By Robert Fidgeon

FOX on the run

"It's unnatural, I know, but in a weekly series you can not have things change the way they would in real life. You can not have the kind of resolution you want in real life. I thing it's best if Mulder and Scully just keep teasing the viewers the way they do." ~ David Duchovny

David Duchovny can see the end of Fox Mulder, despite harboring a kind of brotherly love for him, writes Robert Fidgeon

Three months ago, the truth was out there and X-Files fans didn't like it one bit. The show's star, David Duchovny, wasn't going to sign for another season. The search was on for a new co-star for Gillian Anderson. The major problem appeared to be Duchovny's unresolved 10-month lawsuit against Fox Television. Duchovny alleged Fox had sold X-Files rerun rights to its off-shoot cable company FX at a reduced price, rather than placing the show on the open market. The sale, he said, had cheated him out of $25 million in shared profits.

On May 16, Fox announced it was going ahead with an eight season, with or without Duchovny. Twenty-four hours later, Duchovny had signed for the eighth year, but his return came at a hefty price.

He would appear in only 11 of the 22 episodes, for which he would receive a reported $7.7 million, plus an additional $20 million as settlement of his lawsuit. But the X-Files fans were happy. Half a season with Fox Mulder was better than none. Duchovny admits it was a stressful time. "However, now that things are settled, I'm enjoying being back at work," he says.

Tonight's episode of X-Files is very much an all-Duchovny family affair. Titled Hollywood AD, it was written and directed by Duchovny, who, of course, also stars in it. Guest-starring is his wife, former Naked Truth star Tea Leoni. Married for three years and the father of 13-month-old Madelaine, Duchovny says he had reservations about appearing with Leoni. "Looking at Tea objectively as an actress, I wanted to work with her above anyone else," he says. "But when you're married, I think you really have to be careful if you're going to work together, but in this case it turned our fine."

Marriage and fatherhood has changed his priorities, he says. Things that once bothered him regarding his career no longer seem so important. "You realise they are pretty much petty things - ego-driven things," he says. "With marriage and a child, while you don't become completely unselfish, you do start living for another generation, and that's a wonderful thing."

But while his off-screen love-life motors along just fine, his on-screen relationship with the other woman in his life remains on a slow burn. At least, this season, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully got to share a kiss, albeit a chaste "happy new year" brushing of the lips. But many X-Files fans want more. Duchovny, however, remains unconvinced. "I'm really not sure," he says. "Mulder and Scully share a deep bond, but I'm not sure about romance."

"The interesting thing about everybody's interest in the relationship between Mulder and Scully is that they want some kind of resolution to it. But when you look at the show, each week something happens to Mulder and/or Scully that is completely life-changing, yet we come back the next week a if nothing had happened."

"It's unnatural, I know, but in a weekly series you can not have things change the way they would in real life. You can not have the kind of resolution you want in real life. I thing it's best if Mulder and Scully just keep teasing the viewers the way they do."

Duchovny's parents divorced when he was 11. When he was 27, he quit Yale University and his English Literature PhD studies to pursue acting. After making his movie debut in Working Girl with Melanie Griffiths in 1988, he attracted attention as the transvestite detective in TV's Twin Peaks before landing his first lead role, as a telephone hustler in Julia Has Two Lovers (1991). He was cast as X-Files' Special Agent Fox Mulder in 1993.

Since then, Duchovny has spent seven years investigating everything from UFO sightings and alien abductions to voodoo, demonic possession and witchcraft. There's little doubt the eight season will be his last. However, he hasn't ruled out continuing as Mulder in any future X-Files movies. Truth is, he has come to like the guy.

"After seven years playing Mulder, you feel proprietary towards the character," he says. "I feel like I want to take care of him and make sure he's not misrepresented." "I've helped create him and have lived with him for seven years, so there's a part of me that always wants to be around him to see that he's taken care of."

The X-Files, Channel Ten, tonight, 8.30pm

FACT File

David Duchovny

Born: August 7, 1960, in New York

Family: Father Amran, a publicist; mother Margaret, a teacher; elder brother Daniel and younger sister Laurie.

Education: Princeton University, New Jersey; BA English Literature, 1982 Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; MA English Literature, 1987. Worked towards Phd but did not complete thesis. Married actor Tea Leoni in New York on May 6, 1997; daughter Madelaine West Duchovny born April 24, 1999