From UK Radio, August 15, 1998
Transcribed by Fiona on alt.fan.david-duchovny

Steve Wright Morning Show

SW = Steve Wright
R = Richard
LT = Lisa

SW - Well now next week the Big-Screen version of the cult TV hit The X-Files is released and here we are talking to one of the movie's stars - David Duchovny of course...

Now David, the movie starts with a big explosion, will you tell us a bit about it without obviously giving away too much of the plot?

DD - Well the explosion is to cover some kind of evidence, evidence of what...I can't really say specifically without giving stuff away but it has to do with...whether or not there's alien involvement in this planet at all and who knows about it and who is involved, so the explosion is to actually destroy certain...corpses, five of them I think, that are contaminated in some way that might lead some people to believe that they've been contaminated by exposure to some kind of alien lifeform. And when we move on from there it's pretty much chase from that moment on, follow the evidence and try to find out what's going on.

R - What is the X-Files about then, for those people that don't know?

DD - It's hard to say, because if I describe it – and this was a problem I had doing publicity about the TV show like in the first couple of years but...'cos if I describe the show, which I'll do gladly, it sounds ridiculously stupid and...

R - Well, try it...

DD - ...and lame. No, but it does. It's about two FBI agents, one of whom that I play, is interested only in unsolved cases that have paranormal flavour to them. The reason he is interested in these cases is because under hypnosis regression a few years ago he came to believe his sister was abducted by aliens when he was twelve and he was eight. Now his sister had disappeared from his life when he was twelve and it's only under hypnosis that he is now convinced that she was abducted by aliens. Now he's paired with a medical doctor, another FBI agent named Scully, who is played by Gillian Anderson, and together they go off hunting for evidence – he's hunting for evidence, she's getting in the way and being sceptical – of alien life, and of anything out of the ordinary. So, that sounds pretty silly..! (Laughs)

SW - You're right, it does! (laughs) When you actually describe it you think: How is this a hit?

DD - It's more...How is that...Drama? You'd think: Oh that's another Dr Who or something, You know, it's going to be a campy, Star Trek, Science Fictiony bit of nonsense that may be fun but it's still essentially nonsense and I think what we do is...like...it's a good drama.

SW - Alright, now when you are making the series, which has a lot of plot-arcs and confusing stuff going through it, do you know what the hell is going on, or are you as much in the dark about it as the viewer?

DD - Nobody knows the whole plot because the whole plot doesn't exist until we write it. When the show began, it's like...I dunno if you watch much Twin Peaks over here, but the first one...that's Who Killed Laura Palmer, David Lynch didn't know who killed Laura Palmer, he just knew Laura Palmer was dead. As the show went on, and he had to deliver more and more shows to the network, 24 of them every year, started to discover who killed Laura Palmer, but he didn't know - at the time. We, when we started this show, we just knew that Mulder believed his sister was abducted by aliens when he was twelve, that's all we knew. And that's all Chris knew. And so as the years have gone by, we've been forced, y'know necessity being the mother of invention, to invent backstory, conspiracies, theories, competing theories and that's why it appears to be so intricate and confusing, it's because every time...you know, the show is created by a group of writers and producers and actors and directors, and each of these people throws in something...it's almost like being in a poker game. And one writer comes in and says: OK, well I want Mulder to be afraid of fire in this episode, and now all of a sudden Mulder is afraid of fire...

SW - ...And that's it for the rest of the series...

DD - ...then everybody has to...you have to adjust, and it's kind of fun in that way, it's very...it's like weirdly organic but that's why it's so confusing, it's because it's almost like real life, in that nobody...no one person is controlling the fiction.

L - What are X-Files fans going to get out of the movie that they can't get from the telly series?

DD - It's bigger...you know, the budget on the TV show is $2 million and the budget on the movie is $60 million, so there's $58 million accounted for up there on that screen and, you know...if you go to movies for big special effects and interesting things to look at – and people seem to do that, because those are the big blockbusters that we have now - it's a blockbuster movie where it's not just a television show that we shot and put up on the big screen, all the money is up on that screen and...but the things that we do well on the TV show, like the storytelling and the acting and the directing, that remains the same.

SW - Alright well that's the movie taken care of. Now Richard here's going to ask you a few quickfire questions about yourself, nothing too personal, so don't get too worried...Rich –

R - What is the first record you ever bought?

DD - Grazing in the Grass (Crazing???) by uh the New Edition, the First Edition, something like that.

R - Right, never heard of it...(jokingly dismissive)

DD - Nah, nevermind. It's funky

R - What makes you angry?

DD - Pretension and hypocrisy and bullying.

R - Pretension...right...(luvvy, Austin powers type voice)...OK... (DD laughs). If I was to buy you a drink, what would it be? What's your drink of choice?

DD - Well these days it's a Greyhound, it's a vodka/grapefruit juice with salt around the rim.

R - Do you find Gillian Anderson attractive in real life?

DD - Sure (perky voice...).

R - 'Course you do (slightly sarcastic, DD laughs). What was the best movie ever made? Top of your head, first one that came into your head.

DD - That's a...(thinks)...Last Tango in Paris.

R - Book you'd like to read but haven't had time yet?

DD - Finnegan's Wake...? Well that was pretentious! I hate myself!

R - Yeah, chuck yourself out!

DD - How hypocritical of me, now all I have to do is bully you and I'll be fine...

R - Most offensive smell?

DD - (laughs) ...Vomit (Emphatic).

R - (Shudders) Uh, What's your cashpoint (ATM) PIN number?

DD - (Breathes in to answer, realises the sucker Q and laughs).

R - Who is the funniest person in the world?

DD - Garry Shandling.

R - And finally, is there a conspiracy theory or a mystery that you would like to see solved in your lifetime, or is that not something you are interested in as a person?

DD - (Dryly) I'd like to know what keeps David Copperfield and Claudia Schiffer (sp?) together?

R - Ah, well maybe we'll tell you about that after the interview, which is now. David Duchovny thank you very much.