Actor Duchovny Still Hangs with Aliens
By Arthur Spiegelman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - He is the first to admit it: Bug-eyed, slimy green, black and blue aliens have been very good to him. They came to Earth and made him a star.

But as an actor, David Duchovny thought it was time for him to grow, so he has permanently left the cast of ``The X-Files (news - Y! TV),'' the sci-fi super television series that he starred in for eight years as agent Fox Mulder, stoically hunting for the truth that he knew ``was out there.'' And now he is starring in ``Evolution,'' a movie opening in U.S. theaters on Friday.

The problem is, ``Evolution'' is about a fight against an invasion of Earth by -- you guessed it -- all sorts of slimy, sharp-toothed alien monsters.

Darn it, David, does that sound familiar or what?

``It is only a superficial resemblance,'' Duchovny, 40, said the other day as he tried to convince a reporter that his role as Dr. Ira Kane, disgraced ex-government scientist turned best friend of a girl's volleyball coach at a local junior college, is nothing like his role as Fox ``The Truth Is Out There'' Mulder. Tell that to people from outer space, buddy.

``I know that when they (the producers, not the aliens) ask who can save the world, they say 'Duchovny.' But I played this in disguise -- I had blond tips,'' the actor joked.

The truth is that the two roles really are vastly different even though they both involve aliens and play opposite a red-headed leading lady -- Julienne Moore in ``Evolution'' and Gillian Anderson in ``X-Files.''

ALIENS IN THE TV

On TV, Duchovny is a serious ``crackpot'' whose low-key intensity is vital to lure the audience into believing what they are watching is real, or real enough to sit through.

In ``Evolution,'' he is the captain of a Ghostbusters-like team of citizen weirdoes who save the world from monsters that start evolving with lightning-like speed from single-cell creatures on a meteor than crashes into Earth.

On ``X-Files,'' you would never expect Duchovny to moon anyone. He does that in ``Evolution.'' Talk about growing as an actor -- or even baring all.

``Evolution'' is a comedy, directed by Ivan Reitman, who created ``Ghostbusters'' with its genre of big special effects mixed with gross humor and scary bits.

Duchovny quickly got into the spirit of the production by pulling down his pants and mooning the villain in one early scene, after his scientist hero gets kicked off the alien landing site by a general who hates him.

The scene was supposed to be simple: Duchovny climbs into a jeep that is to be driven away by his partner, Orlando Jones. Reitman said he was looking at a monitor when he realized that Duchovny was mooning the general and decided that might work in the picture. So he had him moon for several takes.

``I got into the jeep and I was standing there and I thought having a naked ass and saluting would be funny and my ass stayed in the movie. I had to be careful to cover my front though because there were a lot of extras on the set and I didn't want one of them taking a picture and selling it to a tabloid,'' Duchovny said.

FAREWELL TO X-Files

He said he is done with ``The X-Files'' TV series, although he would be happy to do another ``X-Files'' movie. ``The kiss is it for me,'' he said referring to the final episode of the series in which Mulder and Dana Scully (Anderson) kiss.

``I will miss Mulder and I will miss the show and I will miss having my own show, but I won't make guest appearances or do cameos. It wouldn't be fair to the show. ... I could have written my own ticket to stay on and the money was crazy.''

But he said he decided not to stay because that would stop the show from growing and moving on from the Mulder character.

``They have to make other stories if the show is to survive. Mulder can only be at the center of the show and it would be wrong for me to do cameo roles. I think the show can go on forever. You can take us (the Mulder and Scully characters) out and continue.''

Duchovny said he knew it was time for him to go when he got off the set one day and took off his ``Mulder'' shoes. ``They were more worn than my own,'' he said.

As for fighting aliens, ``Evolution'' may be his last foray into saving the world. He thinks there may be another truth out there

Article courtesy of edmontonjournal.com.