Dying Gasp
by Thomasina Gibson

Who knows...maybe Cancer Man really has smoked his last cigarette. Nevertheless, his rather more palatable alter ego, William B Davis, was more than happy to chat about his contribution to The X-Files. "It may happen all over again," he tells us...

Imagine the scene. A determined writer, battling against all that the London Underground system had to offer. Trudging through driving rain and incurring the wrath of pedestrians who'd  had to step off the pavement to avoid the spokes of her umbrella. She arrives at the discreet dark green entrance to one of Soho's more salubrious venues. Climbing to the top of the stairs, shaking with fear and trepidation, she steps over a second threshold to be greeted by one of the strongest handshakes and brightest smiles imaginable. William B Davis! The incorrigible Cigarette Smoking Man - smiling - offering warm salutations. It must be an X-File.  

"...the Cigarette Smoking Man is really the good guy and he truly does have the best interests of people like Mulder at heart."  That's a bit like saying Herod was only trying to save those babies from teething trouble.

The character of the CSM

"Actually, this visit was originally supposed to be a holiday," explains Davis whilst offering a cup of coffee. "Then two things happened. A friend from Scotland asked me to go to Glasgow to do a talk. Kind of 'an audience with...' evening, which I did because I enjoy that sort of thing. Also, my partner hails from Edinburgh so it gave us a chance to visit the places where she grew up. And then we were contacted by a lovely lady who asked if we could find one day out of our schedule to promote the DVD release of the first season of The X Files. Of course I was thrilled to do it, so here I am."

The most extraordinary thing for someone who has watched the programme since the very first episode and who has come to love to hate the character portrayed by the man in front of me is that he is so charming. William B Davis is delightful. There's no hint if the cold sneer; the inhuman, icy expression; the desultory way his infamous alter ego treats other people. On the contrary, he's relaxed and witty with a very dry sense of humour that surfaces every couple of minutes, It could be that, as a seasoned professional, Davis has all the skills at his disposal to put a journalist at ease, but this journalist feels he's genuine. Asked if he's still excited about The X-Files after all this time (seven years and counting) Davis is as open as they come. "You know it's fascinating," he begins, "This show has come such a long way. It 'has legs' as they say in the business and the DVD thing is particularly fascinating to me because it involves the first season, which was the progenitor of what happened later. A lot of people who are now rapid fans didn't actually see the first episodes because it took two or three years to catch on. So, of course, I can just imagine that when people go back they'll look at Gillian Anderson's hair for example and go 'Oh my god! Who was doing that hair?!" Giving a very good impression of a fey hairdresser, Davis laughs uproariously and sighs, "We all look so different now. But it is great to see the roots of the show and I certainly will be interested to see what happens as they release the second and third seasons because those were the times when The X-Files really took off. It may happen all over again."

One of the shows central characters, David claims he had no idea that The X-Files would become such a phenomenon first time round. "You could see that there was some potential there, but I certainly am not one to count chickens I don't have. So I just turned up to do my stint in the pilot and didn't think much more about it. Then," he grins, "they started bringing me in and standing me in a corner with a cigarette and paying me for not doing much more than lighting it up and I thought, 'I can do worse than that'. Eventually they started giving me more and more to do until guess it was really with One Breath that I had a proper scene. From there it was 'whoosh', it was like I was a real character.    

Clearly quite at ease with these developments, Davis has no fears about playing a man who is almost universally disliked. "It's surprising how many people do like me and that may be even scarier," he laughs. His response when it's suggested it's surprising how anybody could like him after all the nasty things the Cigarette Smoking Man has done to that lovely Mulder (David Duchovny) is mock disgust, "Yeah! Right!" he tuts, "Tell me about it!"

That minor hiccup shoved to the back of his mind, Davis is happier to talk about the nicer things that have happened during his time as the thorn in Mulder's side. "There are lots of things that spring to mind but One Breath was special because it was like all of a sudden the 'someones' in the office decided that Bill Davis could act. I only found out later from Bob Goodwin, the director, that he was not one of the ones who had decided Davis could act so he was very relieved at how well the episode turned out." Never one to harbor a grudge, Davis says, "We've since worked together on a couple of episodes and Talitha Cumi, which was one one of my favourites, was directed by him also."

One would think that, at some stage in the proceedings, even the most accommodating of actors would come up against a colleague that drove them bananas but Davis swears this isn't the case on The X-Files. "Well, I wouldn't tell you if they did, now would I?" This actor can't even remember a time when anyone made him laugh. "It's a funny thing," he muses, "Maybe I'm not a laughy person because people have asked 'what's the funniest thing that happened on set' and I'm like, 'Oh I can't think of anything funny happening on set'. I once asked Mitch Pileggi [Skinner], 'How come all these funny things that seem to happen on set never happen when I'm here?' and he goes 'Oh we have too much respect for you'. So I don't know, maybe it's a case of the older guy comes in and the young things get very serious."  

"You know, most people think - and this may surprise you - that Mulder is the good guy and I'm the bad one.... ...I'll have to try harder to convince you people"

William B Davis

Well it could be that, but perhaps a more reasonable view is that the rest of the cast were inspired by the brilliance of Davis's performance and were too frightened to upset the Cigarette Smoking Man, "Ah that must be it," he agrees. "But you know - I did embark on a series college talks to try and convince people that they really have misunderstood the show. You know, most people think - and this may surprise you - that Mulder is the good guy and I'm the bad one." Acknowledging that the thought had crossed my mind on several occasions, Davis sadly shakes his head. "That's just not so, I'll have to work harder to convince you people because, you see, the Cigarette Smoking Man is really the good guy and he truly does have the best interests of people like Mulder at heart." That's a bit like saying Herod was only trying to save those babies from teething trouble.

An attempt to dissuade Davis from this delusional track by asking what he plans to do once his holiday is over is met with an even more outrageous reply. Davis starts off reasonably enough, "I'm not sure. I was very busy just before I came here. I guest starred on two shows, both of which were Science Fiction. I did an episode of First Wave and one of a show called The Fearing Minds which hasn't been released yet." However, looking for all the world as if it were the most natural occurrence, he smiles, "I was playing a zombie. A nice one. I was in love. A woman brought me back because I was her ex-boyfriend and her husband had died." Pausing for a moment, he goes on, "I don't really know why she didn't bring her husband back...I never did ask that question. But it was very warm and fuzzy between us. Well, I was cold, because I was dead, but that was ok!" So did this Lazarus like relationship work out in the end or did he eat her? "No! It worked out fine. Her daughter was kind of upset but we managed to resolve that little problem."  

Happy families with a nicotine-stained dead man and a grieving widow. It should be an X-File...

Source: Cult Times, Typed by me , and all transcripts are my exclusive property.