David Duchovny worries about being hip. He needs to be "hot", he laughs, "and I was really scared that Return To Me wouldn't be hip. I thought, 'God, this is such a sentimental, straightforward story it's the most un-hip thing in the world and I'm going to look like an idiot'."

Needless to say, Duchovny does not look like an idiot. And how unhip can he be? He has George Clooney's home number, for a start. In fact, Return To Me - an unconventional romantic comedy which pairs him with Minnie Driver - is charming and won over many US critics, even if it did not entice American audiences in droves.

Duchovny, the film's main draw, effortlessly plays architect Bob Rueland, whose life is thrown into a tailspin when his wife is killed.

X Files fans may be fooled into thinking it's a chick flick, but Duchovny disputes this.

"The storyline might sound like a chick movie, but [writer, director and star] Bonnie Hunt's sensibility and sense of humour are definitely not what you'd consider a 'chick's'.

I hate to use another stereotype, but she's more like one of the guys. The frame of the movie might appear soft or weepy, but it's kind of tough, smart and masculine."

It's also made him realise that romantic comedies are right up his alley. He says: "I don't have a preference when it comes to the kinds of films I do. I just want to feel proud to be in a good movie. With this film, I don't care that I stand on a building rather than swing from one. An action film is the least fun anyway because it's painstaking technically. The stars are the cinematographer, the stunts and the special effects - which leaves a lot of downtime for actors. If I wanted to work hard, I'd do a romantic comedy. If I wanted to get a paid holiday, I'd do an action film."

Though Duchovny does his best to be as unlike Fox Mulder as possible, it's an uphill battle. His legions of fans know they can tune in and see their hero for free each week (The X Files returns here in July, after mysteriously being aborted mid-series). This may also explain the film's disappointing box office - and Duchovny's decision not to jettison The X Files just yet.

When his contract expired, only Gillian Anderson was signed up for the next year. The show could have continued, though the sizzling Mulder-Scully chemistry that is essential to the show (and widely thought to emanate from its players' mutual dislike of each other) would be gone for ever.

Duchovny settled for the middle ground - signing up to star in half of the new series. Were his terms purely financial?

"Not at all. Obviously, there is no reason for me to do the show except to make more money than I'll ever need, but it was more of a time commitment. I can't have a film career in the eight or 10 weeks a year The X Files is in hiatus. Having said that, it's easy for me to get into a rut, as I have with the show. Even if you want to get out of it, it's scary. It's a bit like leaving school." His compromise makes perfect sense; he will have more time and even more money - around $400,000 (£250,000) per show. It's impressive, though small fry compared with the Friends cast's $750,000 (£470,000) each per episode. But Duchovny is thinking more about the resultant change to his life than his bank balance.

"It's hard for me to imagine not having to get up every morning and go to work. It takes time to readjust and become the master of your own schedule. I remember reading about how easily Ronald Reagan eased into being President because every morning he had a call sheet that someone would slip under his door. He'd been an actor his whole life so it was perfect."

Boredom is one problem Duchovny faces when he reports for work. The actor, who has an MA in English Literature, is endowed with greater grey matter than most in his profession and says he lacks "the desire to do the same thing over and over again. Not to denigrate The X Files or Chris Carter [the show's creator], but it's not in my nature to want to do the same stories five or six years in a row."

He does not rest on his dissatisfied laurels, though. Duchovny recently wrote and directed a classic X Files episode, featuring an X Files film within an episode, with Garry Shandling as Mulder and Duchovny's wife, Téa Leoni, as Scully.

"I wrote the episode in two weeks, directed it six weeks later and saw my idea executed in three months. A movie is more like three or four years. There's something satisfying about being able to learn so quickly from your mistakes. The X Files is cinematically every bit as sophisticated as movie-making, so I couldn't have asked for a better film school."

He probably won't be working with Leoni again too soon, however, despite the obvious pleasures. "You're asking to be attacked when you work with your wife. She's one of a kind - a female comedienne and a beautiful performer, but once you put yourself out there as a married and an acting couple, there's something almost incestuous about it. You don't want to use the chemistry of your own relationship just because you want to make a good movie. You want to keep that private. Besides, she won't work with me. She'd make me audition."

Duchovny has another reason to stay home - their one-year-old daughter, Madaleine West. While Return To Me tackles the issue of mortality in several respects, Duchovny is now intensely aware of his own - but not because of the film. "It's more because of West, as we call her - it's an old family name of Téa's. I don't drive like a madman any more. People probably used to scream, 'Get that idiot off the road.' Now, I take it easy because I want to be around for my child."