Aug-23-2001
AOLchat with Chris Carter

Chris Carter: Hi. Ready for any and all questions…

Question: Chris, Lucy Lawless is well known for her role on Xena. How do you think fans will react to her playing an Agent on The X-Files?

Chris Carter: Well, I hope they like her. 🙂 We had a chance to cast someone who I had met at the…I think 1997 or 98 Emmy Awards. She came up to me and introduced herself, and said she was a fan of the show. Late last year, when it was announced that Xena wouldn’t be coming back, she and her husband sent me a nice note about what fans they were of the show. I took that as an opportunity to take someone who was a fine actress, who would clearly be looking for a role different from the one she had played for the last number of years, and figure out a way to use her in the show. And it just so happened that how we were plotting out Season Nine that she fit perfectly into the X-Files mythology. It’s interesting that Lucy studied acting in Vancouver under Bill Davis, who played the Cigarette-Smoking Man for so many years.

Question: are you really into sci-fi stuff or would you like to expand to another category?

Chris Carter: I never considered myself a science-fiction writer to begin with. I always thought of the X-Files as a mystery show that dealt with the paranormal. Now I’ve been labeled as a science fiction writer, and it’s accurate. But it is a limiting label. So, I am interested in doing something outside of that label, but that doesn’t rule out a good mystery or thriller story, which is what the X-Files primarily is.

Question: were you disappointed that Mulder left or were you excited about the new opportunities that opened up?

Chris Carter: Well, we were all sorry to see David go, but it was an understandable decision. Anything that presents itself as a problem to TV producers or writers seems like a bad thing. But, it can be a constructive thing, if you can figure out a way to solve the problem. So, what we’re doing is taking a situation — a Mulder-less X-Files. We’re adding some new characters. While it is still a 2 or 3 lead show, there are many more ensemble situations this year that I think will make the show better in some ways.

Question: With the shady disposal of the Cigarette-Smoking Man in Season 7, are we to expect any re-appearances or more satisfying closure for the almighty CSM in Season 9 ?

Chris Carter: Anything can happen on the X-Files.

Question: Chris, your shows are fantastic! “Millennium” was truly the best show on television. Any chance that it (or any of your other wonderful shows) will be released of video or DVD?

Chris Carter: They’re talking about Millennium on DVD. Beyond that I wouldn’t think there is much hope for Harsh Realm, or Lone Gunman. But, I think there are a lot of people asking for the Millennium DVD, so I think that will happen.

May I just interrupt to say “Yaaaaay!”? Thank you. *g*

Question: Chris, thank you so much for adding Carey Elwes to the cast! “The Princess Bride” has long been a favorite movie, and I’ve always thought he would be great on TXF. What are the biggest changes we’ll see early on next season, mythology-wise?

Chris Carter: Well, Cary Elwes plays a pirate with a patch on his eye, so that will be a big change..

It’s Dread Pirate Brad! LOLOLOL

Chris, cont’d: I think you’ll see when you watch the first episode, there will be some obvious changes. I won’t go into them, but they are obviously the result of the introduction of new characters, and ones who have had relationships that aren’t about sexual restraint.

Question: Thank you for bringing us The Lone Gunmen series, even if it was unfortunately brought to an end. Any chance the guys (with Jimmy and Yves?) might be appearing in Season 9?

Chris Carter: Yes. You’ll see them in the first and second episode. We’re just pulling a trick on Fox. The X-Files the ninth season will just be starring the Lone Gunmen.

This one had me ROTF. Way to go, Chris! *g*

Question: Mr. Carter, will there be a resolution to the cliff-hanger season finale of “The Lone Gunmen” on “The X-Files”?

Chris Carter: Yes. But, you really have to have been a careful watcher of that program to understand what it is.

Question: Will Doggett’s son’s disappearance become part of the mytharc?

Chris Carter: It certainly is something that has shaped his character. So I would say that it won’t be the replacement for the Mulder/Samantha search, but it is something that informs his approach to life and his relationship with Monica Reyes.

Question: Hi there, Mr. Carter. I really like the new characters and I think they bring a lot of very positive energy into the show. I’m more excited about the X-Files than I have been in years. How much will Scully be working with Doggett and Reyes?

Chris Carter: From the first episode we’ll see how she works with them, even though she is a mother. She is drawn back into the X-Files by the biggest mystery in her life.

Question: Can you make Cary Elwes say ‘As you wish’ on the X-Files?

Chris Carter: Yes. 🙂

GREAT question, even better answer! LOL

Question: What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the last year?

Chris Carter: I haven’t seen that many movies, but I’ve seen some good ones. Last night, I saw the Apocalypse Now re-release. It was nice to see it on the big screen, but I though the original release was superior. We’ve had screenings of a couple of movies here recently. We saw Planet of the Apes, which none of us liked. And we were all big fans of the original. And the guy at Miramax/Dimension sent us a print of The Others, and we liked that. We thought it was really smart and really scary. And you can’t take your eyes off Nichole Kidman. It was scary like my favorite scary movies. They made a movie based on Henry James’ Turn of the Screw, called the Innocents. It had two creepy kids in it, and the two kids in this were even creepier. It also had a lot of good moments that weren’t effect-driven, which was nice to see.

Question: Will Scully’s pregnancy be fully explained in the next season?

Chris Carter: Yes. It’ll be explored extensively. Explained? You’re asking a lot for the X-Files.

Question: How are you doing on the next X-Files movie? Have you even started?

Chris Carter: We’re talking about it now, pretty actively in fact. If all the business can be worked out, we could see a new X-Files movie in the next few years.

Question: Chris, are Gillian and David going to make a 2nd X-Files movie?

Chris Carter: But, there’s less interest while the series is ongoing. And, yes that’s the plan to have David and Gillian in it.

Question: Are Krycek, CSM, WMM, and other people from the Consortium really dead?

Chris Carter: That’s a question that you have answer specifically… But, I will say that it looks as though all of them have met real and final ends. But, one of them is possibly still alive.

Question: Is there any chance of us seeing the faceless rebels or even Marita this season??

Chris Carter: Marita has been busy working with Jim Carrey. And, if we make any more budget cuts, we’ll have to see more of the faceless rebels, because we won’t be able to cast real actors. 🙂

Question: Will we be seeing a different side of Scully now that she’s a mother…maybe more of a motherly side?

Chris Carter: Yes. We’ll be doing the breast-feeding episode. 🙂 I think she’s going to have to balance her life between being a mother, and being a person who is still looking for the truth.

Question: Hi! Loved season 8! Keep up the great work! But we have to know FOR SURE, who’s the father of little baby William? And how is it gonna work without Mulder to play daddy?!

Chris Carter: We’re going to turn the X-Files into a sitcom called “Everyone Loves Mulder.”

Question: What did you do over the summer, we heard you were on island or something catching up on your surfing?

Chris Carter: I went on an amazing surf trip this year to Indonesia.

Come on, we want pictures! *g*

Question: Are you influenced by any current TV shows or movies?

Chris Carter: I loved the movie “The Insider,” and I think any contemporary movie… that and “L.A. Confidential” are movies I watch again and again… so I would have to say that I’m influenced by those movies.

Great taste in movies. *g* Maybe we’ll see him at Russell’s concert Sunday night. *g*

Question: I heard a rumor that there’s gonna be a new syndicate…is it gonna be headed by Director Kersh (I hate that guy).

Chris Carter: Kersh is wrapped up in a case that begins the X-Files season, but his involvement in it is, and in any larger conspiracy, may not be what you think.

Question: Will there be any scripts written by cast members? Famous authors? Aliens?

Chris Carter: Yes.

TV Guide Moderator: Is that a first?

Chris Carter: We’re going to have two of them written by aliens this year. That’s a first. And if they do well, we’re thinking about bringing them on staff.

Question: Are there any plans to “intensify” John Doggett this season? We all love watching him let loose on villains!

Chris Carter: Yes. We love his character because he wears his heart on his sleeve, and he is quick to act and do the right thing. So, I think you can expect to see more of that.

TV Guide Moderator: Was Doggett a collaborative character or was it from one person?

Chris Carter: I think it was something that we all talked about, but I wrote his voice. So, I think he was someone we all came up with together, but his voice came out of my head. But, it was something that was helped in a large degree by casting Robert Patrick.

Question: Will there be some humor oriented episodes in Season 9, or is the Doggett/Scully dichotomy not developed enough yet to play off of it?

Chris Carter: It’s tricky because Scully’s a mother, and there’s great suspicion that Mulder is the father, so you have a relationship that is unresolved and largely unspoken. So, I think it’s a little early to see Scully and Doggett get together. But, I think the humor this year will come out of situations. And also because we know Doggett better, and we’ve established his character, so we’ll see him lighten up. So, we should see that with Scully, and with Monica Reyes.

Question: How have the changes in technology affected the filming of the XF over the years and what effects do we expect this new technology to have on the XF in the future?

Chris Carter: The practical technology hasn’t changed all that much. The effects have become, I think, cheaper because of the advances in technology. You can do more in less time, so you can do it on a TV schedule. But, technology itself is still used best on the X-Files as a storytelling device, because we are all still so afraid of it.

Question: How do you feel about the movie on TV? Is it edited?

Chris Carter: There are some real slight, and you may not even notice them, deletions from the movie to fit the time format. Rob Bowman, the director, did them himself, so we’re all satisfied. It is going to show on Fox on Friday, September 14th, at 8:00.

TV Guide Moderator: Thanks so much for chatting with you!

Chris Carter: Thank you!

TV Guide Online: Tune into The X-Files on Fox on Sunday nights. Don’t miss your chance to catch the network television premiere of The X-Files movie on Sept. 14th on Fox. And visit www.thexfiles.com for all news and information about the series. Thanks for coming tonight.

Aug-04-2001
Reyes loves Scully?
Airlock Alpha
Michael Hinman

[Original article here]

It could’ve been an X-Files matching made in heaven

Aug-04-2001
San Francisco Chronicle
Special Effects on TV
The X-Files starring Gillian Anderson and Mitch Pileggi: Special effects add to television experience
Candace Havens

During Summer 2000, moviegoers watched as gigantic waves crushed a fishing boat in The Perfect Storm and Tom Cruise dangled from a cliff in MI-2. A ghostly apparition chased Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford in What Lies Beneath, and the stars of X-Men fought battles with supernatural strength as they flew through the air.

All these films and most major releases in Hollywood these days use special-effects makeup and computer-generated images to make stories more exciting. And as these effects become more refined and easier to duplicate, the same technology is being used more than ever on primetime and daytime TV.

[snip bit on Discovery Channel special]

Fox’s The X-Files and the WB Network’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer use special effects on a weekly basis. HBO’s crime-drama The Sopranos, which created a talking fish last season, digitally put the head of deceased cast member Nancy Marchand on the body of another actress in the season opener.

“We are using more effects than ever in TV, and we are streamlining the process as we go,” says Matthew Mungle, an Academy Award-winning special-effects designer who creates bizarre beings for The X-Files and is working on several feature films, including The Mummy Returns. “The TV audience is savvy, and they expect to see film-quality effects on their favorite shows. There’s no more just slapping it together and throwing it on.”

For the X-Files episode “Dead Alive,” Mungle and his crew created a body suit for a character to make it look as if he had been floating dead in the ocean for several days. “And then … when he’s in the hospital, he still has to look bloated, but his skin is dry. He gets up one night and takes a shower, and all that bloated skin sloughs off. That was another effect we worked on. We had five days to create the whole thing, and it was a real challenge.”

The short time span isn’t unusual for special-effects experts who work in TV. Two weeks before they begin shooting an episode, Mungle meets the department heads and creative forces behind The X-Files. They discuss what they want to see happen and how it can be done within the budget. Mungle goes back to his lab and develops a prototype of the creature or effect to see how it will work in full form.

“Technology has helped a great deal because I can just e-mail the director and producers a picture of what we are working on,” Mungle says. “In less than 15 minutes, I can get feedback from them on what changes need to be made. Then we start putting it all together. We use whatever is the fastest and most appropriate to make it happen. Luckily, we’ve come a long way in this business and have a plethora of materials we can use that set up quickly; otherwise, there’s no way we could do it.”

Jul-12-2001
Krause Publications
The X-Files enters the unknown without Duchovny
Tom Kessenich (aka Unbound)

It ended, with a kiss. And just like that, a door was closed on the past while another was opened to a future ripe with change and riddled with uncertainty.

When “The X-Files” begins its ninth season this fall, the landscape of the long-running Fox drama will have undergone a massive transformation. David Duchovny, the series’ top-billed star, has departed for good, leaving co-star Gillian Anderson behind, along with Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish, who joined the show last season as FBI Agents Doggett and Reyes.

Duchovny is not the first TV star to depart the small screen hoping to find more creative opportunities in the film world. But his departure creates a Grand Canyon-sized hole at the center of this series.

“The X-Files” has never been an anthology series or an ensemble show with a rotating cast of stars. It has always been about Mulder’s world as seen through the eyes of Anderson’s skeptical, scientific-minded Scully. Mulder’s quest to find the elusive “truth” was the impetus that drove the series forward, while the Mulder-Scully dynamic provided its heart and soul.

Now Mulder is gone after an emotionally compelling send-off in last season’s finale that saw him with Scully, holding their baby and kissing her passionately as the screen faded to black. That scene has fans wondering what will become of this series now that Duchovny has departed, and what will become of Scully, whose presence will serve as a constant reminder of who is no longer there?

“Mulder and Scully really are the heart and soul of the series,” executive producer Frank Spotnitz said in a recent telephone interview. “You can’t separate the success of The X-Files from the success of David and Gillian as actors and the characters they play. All you can do really is just rely on all the strengths you’ve got which is a great idea for a television series and some wonderful actors who are here and have chemistries of their own.”

Spotnitz said one thing fans of the series will not have to be concerned about is the paternity of Scully’s baby being revised in the ninth season. Much of the eighth season was spent examining how the baby came to be since it had been previously established that Scully was unable to conceive.

Numerous red herrings were trotted out, including the idea of alien tampering. But in the end, the naming of the baby after Mulder’s father and their tender kiss provided confirmation that the baby was Mulder’s and the product of a sexual relationship between he and Scully that had only been hinted at in the past.

“The final scene was meant to say that Mulder and Scully had consummated their relationship and this child was a result of that,” Spotnitz said.

That final scene would have been significantly different had Duchovny and director Kim Manners not intervened after both were unsatisfied with series creator Chris Carter’s original ending which featured a mundane kiss on the forehead.

“We all sat down with Kim Manners and Chris Carter and said, ‘We’ve been teasing and doing that bull for so long, let’s have a real kiss at this point,'” Duchovny said during his press junket to promote his latest film “Evolution.” “I said, ‘I’m pretty sure I’m not coming back at this point so let’s have a romantic kiss.'”

So out went the forehead and in came the lips. And in that final moment, with their child between them, Mulder and Scully were given a rare moment of happiness in their journey into the unknown.

The kiss capped the most controversial season in the show’s storied history. Fans were divided over the introduction of Patrick’s character and many were outraged over the re-writing of history that had Mulder inexplicably being given a fatal brain disease and Scully trying invitro fertilization using Mulder as a donor.

It all resulted in declining ratings and a reinvention of the series so pronounced it left many fans wondering what had become of the show they loved.

“Chris Carter had his chance to go out with a bang, leaving a memorable mark on TV history,” said Katherine Ramsey, a fan from Virginia since the first season. “Instead, he squandered it in the pursuit of the almighty dollar. Without Mulder’s wit and humanity, The X-Files has no soul. Everything I saw in Season 8 reinforced that belief.”

“Somewhere along the way, the writers managed to get themselves sidetracked by mindless gore, inane and irrelevant plots, timeline blunders, and soap-operatic teasing,” said Konrad Frye, a fan from the Canadian province of Manitoba who also has watched the series since its inception. “It’s a shame because things didn’t have to be that way and as a longtime fan of the show, I’d come to expect more.”

These fans weren’t the only ones disappointed. Duchovny also lamented how the series had shifted away from Mulder and the Mulder-Scully dynamic after his full-time return for the final six episodes.

“When I came back, I felt somewhat peripheral,” Duchovny said. “Mulder’s story was one of three or four stories and it didn’t feel like the same show to me.”

Spotnitz responds to such complaints by saying 1013’s hands were tied creatively due to Duchovny’s contract, which called for him to be a part-time participant.

Many fans disagree, believing greater care should have been taken to weave Mulder’s absence (he spent half of the season on a spaceship after being abducted by aliens) and Scully’s pregnancy into the framework of the first half of the season, rather than focusing so intently on Doggett. They were also unhappy that, in some instances, Mulder and Scully were reduced to being guest stars on their own show.

The discontent was reflected in the ratings, which were higher for the episodes Duchovny appeared in compared to the ones he did not. The five highest-rated episodes last season all featured Duchovny and there was a steady decline in the ratings in December and January, when Duchovny did not appear in any episode, that ended only after his return in Feburary.

With Duchovny gone, many fans have said they have no interest in Doggett, Reyes or a show called “The X-Files” that does not feature Mulder and Scully together.

“To put it simply, The X-Files is Mulder and Scully,” said longtime fan Jan Skinner from Peoria, Ill. “Without them, you have a show that happens to have the same name, but is something else entirely.”

Not only is the series at a crossroads with Duchovny gone, it may move forward without its creator.

Planning for the ninth season began in June with Carter absent for the first time since he created the series in 1993. He has yet to reach a deal with Fox to return for the ninth season and there is speculation he will not return or serve only as a “consultant,” with Spotnitz assuming the lead role for the show’s creative decisions along with co-executive producers Vince Gilligan and John Shiban.

Carter declined to be interviewed for this story, but Spotnitz said it has been odd going to work without the show’s creative driving force around.

“Obviously, we hope he comes back because it’s his show, it’s his vision that we’ve all been serving for all these years and he’s an enormously talented writer and producer,” said Spotnitz, who has been in charge of the series with Carter gone. “If he doesn’t, it’s not like we don’t know where all the files are.”

Spotnitz also said contrary to speculation, Anderson will be in all of the episodes next season. The Emmy-award winning actress is in the final year of her contract and has been vocal about being a reluctant participant, saying – as Duchovny did – that she is tired of the weekly TV series grind.

Despite that, Spotnitz said Scully will be a vital part of the ninth season with one of the central story lines exploring how Scully’s fertility was restored. Another issue to be addressed is how to explain Mulder’s absence given the romantic relationship with Scully that was confirmed in last season’s finale.

“I think we’ve got a way that’s going to be pretty satisfying to people to address that issue that’s completely true to the character and completely true to the series,” Spotnitz said, declining to reveal anything further. “We were able to plot certain things in (last season’s finale) considering he may not be back.”

For the first time in series history, the writers at 1013 do not have the luxury of relying on the strength of the Mulder-Scully relationship to push the show forward. They no longer have the luxury of knowing that when things are in doubt, Duchovny and Anderson’s amazing chemistry can lift the show to greatness.

Like Mulder, that is now part of the show’s past. The present is filled with uncertainty and in many ways, “The X-Files” is embarking on a tenuous high-wire act without a net.

“If I went into the season thinking things were hunky dory and there were no risks associated it, I’d be foolish,” Spotnitz said. “Mulder and David Duchovny have been incredibly important to the success of the show and now we’re going forward without that character at least physically present. So it’s a gamble, there’s no doubt about it.”

Jun-??-2001
SFX Magazine
“Doggett Style”
Kenneth Hubbard

ROBERT PATRICK doesn’t initially seem to sense the irony in his declaration: “I think I’m pretty good at being a chameleon.”

This, coming from the man who shot to fame as the shapeshifting, mother-spearing T1000 in James Cameron’s Terminator 2. Patrick, however, isn’t giving a critical reassessment of his role as the killer cyborg. He’s musing over the fact that even though he’s had a prolific and mercurial movie career -“I’ve got 55 films in my 16 years,” he points out -when he was announced as the new star of The X-Files, he was still generally referred to as “the guy from T2 “.

But now, with season eight of The X”Files having been unleashed on the world, Robert Patrick is John Doggett. “One of the good things about that killer cyborg being my breakthrough role,” he reckons, “is that I’ve been able to change my look, do other things, and I’m not quite sure that people really associate the same Robert Patrick from this with that.”

The Robert Patrick giving this interview is very much recognisable as John Doggett, though perhaps one from an episode about alien sleep deprivation experiments. The schedule of The X.:Files is a punishing 70 to 80 hours a week, but Patrick knew what he was letting himself in for when he made the decision to look for television roles. “You know, I kind of expected it. I realised that being the co-lead in a one-hour drama was going to demand a lot of time. And this show is very ambitious. And it’s hard work, it’s gruelling work. But it’s fun. It’s fun work, and that’s what I want to do. I’m having a ball. It’s a great role, great show. It’s fun to be a part of such a well-oiled machine. I don’t think I could have picked a better scenario to jump into TV.”

And that jump -despite the hours -has had its advantages. For a start, Patrick’s wife gave birth to his second child -a boy named Samuel -three weeks into production on season eight. Patrick relishes the opportunities he has to see his newborn son, though some may not be envious of an 80-hour-a-week schedule then coming home to a baby with a sleep schedule of his own. “Exactly!” he laughs. “He’s a really good boy. He sleeps through the night, and his mom’s really good, she’s able to allow me to get my sleep and take care of him. I get to bounce him around. That’s the great thing about this gig, and something I was looking forward to, because this is my second child, and with my first child [a girl, Austin], I spent a great deal of time away during these early years and missed a lot. It was one of the things that led me to really trying to find a great job on television.”

Not that Patrick was a complete small screen virgin, having guested as David Scatino on The Sopranos. It was that experience that finally convinced him to take the TV plunge. “I had started to think about it within the last couple of years, and my experience on The Sopranos really opened my eyes to the possibility that there’s some great opportunities out there to do some quality work and do some work with quality writers and find a show that suited what I would be interested in. The Sopranos was the catalyst that totally swayed me that way. I didn’t just want to do anything. I wanted to try to find something that I thought would keep my interests up and really challenge me every day and every week. ”

Not that he met with instant success. “I had done some pilots for all the other networks. I guest-starred in one, I was to reoccur in another, and I was a regular in the other. Each was for a different network. ; None of them got picked up! They were all great shows, by great writers. Lynda LaPlante wrote one called Cold Shoulder, James Ellroy wrote another one called LA: Sheriff’s Homicide, and Kari O’Salem wrote one called The Beast. And they’re all really, really great shows. ” Lucky for Patrick it wasn’t three strikes and you’re out. “I had gone in and told my agents, I want to find a gig for TV, let’s go out aggressively this season and see what we can do. Those three came up, then my wife and I went off on vacation. While we were there r made a joke, ‘Well, we covered every network except for Fox.’ Got back to town, heard from my manager that Chris Carter was interested in me possibly coming in and joining The X-Files. as a new character. ” And we had a meeting with Chris, and I expressed my real desire to be strongly considered. I just said, ‘I really want to make this work, whatever I have to do… . Let me read for you, let me audition.’ And he was, ‘No no, you don’t have to do anything like that to make me want you.’

But Fox bosses did demand an audition. Patrick obliged. Everyone was happy. The part was his. “I was lucky that Chris knew a lot of my work,” he reckons, “so when he said he was interested in me, it was genuine. He thought I would suit the character.” But maybe not everybody did. Patrick acknowledges that perhaps the reason why Fox bosses insisted on an audition may well have had to do with the public’s perception of him in villainous roles.

“I think Rick Millikan, the casting director for The X-Files, really made sure that they were fully aware of a lot of things that I had done that have not been seen by a vast audience, little obscure things that I’ve done. There’s been a lot of times where I had been the lead in some of the, smaller movies, and I had been a good guy; a guy with virtue, a guy with codes. I think Rick did a really good job making sure that they were aware of that. And then they had films to look at like Cop Land, which I was in with some pretty heavyweight actors and they saw how I worked in that. I think the thing with them was… I don’t know, I’ve never asked Chris his, but they really just wanted to check me out and see. ..I think they might have been more familiar with me just as a bad guy. I assume that Rick Millikan was trying to convince them that, ‘Yeah, this guy can do this.'”

And Patrick was well aware that Doggett was also the perfect opportunity to change the public’s perception of him. He may claim chamelionic thesping abilities, but he’s pragmatic enough to know that he’s still perceived by the mainstream as a black hat. “Absolutely, absolutely. I can get into a very long account of this.” He pauses for a moment… “And I will. The way I see it, I’ve got a body of work out there, I’ve got a lot of films out there, as I’ve said before. In most of the films that have hit a wide audience, I’ve been a bad guy. In Striptease, I was a prick husband. InCop Land, I was a prick cop. Terminator 2 -certainly the most famous thing that I’ve ever done -I was a Terminator. So really for the vast majority of the people who see The X-Files, these might be the only things they know me from. They don’t know all those little obscure things. The good thing for me as an actor is that casting directors do, and people in the industry are aware that a lot of the work that I’ve done is basically just small and obscure little films. So this is an opportunity where, yeah, I’m thrilled. I think as an actor that’s the thing that excites you, showing as much versatility as you can and having people see you in different lights. I’ve got a great opportunity here where this hits a huge audience, and probably none of these people have ever thought of me this way, and hopefully it will change their perception of me.

“I just read some article the other day about Sly Stallone. He’s a great friend and a guy I’ve done two movies with now, and he’s just kind of had to duck the Rocky persona and the Rambo persona, and that was sort of the slant of the article. He did a great job doing that with Cop Land, but Cop Land didn’t hit as big an audience as Rocky and Rambo. Still, you’re constantly trying to reinvent yourself and squeeze your own personality into characters that you’re given the chance to play, and people will perceive you differently. So what am I saying there? I’m saying that, yeah, this is a fantastic opportunity for me, and I am certainly aware of the fact that more people are going to see something like this than have seen a lot of the other things that I’ve done. ”

Probably more people than even saw T2…? “I had never realised that, but yeah. As big as T2 is one night of this, more people will see it. And that was another thing. One of the frustrations as an actor is that you do some good work and it never gets seen, but with this you kind of go, ‘Well, if the ratings keep up, at least some people are going to see this work.’ And these guys are writing me such great stuff, that yeah, I’m out there every day challenged, flexing my muscles and doing things that make me go, ‘God, I don’t even know what to do in this scene.’ But that’s exciting, because that’s what creativity’s all about -losing control, having the confidence that you can do it, and getting out there and not thinking about it. It’s exciting stuff.”

Having played Doggett for 22 episodes now, Patrick has strong ideas about what makes his character tick. “He’s very honourable. He’s got a code. He’s sort of a throwback hero. I’m not aware of everything that’s on television, but I’m aware enough that I don’t think there are that many characters like this out there. This is a very heroic guy in the way that they’ve created him.”

Doggett has also allowed writers to bring back a touch of the early X-Files into’the mix, as the new agent plays the sceptic to the once-sceptical Scully. “Yeah, and that’s what makes him interesting. That’s the whole big conflict now he’s assigned to the X-Files. So what do you do with a guy that believes in God and his country and believes in facts and not wild ideas…? What do you do with a guy like that who’s used to rolling up his sleeves and spending 24 hours going over notes and facts of a case? And that’s how he’s been such a fast climber at the FBI! And now you throw him into a situation where he’s got to take all these leaps of faith with all these cases that read like science fiction stories. That’s the interesting conflict for Doggett. He’s got to sort of try to figure this thing out. He’s got to rely on Scully to try to bridge reality.”

Patrick himself is not such a strong believer in all things X, though a few years back he did go through an experience that opened his mind a little to the possibilities of extra terrestrial life. ..but not for long. “I did a movie some years ago called Fire In The Sky which was based on a very famous, ‘true’ alien abduction story. And I met the guys -and I think the world of them – Mike Rogers and Travis Walton. And at the time I did the movie, I really believed these guys went through a very traumatic experience. This is about eight years ago. And I really believe they went through something, something that’s just hard to explain. And you have to go through the facts, and the facts are that they took lie-detector tests -and all the guys that were working on the same crew that day that experienced the same thing took lie-detector tests -and they saw something and something happened for real. ” As time goes by, I still believe that, but I’m a little less willing to believe. ..The research I did for Doggett made me realise that, you know, maybe the government has a lot of technology that we don’t know about. There are a lot of secrets. So I’m sort of getting more into this conspiracy mode that’s going on, or that I guess is already built into the show. As a person, as an individual, I’m realizing that possibly there is a lot of stuff out there that we’re not aware of, that the government can sort of censor what we do know, what the facts are, what’s going on. Maybe not everything is being explained to us.”

Sounds like Mulder’s been getting to him… “Maybe, yeah, a little bit, and that’s not to say that I’m not trying to undermine or diminish the experience that Travis Walton and Mike Rogers went through. Maybe there are some other things they don’t know, you know what l mean? My thing is, God created the universe -I believe that -and I believe it’s a vast, obviously unending universe. Potentially there could be some other life out there; if there is, God created that. If they are coming down here to visit, I haven’t seen it. But I’ll never say never!”

While Doggett has definitely brought a new dynamic to the show, he feels that it is too simplistic to say that Scully has merely swapped roles -from sceptic to believer. “She’s still a sceptic,” he insists. “She can’t make that jump to total believer.”

But she’s quite clearly less of a sceptic than Doggett.:. “Yeah, but only because of her past experience and the things she’s learned from Mulder. She certainly has scientific explanations more readily available to her than Doggett does, because he’s sort of an earthy, blue-collar kind of guy. ” Of course, after seven years Duchovny had built up a massive, loyal fanbase, but Pattick is pragmatic when it comes to dealing with fan reaction.

“The show is a great show. ..we all know that. It has a very strong legion of fans, they have some very serious fans. I just want to say to them that I respect that, and I’m just an actor, and I’ve been hired to come in and bring life to this new creation. The same people that created Mulder and Scully have created a new guy, and it’s giving them the opportunity to look at the show from a fresh standpoint. There’s new blood to deal with here. So to the fans I just say, it’s a new guy, I didn’t come in to replace anybody, the situation arose where the actor playing Fox Mulder was ready to move on, while the show’s ready to keep going. So they came up with a whole new guy and introduced me. Hopefully I’m a part of the X-Files ensemble, and I think that Doggett, Mulder and Scully. ..we can all exist together in the world of The X-Files. So to all those fans who have been with The X-Files over the years, Chris Carter created this guy and hired me, and my commitment to them and to the fans is to come in and try to do the best job that I can to try to bring this guy to life. And that’s all I’ll do, is work my ass off every day and just focus on the work.”

He admits, though, that it’s an attitude that has developed as he worked on the show. He did care. ..at first! “My opinion early on -and it’s changing, I change constantly every day -but my opinion early on was, ‘Jeez, I hope these people like me.’ I understand that they’re very loyal, and I hope they understand what’s going on. I’m just doing what I was hired to do. I’m excited about the challenge of bringing this guy to life. Chris Carter, I think, is one of the most talented writers and showrunners in the business, and it’s a great opportunity for me. I have a website, I have been on some chat rooms and just sat there silently observing. I’ve seen what people have said, I’ve seen the people that are really… well, they’re really anti-Doggett, they’re not too thrilled by Doggett, they’re not too thrilled about Mulder leaving. I don’t participate on the chat rooms. All I can say is there’s nothing I can do except work hard for you. Everybody’s entitled to an opinion, and I would rather them have a reaction to me than not have a reaction to me. So if they hate Doggett, that’s fine. I expect that. If they like Doggett, that’s fine too, I expect that as well. So as long as they have some sort of reaction, I think we’re in good shape.”

His movie career hasn’t ground to a halt, though. Far from it. He seems busier than ever, with recent parts in All The Pretty Horses (playing Matt Damon’s father), Texas Rangers (with James Van Der Beek) and the US box office smash Spy Kids (with Antonio Banderas, directed by Robett Rodriguez). So for Patrick an 80-hour a week schedule on The X-Files is a bit of a doddle really.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s a daunting task getting up and working as much as I do. The only thing that upsets me is I don’t maybe get to spend as much time with my family. But at least in this scenario, eight or nine months out of the year, I can come home every night and I know where my kids are, and I give them a kiss goodnight, and I give them a kiss in the morning before I go to work. When I was only doing features I’d be gone, and I’d be calling them from a hotel room, and I’d not get to see them that much for longer periods of time. I love the work, and this is all I do. I have a few other interests that are very small. I’m not a real social creature. I ride Harleys, I work and hang out with my kids. I don’t golf. So if I say to myself, ‘Jeez, I’d like to take some time off,’ then in about two weeks, I’m antsy.

“It’s always been that way when I was just doing features: ‘Well, fuck, I can’t sit around for two weeks l’m supposed to be working;’ What am I doing? An actor has to act. I’m a much better actor than when I’m saying, ‘Okay, let’s take a year off.’ I don’t know how I could do that. I mean, I’m not going to say never again, I could contradict myself next year and say, ‘You know what, fuck it, I’m exhausted. I have to take some time off.’ But this is what I do, and I love to do it. So you can state the obvious: yeah, shit, the pace is gruelling. But I love it. So how can I bitch? I tell you what I can bitch about -you come out here and you try to get into the entertainment business and try to do movies, and you never do it. That’s what I’d be upset about. So I plan to stack as much work as I can year round for as long as I can do it, ’cause that’s what I do.”

May-11-2001
TV Guide Online
Gunmen’s Last Shot?
Michael Ausiello

If you have yet to sample Fox’s quirky X-Files spinoff, The Lone Gunmen, tonight’s finale may be your last shot. After a strong start in March, Gunmen’s three conspiracy-obsessed computer geeks have watched their viewership disappear faster than data on an “I Love You” virus-infected hard drive. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Last week’s episode retained a best-yet 86 percent of its adults 18-49 lead-in from Police Videos (granted, a small victory, but a victory nonetheless), and in a recent USA Today poll, Gunmen ranked second only to the WB’s Roswell as the struggling series viewers most want to see return next fall. Still, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the show needs to flex some ratings muscle tonight. But short of hacking into Nielsen’s mainframe, what is series creator Chris Carter to do? Well, a little stunt casting couldn’t hurt, that’s for sure.

TVGO: The USA Today survey caught some people by surprise. No one knew Gunmen had such a loyal following. The ratings are certainly pretty stinky.

Carter: Actually, the ratings are respectable. For Friday night at 9, they are good ratings for Fox. Everything is relative in the ratings game because Friday night is a very small night. So, we’re actually heartened by what we have done in the ratings, but a show like this takes some time to find an audience. But I know that there is a vocal audience out there because they weigh in every day and every week on the Internet.

TVGO: Would you say the show has met your expectations ratings-wise?

Carter: Well, of course you want to always perform better than expectations. Right now I think we’re performing to expectations. So I think if we can start to build on what we’ve done – certainly through the sweeps period – then the chances for the show coming back will be great.

TVGO: If the show continues to perform at the level it has been, and Fox cancels it, will you be angry? Is this going to be another Harsh Realm? [Carter was miffed when Fox pulled the plug on his last TV venture after only a handful of episodes.]

Carter: Well, it already isn’t. That Harsh Realm situation was so peculiar and such an anomaly; it really was driven by someone’s gross inexperience. Luckily, now there are experienced people [at Fox] and we are getting our full run of Lone Gunmen episodes, so there really is no comparison. [But] it’s not my nature to be content, or contented, and so my feeling is that there are always other ways and other things you can do to promote a show.

TVGO: Speaking of which, I understand David Duchovny will appear in [tonight’s] season finale. Why is it such a big secret? This is just the ratings-grabbing stunt the show needs right now.

Carter: Where did you get that information?

TVGO: Um… reliable sources.

Carter: Well, I can’t comment on it, of course. On either the question or the pure fact.

TVGO: Well, let’s throw out a hypothetical: If David Duchovny were to drop in, wouldn’t you want to promote the heck out of it?

Carter: I will promote the show in any way I possibly can. I do what I can under the limitations that I am given, and that’s the way I always proceed.

TVGO: Hmmm… so David agreed to do it under the condition that it not be promoted. I get it now.

Carter: I think that is a rather complex hypothetical. Anything is possible, as I always say about The X-Files. I would say the same thing with The Lone Gunmen.

TVGO: Well, let me ask you this: Will there be any big surprises [tonight]?

Chris: Definitely.