell trying to get his TV show on the air in The TV Set, written and directed by Jake Kasdan.
Relating to His Character: Duchovny had to stretch to play 'Mike' as the actor says he’s really not much like his character. “When I talked to [writer and director] Jake [Kasdan] at first about doing the role he said, ‘You know, you should put on weight.’ And I said, ‘Yeah…no. You’re not paying.’ I said, ‘I’ll grow a beard and I’ll wear a fat pad. I think a fat pad will be fine. I don’t have any nude scenes.’
He’s based on Judd Apatow who is a writer and director you probably all know. You didn’t know him then, but you know him now. Actually the first read through we had of The TV Set he was there because I think he’s one of the producers. That was the night of the 40 Year Old Virgin premiere, which made life different for him. I’ve known Judd for a number of years through Garry Shandling. He said, ‘Yeah, you know, don’t tell anybody,’ at the time. But it’s kind of like based physically and a little temperamentally on Judd so that gave me a real handle, which is great because anytime you can base a character physically or temperamentally on something outside of yourself, it’s really [helpful]. You shouldn’t ever give it away like I just did, but it’s really helpful as an actor to get outside of yourself.”
Donning a Fat Pad for the Role: “It feels like you’ve got a really thick cummerbund on,” explained Duchovny. “It’s not bad. It’s a little sweaty. We shot during the summer and I was so vain, I had to make sure everybody knew I had a fat pad on.”
Working with Sigourney Weaver: “She’s great. Sigourney had that kind of steeliness in this role that was really fun and easy for me to play off of as the guy I was, because throughout the film it was always just like, ‘Are you serious? We can continue to have this conservation, but I don’t know if you’re joking or not.’ It was like that. She also had this kind of optimism that was crazy and great. She wasn’t like a nasty piece of work. She was nasty, but she was kind of nice. You couldn’t really hate her. She was very pleasant when she was telling you to f**k off. It’s a great role that way.”
Sticking to the Script: “There’s not a lot of improv that exists in the movie. I think the Jewish line. The Jewish lined was improv’d. ‘I’m so f**king fat.’ That was improved. I say, ‘Why am I so f**king fat.’ That was such a funny question. Why? Why am I so f**king fat. That tickled me always. Judy [Greer] and I had a little riff on Taxi Driver, but they didn’t leave that in. We tried to recreate it just moments ago and it wasn’t funny so it might be best.
But we were kind of loose enough to improvise within scenes, which is the way Jake works. We also shot this on HD which means that you can run the video for an hour. You don’t have to cut. You don’t have to change mags which, as an actor, it’s really kind of cool to not feel the pressure of, ‘Oh, we’re burning film,’ so it’s just like stay in there and don’t cut. It’s hard for an editor to try to find s**t. I’m sure we had some improv’d lines here and there, but there was no like big improv riffs. The script was pretty much shot as is.”
Life on the X-Files Set: Fortunately for everyone involved, the producers of The X-Files never tried to insert themselves into the production the way the producers do in the film The TV Set. “We were lucky enough to be on Fox at a time when Fox was truly almost like a cable network. They had Married with Children and they had The Simpsons. They weren’t like the fourth network that they are now. I don’t know where they’re at now. They’re beating the other networks [but then] they needed product more than anything. They couldn’t get the kind of ratings that the big networks got because they weren’t in as many households. We weren’t held to any kind of standard for ratings, so we were really allowed to do our own thing. The fact that we shot in Vancouver, they couldn’t just come out of their offices and come down and hang out on set. They’d have to get on a plane and it was an ordeal to get there, so we really were or Chris [Carter] was left alone with his key producers. That was probably a good thing.”
On the Audition Process: Duchovny recalls auditioning for The X-Files as being quite a process. “I probably wasn’t as good as Fran [Kranz – ‘Zach’ in The TV Set]. There were a number of auditions. I had to audition for Chris and Randy Stone who was really instrumental in me doing the show. He just died about a month ago. Randy was a great casting director, and then I had to come back for the network. At Fox, the network room probably wasn’t much bigger than [a hotel room]. It wasn’t like an ABC stage. Sometimes it’s a big stage, but it was kind of weirdly intimate.
I had this idea. They told me that Mulder was kind of irrelevant for an FBI agent so I wore this suit, but I wore this tie that had painted pigs on it. I just remember when Chris saw that tie he was like (makes an annoyed face). He was just selling the network on an FBI guy, basically, and I came in with this stupid pig tie. I got the job anyway. I still have the pig tie. My kids love it.”
And Since the X-Files Subject's Been Brought Up…: What’s the possibility of another X-Files movie? “Actually I think they are talking about an X-Files movie this week,” revealed Duchovny. “I’m not just saying that because it’s serendipitous. I know Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz are in there this week with Fox talking about it.”
Duchovny would have no problem crawling back into Mulder’s skin. “Absolutely, it would be fun.” And his X-Files co-star Gillian Anderson would like to be involved again as well. “Yeah, she’ll do it. We’ll all do it,” said Duchovny. “We’re all gung ho and we’re just waiting. I guess there are things to figure out. I guess people are talking about a strike. They’re trying to get it done before things like this.”
Is there a plot for the X-Files movie? Duchovny replied, “Yeah, but I don’t know it. But, there is a story.”
