Nov-04-2000
Kevin & Bean
Interview with Chris Carter
Transcribed by ‘C’ [from The Haven]
This the Kevin & Bean Show on the world famous KROQ 106.7 and it’s 8:42 am
We have been SO looking forward to this weekend. Ladies and Gentlemen Sunday night, Nov 5, on FOX at 9 is the season premiere, Season 8 of the X-Files. Joining us in the KROQ studios, our old friend Chris Carter. (applause)
Kevin or Bean: Hey, Chris!
Chris Carter: Hey guys
Kevin or Bean: How are you?
Chris Carter: Good.
Kevin or Bean: You know the funny thing is we’ve known you for many, many years now and you’re one of the hardest working guys we’ve ever met. And your show is the very last show to debut. You are the last television program to debut, is that right?
Chris Carter: I’ve been on a little vacation (laugh)
Kevin or Bean: How come you picked this weekend?
Chris Carter: After the world series, after the Olympics… we sort of wanted to wait until the dust settled before we started up.
Kevin or Bean: Did you make that decision?
Chris Carter: No, but actually I’m glad though, it makes my job a little bit easier.
Kevin or Bean: Because you only have to produce 3 new shows and then you are off for next summer. (All laugh.)
Kevin or Bean: Well, we have a lot of ground we have to cover, a lot of things we’ve got to catch up on since the last time we talked to you. First of all, how close were we to not having a season 8 of the X-Files? Was it ever a serious consideration?
Chris Carter: Oh. Yeah. I didn’t think it was going to happen, actually.
Kevin or Bean: Really? You were convinced it was gone?
Chris Carter: I thought we were going down. I thought it would be the last episode but uh, we found a way to do it and actually, there are really good things this year on the show. We’ve got a new character, Robert Patrick plays a character named John Doggett. I think it’s really good story-telling now.
Kevin: I’ve seen this uh, this episode that is going to air this Sunday night with him, and he’s a great choice.
Chris Carter: Yeah.
Kevin: He is a great choice. He’s a perfect fit for the X-Files.
Chris Carter: Thank you. Yeah, he is.
Kevin: For people who don’t know, he’s from Terminator 2. He was the bad guy? Good guy? The liquid guy?
Chris Carter: The metal man
Kevin: Yeah, he changed into metal in Terminator 2.
Bean: Chris, did you know that sometimes Kevin signs autographs as that guy because he looks so much like him? Because people come up to him all the time and say “Hey, aren’t you that dude from the Terminator?”
Kevin: It’s happened like twice or three times. (Lisa laughing) And I’ve signed the name Robert Patrick.
Bean: Chris now, be honest, were you angry when David Duchovny decided he didn’t want to come back or were you completely like understanding– hey, this guy’s got to have a life of his own, too?
Chris Carter: No. I understood. I mean. .. It was… We are all working hard and it’s.. it’s… you know the work is actually too hard. And so, these guys are still young, they have careers. They want to go out and do other things. So, it made sense and he didn’t have a contract. So, it was a good time for him to leave. But fortunately, we found a way to have him back.
Kevin or Bean: Yeah, but you were thinking when he said “I don’t want to come back” … that’s why you were thinking this is going to be the end because at that time until you come up with a new plan and with a new agent and everything you couldn’t see it going on with one agent missing?
Chris Carter: Yeah. I told FOX I didn’t want to do it without David. And they had asked me to bring the show back. And Uh.. so when he came to me and said that he would.. uh.. would do 11 episodes. I thought this is a chance to do something interesting and different.
Kevin or Bean: Sure, you could.. now how far from the end of last season did you realize that he… that you had to start on a plot line to get him out .. to get him abducted?
Chris Carter: um..
Kevin or Bean: Or whatever happened. Well, that’s what we are led to believe, I think at the end of the last season.
Chris Carter: yeah.
Kevin or Bean: Sure.
Chris Carter: I had to plan for that last show to be the last show or the beginning of a new era.
Kevin or Bean: So, you had both in mind?
Chris Carter: Yes.
Kevin or Bean: So, you were going to leave us with him getting abducted?? (laughing) That was going to be your ending??
Chris Carter: No. I hope to do movies so I hoped to have the chance to work it out..
Kevin or Bean: Ah, there ya go. How’d you get Robert Patrick? How’d that come about?
Chris Carter: It was actually a… I can’t believe we got him because we wanted him. He was under contract. Uh.. FOX was able to work out a deal with Paramount to spring him from his contract. He’s a guy we’ve wanted to work with for a long time so this was like an opportunity to do something else that we didn’t think was going to happen and at the last minute they figured out a way to make it happen.
Kevin or Bean: Wow…What has he been doing all this time? He’s not like a guy we’ve seen alot. Has he just been doing alot of smaller projects?
Chris Carter: He works alot actually. He’s in a couple of different things coming out. He’s done some television projects recently. But he did a turn on the Sopranos which I think a lot of people saw.
Kevin or Bean: Oh sure. He was the guy who was running the sporting goods store, who was in all that debt. Right. Yeah, totally forgot about that.
Kevin or Bean: Obviously the chemistry between him and Agent Scully had to be there. What lengths did you go through to make sure that would work on screen?
Chris Carter: Well, Scully’s pregnant now, so the idea presents (Yeah, ding sound effect) a whole new sort of dynamic on the show. So, when he comes in…we figured the audience would not really like him because.. uh… he was sort of coming into.. NOT to replace Mulder, but in Mulder’s absence, so Scully doesn’t like him either actually, so there is tension between the two of them that plays out for a little while and you’ll see then the partnership develops in an interesting way.
Kevin or Bean: At the end of the last season two things that happened were he gets abducted
Chris Carter: Right
Kevin or Bean: And she gets pregnant
Chris Carter: Right
Kevin or Bean: Ok. How much do you want to tell us about how he.. comes in…with the oversight committee, etc?
Chris Carter: Well, the whole season is really about the search for Mulder. Ah, we don’t know what’s happened to him. And Scully, who has been a skeptic all these years, all of a sudden to find Mulder, she has to adopt kind of Mulder’s work which is a belief in the existence of extraterrestrials. So, she has to become kind of believer now. This new character comes in as a knee jerk skeptic. He’s a former cop. He just doesn’t believe any of this stuff. He thinks it’s all B.S.
Kevin: And he’s put in a position where he’s over her and running the investigation. It’s really… It’s GREAT! (Bean whispers: Kevin has seen the episode)
Kevin: It’s really great! I don’t want to give away too much, but I want people to know that it totally works!
Bean: After what happens to Scully in the movie though it’s inconceivable that she could be anything less than a die-hard 100% believer. She’s seen it with her own eyes for God’s sake!
Chris Carter: Yeah, she’s seen alot so I think we are playing true to the character. We are playing that she’s still a scientist, but now she’s playing with a side that she’s seen a lot of thigns she can’t explain.
Kevin or Bean: Let me ask you one mroe thing about the season finale from alst year. And then we need to take a break. And if you have just started with us, we have Chris Carter in our studio. The shroud of secrecy around her being pregnant must have been something. Was it one of those deals where you went over to her in the last scene on the last day and whispered to her what he line was?
Chris Carter: It was almost like that. I brought in pages. They were filming and I brought in pages like 15 minutes before they filmed them.
Kevin or Bean: Really?
Chris Carter: And I told no one. Only one other person knew and she guessed what we were going to do
Kevin or Bean: Oh so she said “I thought you were going…”
Chris Carter: Yes.
Kevin or Bean: Because it was a shocker. The last line of the show is “I’m pregnant” and you went “WHOA, IT’S GOING TO BE A LONG SUMMER. HEY!!!” (All laughing).
Chris Carter: Yeah, you didn’t think she’d ever had sex.
Kevin or Bean: YEAH!
Kevin or Bean: I mean people had been.. you know.. people speculate about everything. They tear your show apart more than any other. So, they’d seen her mysteriously waking up in Mulder’s house at least one time, right?
Chris Carter: Right
Kevin or Bean: And it was never really addressed. We never really knew what that meant. I mean are we sure? Do we know for sure it’s his? Yeah, is it fair to assume that? What do you want us to assume?
Chris Carter: Uh.. actually, it’s something we are going to play with during the season. We are going to find out clues to who the father is. And it will be part of the…
Kevin or Bean: It’s going to be an alien baby! She’s got an alien inside her (Chris laughing)
Lisa: No!
Kevin or Bean: Is it…
Lisa: Does she know who the dad is?
Bean: Yeah, that’s a good question. Does she know? Or is she just a slut when she’s off work?
Kevin: She’s had no sex, I’m telling you it’s an alien baby.
Chris Carter: It’s one of the lone gunmen. (all laugh).
Kevin or Bean: You are such a tease, Chris.
Kevin: Let me ask you just one more thing and then we need to break. And I know you might no be able to tell us. Is it Gary Coleman’s baby? (all laugh)
Chris Carter: Gary Coleman’s a virgin, I thought.
Kevin or Bean: That’s right! We forgot. Chris Carter is in our studios. Creator of the X-Files. We’ll be right back. Commercials.
Kevin or Bean: We are here with Chris Carter of the X-Files. You wrote the first 2 shows right?
Chris Carter: Actually, I’ve written quite a few of the 1st 10. I’m working on 10 right now.
Kevin or Bean: Sunday night. 9 Fox Channel 11 here in Southern California. Are we allowed to talk about the spin-off project you’ll be working on?
Chris Carter: I hope you will (all laugh)
Kevin or Bean: What can you tell us about it so far?
Chris Carter: It’s a spin-off of the X-Files starring the 3 computer geeks, the Lone Gunmen, and will premiere in the springtime when the X-Files takes a little vacation.
Kevin or Bean: I will tell you. I don’t know how it will end up playing out, but I do know they are some of the characters you see on tv that you wish you could see more of. Every time they were on this show it’s so much fun.
Chris Carter: Well, you’ll be seeing them in…
Kevin or Bean: a lot!
Chris Carter: Yeah.
Kevin or Bean: We’ll take a few phone calls– Sydney
Question: Hi. Um. Chris, how are you?
Chris Carter: Good.
Question: I was wondering if there is going to be another X-Files movie. And if so, what is David Duchovny’s role in that?
Chris Carter: There will be another X-Files movie as far as I am concerned, and I know FOX wants one. The story is kind of developing right now. We have a big idea, it will be a stand alone, rather than a mythology episode like we did in the 1st one.
Kevin or Bean: Right, but the question is… If you’ve got the new guy coming in…
Chris Carter: We haven’t quite figured that out yet.
Kevin or Bean: Are they going to battle to the death?
Chris Carter: Gladiator (all laugh)
Kevin or Bean: Would it be summer 2001? Is that a reasonable prediction of when the next movie will be?
Chris Carter: Uh, I think that’s a little premature.
Kevin or Bean: Dude! Get busy. Come on. Write us a movie! We like your movies… Ok. Thanks for the call. Jamie–
Question: Hi, Chris, First of all I want to thank you for giving us a great show for the past 7 years.
Chris Carter: Thank you.
Question: The first question I have is about Robert Patrick. There has been from what I’ve seen, a really big fan backlash against him even though he hasn’t appeared in an episode yet.
Chris Carter: Right.
Question: I was wondering what you think about that and what you want to say to the fans out there who are reacting so badly against him already?
Chris Carter: Well, I hope everyone watches and they’ll see how we use him. It’s not like he’s replacing Mulder. Mulder is missing. And he comes in to find Mulder. So, he’s an addition to the show. And I think.. he’s a great actor, and I think you’ll like his character. .. Scully doesn’t like him… so, Uh, just give him a chance.
Kevin: I’ve seen it, Jamie, the one that airs Sunday night, and he’s great! I think people will really like the way he’s brought in, the way he’s used.
Bean: Chris, remember the weird acid flashback you were on the day you wrote about the bald kid playing Chess. Remember? (all laughing) Then we never saw him again. We never heard about him again. He just kind of vanished? What were you on back then? (laughs). What is going on there exactly? Is he ever coming back?
Chris Carter: Yeah, he’s actually coming back Sunday night.
Bean: No!
Chris Carter: yeah.
Bean: You’re kidding? I was just joking. I figured the kid has got be like 30 years old by now.
Kevin: I thought you had heard he plays a major part in Sunday night?
Bean: well, good because you’ve got some “splaining to do there, Lucy!” Steve from Irvine…
Question: Hey, Chris
Chris Carter: Hey
Question: In an episode a couple of seasons back, Agent Spender was apparently killed off with no explanation. I was wondering what the deal was with that?
Chris Carter: Well, there was an explanation but you didn’t actually see the death, but his father actually did him in. And uh.. he’ll be back but it will be in flashback, but he will play a part.
Kevin or Bean: . Ok. Thanks, Steve.
Kevin or Bean: It’s amazing to me, Chris, that you are able to keep this universe straight in your mind at all times. Now that you are 10 shows into it…
Kevin or Bean: Does it get easier to write an episode of the X-Files?
Chris Carter: No, It’s actually.. I don’t know how, but it gets harder and harder.
Kevin or Bean: Does it?
Chris Carter: Yeah, because the stories are harder to come up with. But I still think the harder they are to come up with the better they are.
Kevin or Bean: How long does it take you to write an episode?
Chris Carter: Too long. Uh.. sometimes it takes as little as a week, and sometimes a couple of weeks. But the whole process is 10 1/2 months a year.
Kevin or Bean: Wow. Do you have any cool guest stars coming up this season? You’ve had so many memorable ones over the years.
Chris Carter: Yeah, uh, it’s really the same cast of character actors we’ve done so well with. Joe Morton is in an episode.
Kevin or Bean: But no Lily Tomlins or Ed Asners?
Chris Carter: Not yet really. We’re really going back to our bread and butter which are good, scary episodes. Which are always more scary when they seem like real people…
Kevin or Bean: Can I make a suggestion?
Chris Carter: Yeah.
Kevin or Bean: Can you kill Carrot Top? Wouldn’t that be awesome?
Kevin: What? One of the characters just drives over Carrot Top for no reason?
Bean: Like Carrot Top is at Universal or something like that. They are in there looking for.. you know… an alien and something happens. The bullet goes wild and just kills him on stage, and the kids are crying. It would be cool.
Chris Carter: Uh.. I think you went to see Carrot Tops show last night (garbled)
Bean: No, I was not. (Laughing)
Kevin or Bean: Chris, always great to see you. We are so delighted that you were able to figure out how to keep the show on. And it sounds like everybody’s happy with it. So that gives us hope too for this weekend! Brand new season. Season number 8 for the X-Files. It’s on Sunday Night. 9 pm on FOX. Let’s do this again soon.
Chris Carter: Thanks.
Kevin or Bean: And say Hi to everyone on the set for us.
Tags: audio needed, chris carter, x-files, xf2