David Duchovny
by Brad Ritzer

"I can't be mean and moody all my life"

The new series of The X Files starts this week on BBC2. And it'll be David Duchovny's last full series.

After playing Fox Mulder for eight series, David Duchovny's decided he's through with chasing aliens. "After the fourth or fifth season, it became clear that there wasn't much more I could bring to the role," he explains.

The seventh series, which begins this week, marked by an X Files night, should have been David's last. But he was lured back to star in 11 episodes of the eighth series. "I was willing to be reasonable if the other side was and I think everyone is pretty satisfied with the result," "I didn't want to leave on a sour note because I owe a lot to the series. So now I'm making a graceful exit to the unknown prospects of my film career!"

The last time we saw the special agents, Mulder had discovered a series of objects in Africa that he believed proved his theory of life on another planet. More strange adventures lie in store this series as Mulder and Dana Scully search for 'the truth'.

Despite being one of the great on-screen duos, its surprising to discover David and Gillian are not great friends off camera. 'Even if our personalities were more compatible, it would have been tough to share any kind of social life with someone you're working 14 hours a day with for 30 weeks a year," says David. "We maintain a friendly relationship on the set, and that's all there is between us."

Quitting the series as Mulder can't have been easy for David, who is married to actress Téa Leoni and has a baby daughter Madelaine. "He's [Mulder] an extension of the more miserable side of my personality," says David. "But I can't keep playing moody, obsessed men like him; I have to go in other directions."

Although David is enjoying his role as a dad and adores his daughter, he wishes he could spend more time with Téa. "When you're a parent you have less time together and more time looking after your child. Sometimes I feel a little left out because Téa enjoys giving Madelaine a lot of attention. I'm still adapting to the demands of family life!"

Source: TVChoice, thanks to the amazing london connection for this article (also partly modified and typed by me)