David Duchovny denies ‘animosity’ on X-Files but says show had ‘taken up my life’

Duchovny and his co-star Gillian Anderson have previously admitted to there being tensions

David Duchovny, the actor who played FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files from 1993 to 2002, has denied having any animosity with the show’s cast and crew.

Throughout the Nineties, there were reports of tension between Duchovny and his co-star Gillian Anderson, who played agent Dana Scully. In the hit sci-fi show, the pair investigated unresolved cases that seemed to include paranormal phenomena.

Anderson has previously admitted to there “definitely being periods when we hated each other”, while Duchovny told Metro in 2008: “Familiarity breeds contempt. It’s nothing to do with the other person. All that fades away and you’re just left with the appreciation and love for the people you’ve worked with for so long.

“We used to argue about nothing. We couldn’t stand the sight of each other.”

In a new interview with The Times, Duchovny has said that Anderson had nothing to do with him leaving The X Files in 2002.

“That was just me wanting to have a family, but also to try other things,” he said. “It had kind of taken up my life. There was no animosity with the actual show and the people that I worked with. I am proud of the show – it was culturally central in a way that it’s very hard to do these days in a fragmented landscape.

“There’s so many lightning-strike aspects to it that I can’t help but think of it as some kind of a miracle.”

Duchovny and Anderson in ‘The X-Files’ (FOX)

Anderson hinted this week that her iconic character could return in The X-Files reboot.

Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is reviving the series, which was originally made by Chris Clark.

Anderson called Coogler a “brilliant, brilliant director”, telling US talk show Today: “I cannot think of a better way around for a reboot to happen. I think he’s a bit of a genius.”

She added: “Whether I’m involved in it is a whole other thing. But in his hands — I’m not saying no — because I think (Coogler) is really cool, and I think if he did it, it would probably be done incredibly well, and maybe I’ll pop in for a little somethin’-somethin’.”