Special to the Tribune. Tribune wire services contributed to this report
Web-posted Sunday, October 12, 1997; 6:00 a.m. CDT
David Duchovny had a strong feature career before striking it rich as Agent
Mulder in "The X-Files." But it's as if he's starting over again with "Playing
God."
This time, playing a doctor for the Mob, he's the main man, not the add-on
to Brad Pitt ("Kalifornia") or a voice on the phone ("Julia Has Two Lovers").
But Duchovny, who was going for a doctorate in English at Yale before he
quit at 26 to go into acting, isn't aiming for a blockbuster career a la
George Clooney. "Playing God," he says, "isn't designed to be a blockbuster--it's
too intelligent."
In the film, which opens Friday, he plays a decertified doctor. He says,
"I've lost all chance of being reinstated by working for this gangster (Timothy
Hutton). Then I fall in love with the bad guy's girlfriend (Angelina Jolie).
"I feel that if I can save her, I can stop punishing myself for what I did
that ended my career as a doctor. In fact, now I'm really in the soup."
Duchovny, 37, grew up smart and street-smart in New York's Greenwich Village.
His mother is from Aberdeen, Scotland, and his father is from Coney Island.
"I feel half-Scottish, but I've only been there twice, both when I was under
10. I'm also a New York Jew, which is different from any other New Yorker
and any other Jew. I'm a little schizophrenic, as you'd expect a Scottish
Jew to be."
His unusual outlook was shaped by experiences like delivering groceries for
a meat market when he was 14. "It was interesting to get glimpses inside
people's homes when I unloaded their groceries. One thing, though--people
feel free to throw things at boys on those bikes in New York. They're big
and slow and noisy. People can hear them coming and get stuff ready to throw,
and you're not going fast enough to avoid being hit. You get eggs thrown
at you, tomatoes and paper cups full of warm Coke."
In high school, his classmates, instead of holding "most likely" votes, chose
a theme song for each member of the class and an opposite-sex equivalent.
Duchovny's theme song was "Duke of Prunes," because his nickname was Duke,
and Angie Dickinson as his female equivalent, "which I thought was right
on," he says. "I saw the resemblance." (Those who saw his transvestite character
on "Twin Peaks" would agree.)
After graduating from Princeton in 1982, he embarked on a doctorate at Yale.
"Magic and Technology in Modern North American Literature" was his thesis
subject.
One of the prime authors he would have analyzed was Thomas Pynchon, author
of "Gravity's Rainbow." That's a masterpiece of paranoia, the dominant theme
of "The X-Files."
Duchovny quit academia because "my previous ambitions were implanted rather
than instinctual," he says. "I began searching for something else. I wasn't
ready to sentence myself to a lifetime of sitting in a room by myself, writing.
"I said, `I know, I'll write drama. That way I can work with actors, a lot
of whom are pretty girls.' "
He got involved in Yale's strong theater department and started to act. "I
enjoyed myself more than I had for years, not since I'd played sports as
a boy. It was like singing in church, passing the ball and the crowd cheers,
kicking the enemy's head into the goal like the Aztecs. It was a peak experience.
I couldn't get it from writing."
Now, as one of TV's hottest actors, he says, "being recognized everywhere
has disadvantages. "It makes meat deliveries impossible. Another disadvantage
is that you've got to do the Dave Letterman show--I had trouble breathing
just before I went on. Ah, but the advantages of fame--I get good tickets
to shows and free sneakers."
Duchovny's habits are moderate, as befits an ex-grad student. On a free night
he likes to go for a swim. "After my swim I'd go eat at a health food restaurant.
I'd have my one beer, and that's it. That may seem too disciplined, but if
it's what you like to do, it's not discipline, is it?"
Between swims he secretly wooed sitcom star Téa Leoni and married her in
May. They manage their bi-national marriage by racking up the frequent flyer
points between his set in Vancouver and hers in Los Angeles. "We try to spend
as much time together as we can," he says. "It's a constant battle with our
schedules."
And it's wearing thin. Duchovny recently told the syndicated magazine series
"Access Hollywood" that he'll bolt the popular Fox series next year if the
show doesn't move production to Los Angeles. "I wouldn't spend another year
in Vancouver away from my wife," Duchovny said. "This could be my last year
in Vancouver or my last year on the show."
There had been talk that this season would be the show's final one anyway.
Show creator/producer Chris Carter said early this year that he would likely
be leaving the show at the end of this season. His departure has sparked
speculation that Duchovny and co-star Gillian Anderson would leave the show
at the same time.
Last summer, Duchovny shot an "X-Files" feature film called "The X-Files:
Blackwood," for release next year. He'll reveal nothing about the film, which
reportedly has Mulder and Scully fighting an alien virus that turns people
into lizards.
He does say, "It has to do with themes that are similar to the show's. WE
did whatever you have to do to make it into a movie--bigger, faster, slicker."
The TV show remains strong in the ratings, through some strange conspiracy
of viewers. He says loyally, "TV is as good as the movies. 'The X-Files'
can compete with any movie on any level except special effects. As Mulder,
I sell the reality of what's happening, which, when you look at it, is very
far-fetched. It couldn't happen, but we have to make people feel it could.
You have to trust me, so I can't be a nut--otherwise the show would be nutty.
"The show is no more paranoid than previous shows have been. There have been
witch hunts forever. Acting in the show, I deal with the reality of how Mulder
behaves, not what Mulder thinks about aliens. Whether we are alone or not
is a religious question. "I get tired of people asking if I believe in what's
presented on the show. They don't ask the guys on `E.R.' if they believe
in euthanasia."
Mills, Bart. 12 October 1997. "Duke of Prunes." Chicago
Tribune.
