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May 8

The Vancouver Move: David Duchovny, FOX Studios, and the Rain

"400 inches of rain" was an unfortunate misinterpretation spun out of control... one which, conveniently, overshadowed the nuances underpinning the Vancouver move.

As David Duchovny explained, a promise was made before the pilot: fly up to Vancouver, then fly home. That promise was pushed back a year, three years, then five-- and would, if 20th Century Fox had its way, never have come to pass. Sensing the way the wind was blowing, he made his demands public, warning that he wouldn't return if the studio didn't keep its contractual obligation.

However, the truth became buried between layers of rejection and hurt: a joke misunderstood, and a city's heart turned because of vicious misreporting in the press. Even after he revealed the full scope of the deal to clear his name, Duchovny had been cemented as a dirty word.

Who benefited? I don't believe it's a coincidence that FOX's mouth remained shut while their lead was barraged across the collective North American press.

Part 4 of the Vancouver Move 'series.'

Sections: VANCOUVER: WHAT THE PUBLIC DIDN'T KNOW; WHY FOX LEFT DUCHOVNY WITH THE BLAME; THE RAIN JOKE CONTROVERSY; DUCHOVNY TELLS ALL... IN VAIN; A WINDOW INTO DUCHOVNY'S WORLD; IN RETROSPECT

(Note: I recommend skipping to "WHY FOX LEFT DUCHOVNY WITH THE BLAME" and "THE RAIN JOKE CONTROVERSY" if you want to get straight to the point.)

TL;DR

February 17, 1998: The untold story, Duchovny says, is that he never imagined he'd be in Vancouver for five years when he got involved in The X-Files.

"There is something I've never discussed in public or in the media, which is basically that, in the beginning, I came up here thinking I'd be up here for three weeks shooting a pilot. I was told just the pilot would shoot up here. And then I was told just the first year would shoot up here. And then maybe the first three years would shoot up here. And then the first five years would shoot up here.

"It's gone from being three weeks to five years, and there was never a decision that I made, as an actor living in Los Angeles, to be away from home so long," Duchovny says.

"However lovely this city is, and however wonderful the people have been, and however talented the crew that works here, and however perfect the city is for The X-Files, that hasn't really figured into the personal dislocation that I've felt.

"It's not that I've become a star and am flexing my muscles. It's really a five-year debate I've been having with the powers that be," he says.

"The whole discussion of the show moving has been that it's just this year, and it's just because David's a star, and he's a baby, and he wants to push [series creator and executive producer] Chris Carter around. And it's just not the truth."

The glare of adverse publicity has left him with mixed feelings about Vancouver.

"What I thought was so harmful about the rain debate was that it made these issues personal, as if I had judged Vancouver to be wanting in some way, which was never the case at all. It was just a case of me wanting to be home and wanting to continue my career outside of The X-Files." (Duchovny has had roles in more than half a dozen feature films, including last year's Playing God.)

"What's too bad is that I like Vancouver and I've really enjoyed working here for five years," Duchovny says. "But I have to say I've been coloured by this experience.

"I don't hold the city responsible. But I can't say that when I think of Vancouver, I'm not going to think of that."

VANCOUVER: WHAT THE PUBLIC DIDN'T KNOW

The Vancouver years were a complicated time. David often talked about both its merits and demerits equally (which I didn't include for length's sake): the city was beautiful, he loved the morning drives, he loved the people.

The problem wasn't the rain-- hence, the jokes were in good fun--- but the isolation, and the ever-increasing demands of the job.

THE PILOT: A DEAL WAS STRUCK

Before Season 1 began filming, Chris Carter and David Duchovny were already in negotiations.

August 8, 1998: Contrary to what some people are saying, he has nothing against Vancouver. When he firmly requested that filming move to Los Angeles, he was merely calling on a promise made to him when he accepted the series. To prove his point he embarks on a detailed retelling of what really happened. "I actually turned The X-Files down but Chris came to my house and begged me. I was flattered because I was no big star and it was the first time that anybody begged me to do anything except the dishes. I told them I liked it but I had a girlfriend then and I didn't want to commit to living in Vancouver for what could be five years.

"They said we will just shoot the pilot there and then move to LA. After the show was picked up they told me we will do at least the first year in Vancouver because it has the right look and it will be cheaper. We can make better shows and get better production value for the dollar up there. So we did the first year. Then they said we are going into syndication, which means working continuously for three years, after which we get to go where we want. It was tough and in the middle of the third year, my girlfriend and I did split up. After three years, they were saying that we will have five great years on television then we are all going to quit. So could I handle two more years in Vancouver? I didn't have a girlfriend anymore so I had no reason to go to LA. So I said I can handle it because Vancouver is really nice.

"Going into the fifth year, I assumed we would shoot the sixth year in LA, and it looked like it was the first time they heard about it. What happened next was that the press was saying that David Duchovny, infantile, impetuous, whimsical, weight-throwing-around star imperiously makes production move to Los Angeles just because he wants to sit in a jacuzzi with his wife in Malibu. That's the way things happened. Good story no? It reads like a bad fairy tale. Why they kept it a secret is what I want to know."

Duchovny's request only involved fair play from the makers of The X-Files but because of his present stature, the move to LA has resulted in disillusionment among his fans in Canada. "Unfortunately the reason why some actors are being perceived as impetuous, whimsical or infantile is because that's often the only power they are allowed to exercise and the only way they will be heard. Nobody listens to you unless you say, 'I'm taking my ball and going home.' So the press sees that and they say, 'What a baby! Look at all the money he's making.'"

(The part "I actually turned The X-Files down but Chris came to my house and begged me. I was flattered because I was no big star and it was the first time that anybody begged me to do anything except the dishes" caught my eye. Would he or Gillian have made the deal then, knowing the demands up front?)

Out of respect for these negotiations, David never mentioned them to the press (in fact, it was Carter who discussed them publicly first, post here) until he was bodied with accusations for nearly a year.

THE BREAKING POINT

He (and Gillian and the crew, and even Carter, post here) often joked about having no life; and that was the truth. Moreover, DD had no close, personal connections in Vancouver-- they remained in California. His costar may have quickly married, become a mother, and rapidly divorced (while battling mental health issues, and perhaps seasonal depression), Duchovny spent long, solitary hours in his motel room (or in a bathtub), battled depression and alopecia (post here), and lost at least one long-distance relationship.

1994: The current "relationship" with character Dana Scully will be on a short hiatus next season as actress Gillian Anderson is pregnant. "I'll have more work to do, which I can't even imagine." Duchovny, all jokin aside, does seem dog-tired. One too many questions about the future of the X-Files and he answered dismissively, "I'm trying to take a break right now. I'm not even thinking about it...."

With Vancouver now a second home, and the pressures of playing a series leading man, Duchovny hasn't quite gotten a handle on the subtleties of change in his life. "The amount of work has been so intense. I haven't really gotten to see exactly how my life has changed, because I haven't really had a life. I've just been working."

Much of the 33-year-old actor's work has been in feature films, including "The Rapture," "Kalifornia," and Showtime's "The Red Shoe Diaries," most recently. "TV is so different from movies," he said. "If you can imagine, we shoot about eight pages of script a day, and in a movie we'd probably shoot two to three pages in a day. We're doing 400 percent more work. It's frustrating that you can't give it the kind of time that you might want to Then again, it teaches you good habits and bad habits. The bad... that you have to do stuff on the spur of the moment. The good habit is that you don't agonize over things. You just realize you've got to do it today and tomorrow it's toilet paper. Move on. Instincts are all you have. You don't have time to prepare."

March 11, 1995: In the meantime, Duchovny - whose pre-X-Files career included the feature films "The Rapture," "Chaplin," and "Kalifornia" - had his own crosses to bear. For this sometimes homesick New Yorker, the idea of living in Vancouver for at least five years is not heaven on earth. "There are some days," says Duchovny, "when it is really a terrible prospect to me. I never imagined myself on a television series because I always imagined hopping from one glorious movie to another.... When we were signing contracts to do the pilot, my agent said, 'You really have to think about what you are getting into.' And I said, 'I have thought about it.' But I never thought about it. Because I didn't know how hard it would be."

Making matters worse is the fact that his girlfriend, actress Perrey Reeves, still lives in Los Angeles - "although I'm not sure I'd see any more of her if she lived up here," he says. Duchovny, who dreams of one day "having a wife and three kids," consoled himself by becoming the proud owner of a fluffy Border collie/terrier mix he named Blue - for the Bob Dylan song "Tangled Up in Blue." "The idea was that she would help me with my blues," Duchovny says.

When 1996 rolled around, contracts were renegotiated with a clause stipulating that he would leave the show if it didn't move within the next year:

July 25, 1996: Carter said both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are good friends, and “David and Gillian both renegotiated their contracts last year, so that’s out of the way.

“I have told them — and I think they are party to this — that I just want to do five really good years of The X-Files, five years where one day we can look back and say honestly that we did our best work. That’s why I haven’t left the show. If they’re willing to devote five years of their lives to it, so will I. Anything past that is gravy.”

Between 1996 and 1997, he and Perrey Reeves broke up, he had a passionate, short romance (speculated to be with Winona Ryder, post here), and came to a very dark assessment of his current circumstances--

Late 1996 (during the filming of El Mundo Gira): [Q:] "Are you in a relationship?"

[DD:] "No, not right now. I keep thinking how nice it would be if I was, but the person would have to be willing to make a sacrifice, or the person would have to have a similar life to me, which is why actors tend to pair up with other actors."

[Q:] "That doesn't seem to work out too often ..."

[DD:] "Well, not many relationships seem to work...."

[Q:] "Do you miss having a life? Did you have a life before?"

[DD:] "I thought I did. I miss it desperately at this point. But when I went back to L.A. recently, I was shocked to find that I didn't have a life there, either. I don't know if you realize this, but I'm about to have a nervous breakdown." It's hard to tell if Duchovny is kidding.

[DD:] "I mean," he continues, "I'm OK, I can take care of myself. But I feel isolated and lonely. I'm not happy."

Challenges aside, he maintained a respect for and love of the show--

[Q:] "If you knew what it was going to be like, would you have taken the series?"

[DD:] "Can I also know what it would have been like if I didn't take the series? I hate those kinds of things, where people say, 'Stop b****ing, you could be working at Burger King now.' As if those are the only two options for me – either act, or 'Would you like a soda with your fries?' I love acting, and I love 'The X-Files.' But doing a television show is like riding an elephant – it goes where it wants, with or without your say. Does that make me an ungrateful b******?"

Duchovny thinks this over for a minute. "Perhaps it does. I saw this show on TV about how your happiness is sort of predetermined. It has nothing to do with you – you're either one of those people who looks on the bright side, or you're not. Just from looking at you, I can tell that you're one of those really happy people, right? Me, I could convince myself all day that everything's really OK with the world, but I'd still feel blue. All in all, though, I'm not complaining."

By now it is freezing, so we move into Duchovny's trailer, a small, dark, depressing little place. He sees the grimace on my face. "What? I had to buy a little trailer, because we work really late a lot of nights."

"Honey," I say, "a borderline depressed person like you needs sunlight and bright colors. Enough of this gloom."

April 1997: If The X-Files' premise–"The truth is out there"–is true, then today, the truth is freezing its buns off. The show is shot in ever-chilly Vancouver, and Duchovny's been outside all day, doing take after take. Right now, he's in a hurry to get back to the warmth of his silver Airstream trailer. Once inside, he yanks off his standard-issue black FBI-guy shoes and positions his feet against the heating vent, first one sole, then the other.

"Doing this every day for ten months and hardly ever getting half a day off, it's tough," he says. "We're in our fourth year, and the fact that there hasn't been a homicide on set is wonderful." As if on cue, the intercom in his trailer sounds, polite, insistent. He's needed back on the set. "F—!"

A light in the tunnel was appearing, nevertheless: the studio was now contractually bound to keep their word.

Not that they planned to.

PROMISES (FORCED TO BE) KEPT

In May of the following year, David Duchovny married. Any rationalization to keep him in Vancouver, therefore, was over.

This is an important and often overlooked period. Before the misunderstanding which fueled "the rain" controversy, DD expressed what he always had-- an eagerness to leave, yet a regard for the place he was leaving. In other words, he wasn't overzealous or flippant--

Spring 1997: David then wanted to mention some nice things about the city and the crew. He said that Vancouver was a great city and even though the show is moving, he'll always have a part of him here. He had more nice things to say about the people of this city. He genuinely wanted to speak to the people of Vancouver. He was almost consoling in manner. In the end, he said it was time to move on and [go] back home. He said that the show might change its look, which might be a bad thing. We'll see about that David.... :(

Ultimately, he agreed that Vancouver is the best place to shoot the show. Glad to see he's on the same wavelength with CC.

May 7, 1997: How long The X-Files will continue to engage Duchovny is a matter of some concern among the shows' devotees, known as "X-philes." He admits that the demanding shooting schedule in Vancouver, Canada, wears him out, and he has made it known that he's interested in pursuing other roles, which to some extent he has been able to accomplish.

In the months (and decades) afterward, these sentiments would consistently repeat: although he wanted to be home, he also liked Vancouver--

October 12, 1997: Between swims he secretly wooed sitcom star Téa Leoni and married her in May. They manage their bi-national marriage by racking up the frequent flyer points between his set in Vancouver and hers in Los Angeles. "We try to spend as much time together as we can," he says. "It's a constant battle with our schedules."

And it's wearing thin. Duchovny recently told the syndicated magazine series "Access Hollywood" that he'll bolt the popular Fox series next year if the show doesn't move production to Los Angeles. "I wouldn't spend another year in Vancouver away from my wife," Duchovny said. "This could be my last year in Vancouver or my last year on the show."

October 13, 1997: DL: I keep hearing that you're leaving the show, that if they don't move to LA, you're going to walk, one of those things. It's probably not true, isn't it?

DD: No, it is true actually.

[audience, DL laugh. DD smiles]

DL: They do the show in Vancouver.

DD: They do the show in Vancouver but.....

DL: Beautiful city.

DD: It is. And I know that you love Vancouver, but my wife lives in Los Angeles. I realize I'm in the minority, but I would like to live with my wife.

[DL laughs] …

DL: So are you going to get the show moved to Los Angeles?

DD: I hope so. I mean it's nothing against Vancouver, we've got a great crew.

That didn't, unfortunately, lessen the impending chaos.

WHY FOX LEFT DUCHOVNY WITH THE BLAME

Of noteworthy importance: an interview with David Duchovny published the same day as his appearance on Conan O'Brien, and was quickly forgotten amidst the outrage.

I've given that interview its own section because it informs every move the studio made leading up to and away from this moment. The long and short of it is, 20th Century Fox did everything in its power to maintain egregious profit--

October 14, 1997: [Leoni] shoots her sitcom in Los Angeles, while Duchovny tapes his show in Vancouver under the stewardship of creator Chris Carter. It's a situation Duchovny finds extremely distasteful.

"The reason it shoots in Vancouver is because it has many environments that we can shoot in. And the reason Fox wants to shoot there is it's cheaper," the newlywed explains. "I think the show is so lucrative to Fox that it's a compromise for us to come to L.A."

Now Duchovny says that after the success of the show, he has earned the right to be happy. And his happiness hinges on being near his wife.

"You know, if I'm going to continue to do the show.. I think that I should be happy," he explains. "I don't think that's a huge demand. Do you?"

If Fox meets that demand, Duchovny might have more time to play God and other roles at the movies.

--including let its star take the heat for their contractual obligation (not to mention the other lawsuits and legal skirmishes it created with him, Gillian, and Chris Carter later.)

How do we know this to be true?

Because not once (that I could find) did they make a statement in David Duchovny's defense, nor clear the air one bit after he was forced to make business matters public. Neither did they offer a single line of confirmation when Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz, Gillian Anderson, and other Ten Thirteen operatives agreed with Duchovny.

By this we can conclude they could have helped but chose not to.

Without further ado....

THE RAIN JOKE CONTROVERSY: 1997-1998

A lot, and I mean a lot, of nuance was lost in the fall of 1997.

David Duchovny had spent five years in Vancouver: he had a (temporary) residence there, lived among its people ten months out of the year, and talked about both its drawbacks and its splendor. He'd often joked about the weather-- even undercut those jokes to insist the place was still beautiful.

However, in the months following The X-Files's impending move, there was a growing sentiment that it was his sole doing-- that Vancouver was losing jobs, that his teammates were breaking up their lives because of his pampered ego. This controversy then bled into continuous stories about his and Gillian's relationship-- another narrative which swung wildly between love and hatred (despite denial from both) since nearly the show's inception. That GA wanted to move, too, was second to the drama, and largely ignored.

A feature of the tabloids, make no mistake.

Was it the wisest choice to make a joke about the weather if one planned on moving the show? Perhaps not, but given his and Gillian's and the rest of Ten Thirteen's history of teasing the rain while gamely trudging through it, I think there's a most honest conclusion the whole affair: Vancouver was hurt, and took any hint of criticism-- whether in jest or not-- as a personal attack. And, therefore, rejected him "back."

And lest we forget: this maelstrom was to FOX's advantage.

"400 INCHES OF RAIN":

In dissecting this controversy as accurately as possible, a few facts have to be acknowledged:

Firstly, it was Conan O'Brien's setup and joke which David Duchovny was assisting.

Secondly, David bailed on the joke halfway through, asserting that Vancouver was "wonderful, seriously," and responding to Conan's follow-up joke with a serious, "Well, I didn't mean to attack Canada."

Thirdly, as Vicki Gabereau pointed out a week or so later, jokes about Vancouver's weather is bread and butter to its citizens.

Fourthly, David and the Canadian Ten Thirteen crew (as well as the writers, directors, and cast) are all on record making weather jokes together years before 1997.

Fifthly, this incident overshadowed any nuanced discussion before and after the move, including quotes from others closest to the show who knew and understood the broader scope of the situation (posts here, here, and here.)

And finally, there was already controversy brewing before David Duchovny set foot on Conan O'Brien's stage ("People are saying that you can't stand shooting in Vancouver any more...")--

October 14, 1997: Conan O' Brien: You brought up Vancouver. There's been a lot of controversy. People are saying that you can't stand shooting in Vancouver any more -- it's too far from home and that you want to move the show from Vancouver. Do you want to talk about that?

David Duchovny: It's just a matter of living there for five years. It's a great city, you know if you like 400 inches of rain a day .... [Laughter] without the benefits of being in a tropical rain forest. It's like being in an ice age rain forest actually. No it's a wonderful city, seriously but I just want to be with my wife...it's an odd thing.

Conan O' Brien: Is it Canada...is it that you have a problem with Canada?

David Duchovny: No. I like Canada. I do. It's just, it's five years of going through customs and I'm tired of the strip searches and the body probes. [Laughter] I'm sore. [Laughter]

Conan O' Brien: I think maybe it was a mistake for you. That you kind of..... you kind of attacked Canada a bit there and I think you upset some people in our audience a bit there.

David Duchovny: Well I didn't mean to attack Canada.

Conan O' Brien: No, you did.... you just kind you went after some people there and you owe some of them an apology.

[shot of the audience: a Canadian Mounty, a hockey player and a bear crying]

It's fair to say the media exploded.

It's important to note: the public was unaware of the intricacies of the FOX contract and Ten Thirteen's agreement at this point.

In the week that followed, DD stayed the course (probably per the advice of his media managers); and, again, repeated what he had said a hundred times before--

October 16, 1997: Not that Duchovny is ungrateful for his four years of TV star status as Mulder on Fox's cultishly popular X-Files. But he'd like new challenges, please. That's why he took the role of a hapless, drug-addicted surgeon, Eugene Sands, in Playing God, which opens Friday.

Duchovny, 37, also wouldn't mind seeing more of his bride, actress Téa Leoni, star of NBC's The Naked Truth.

"This will be the last year I work in Vancouver," he vows. The X-Files shoots in the British Columbia city 10 months a year. "I'm tired of it. Whatever happens with the show will happen. It may move to L.A. or it will end, but I'll be back here regardless...."

He seems eager for a home base. "Now that I'm married, it's hard to come back and forth. It's only a 2 1/2-hour flight (between L.A. and Vancouver), but if I die in an airplane crash, I'll be very angry."

October 16, 1997: KEVIN: Are you getting tired of it?

DD: Of doing the show? Well, yeah. I mean it's hard to come in and do the same job every day. I'm, I'm...I love the show and I'm loyal to it and all that and, uh, it's like, uh, if it was just *7* months out of the year, it would be fantastic, instead of 10.

KEVIN: You could do it for years if that were the case, I bet.

DD: [tongue in cheek] Absolutely, so if everybody starts writing in and saying "give us just 14 episodes a year, please."

KEVIN: Yeah, that'll happen.

DD: I'll go on forever.

KEVIN: That'll happen.

But by mid-late October, the escalation had not, indeed, blown over.

Vicki Gabereau addressed things head-on during his appearance on her show (lightly stating, "And? What's so incorrect about that?", "It is a statement of the obvious")--

October 23, 1997: VG: Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave.....what happened?

DD: Oooh-kay. First of all the only reason I ever wanted to leave Vancouver was to go be with my wife in LA. In all seriousness. Not that it's anyone's business.

VG: But it's become everybody's business.

DD: Well, I opened my mouth. At some point. I was promoting this movie and somebody asked me about coming down to LA and I opened my mouth and said that. And then what happened was I was on the Conan O'Brien show, and he wanted to do this segment where he wanted to make light of moving the Vancouver. So he had a bear, a Mountie and a hockey player in the audience and they were weeping. So in order to get to that point, I had to say something derogatory about Vancouver. I hadn't even planned it. When we got there, I said something like it rained 400 inches a day.

VG: And? (smiling) What's so incorrect about that?

DD: Well, I don't think it's quite 400 inches, is it?

VG: No (laughing)

DD: What people have lost sight of is that ever since I said that, I don't know if people can see outside (pointing to windows behind VG), but...

VG: Yeah, it's been perfect. (It had been fairly sunny that week)

DD: And I would like to have some credit for that.

VG: You got a lot of credit.

I think there is some truth in Duchovny's summarization--

VG: I mean, really and truly, it is a statement of the obvious. Why do you think you got so much heat for this?

DD: What happened was it was the way in which it was reported. It was reported as a statement and not as part of a joke. And then I'm a foreigner here and I think that people who live in a place take umbrage to foreigners speaking about their country. But I guess the mistake that I made is, I've been here for five years, and I felt.....

VG: That you live here. You pay rent here. You have a place here.

DD: I do indeed. I pay taxes here.

VG: I guess you want to talk about that too. (both laugh)

DD: I pay for that rain.

VG: No, I think there's a proprietary interest in you. It's the first time that a series filmed in this country has done so well, and has gone so big. And you came here in relative obscurity, and when you leave, because you *will* leave, you take with you tremendous notoriety. And I think people feel attached to you because of that.

DD: Yeah, and I'd like that attachment expressed to me in a different way. Not in hostility. (smiling) But I think what it is, is that the show owes so much to Vancouver, and that is true, and I think by me saying I want to shoot in LA, that's taken to mean that I don't know how much we owe to Vancouver. We've had a great time here.

VG: Why do you think people got so hysterical about it?

DD: I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me.

VG: Well, I just thought it's because we got so attached to you in some curious way. That you belong to us now and you can't go. Tough.

DD: Well....I'll come back and visit (laughing).

Another interesting tidbit: David revealed that (like Gillian, post here), he wanted to move family up to Vancouver to be with him. Perhaps, if he had been successful, the show would've stayed longer--

DD: Well, I actually, and this is going to sound like bull in retrospect, but I actually thought about trying to find my mother a house here.

VG: And move her in here.

DD: Yeah, well to take some of the heat at this point. (laughter people off camera). No, this is actually the kind of climate that she loves. She's from Scotland. And in fact, this is the kind of climate that I enjoy...

DD: Well, you know it's hard for me to say at this point because it feels like an apology, but I have *loved* this city for four years.....

VG: Okay, okay you're off the hook...grovel, grovel, grov.....

DD: (interrupting) No, no. I refuse to grovel about this. But it happens to be the truth.

Also, he reiterated (again, again) that the crew was wonderful and Vancouver was great (particularly, that he didn't want a dislike of it to be "ascribed to me")--

VG: Okay, here's the thing.... I'm with you on this one. It rains all the time--you love it, or you don't love it, and you go away....

DD: But you know everyone knows...but you know another thing that was insulting about this whole thing was to our crew which is wonderful and works harder than me, they work in the rain. I get to go back to my trailer when it's raining and come out and do five minutes and they are actually out in the rain all day long, and I don't know how they do that. But, um, it's actually a great place to work and I don't want people to lose sight of that, and I don't want that to be ascribed to me. The only reason I'm leaving is because I have a family. I've lived five years here....

[Bonus: Vicki had a little joke of her own right after commercial-- VG: I'm going to take a commercial and sell rugs or something[.]

DD: (gives a "shrug" face) It's early.

VG: It's early. David Duchovny. We'll be right back[.]

(pianist plays X-Files theme)

(return: pianist is playing Singing in the Rain. DD, VG chatting. DD gestures and nods at pianist)

VG: Go ahead, You say it.

DD: Alright. Very funny. (to pianist)]

As we know in hindsight, that interview did very little to move the needle: the press was out to play, and would continue their questions and implications for years to come--

October 26, 1997: But as he wrapped up work on the "The X-Files" movie and prepared to head up to Vancouver in Canada for a fifth season of the television show, Duchovny was tired of Mulder and proud of him at the same time.

The actor worries less about the movie roles he will be offered after "The X-Files" and more about when after will begin. "I get worried that it's never going to end," he says ruefully.

If he could, he would have the show end after this fifth season, but the chances of that happening are practically nonexistent, so he's asking that the show be moved from its Canadian locale to Los Angeles.

"I'm married," he says. "My wife lives in L.A. I have to go work in Vancouver. That's a great hardship."

Whether he's really delivering an ultimatum--move the show or I won't be back--seems up to interpretation. His agent indicates that it's not a threat. "David will do the show," says Risa Shapiro. "He loves doing the show."

February 13, 1998: Chris: Now, with the show moving down there, how are you going to duplicate some of the looks that you get up here?

David: I don't know. Thankfully, that's not my problem, it'[s] the DP's problem. But you know, they have things called filters and you know, DP's are paid a lot of money to figure these things out.

Chris: Aren't you going to miss this beautiful sunshine? (laughs)

David: Actually, when you stay in L.A. too long you do miss the weather, you miss having the weather. You miss having seasons, and I'll miss that. And on a day like today, when the sun finally does shine, it's great!

Chris: Oh, you mean the sun's not out every day up here?

David: It's out, it's just above the clouds. You know, it's a funny thing when you fly out of Vancouver sometimes you break through the clouds and you go "Oh my God! It's been up here all the time"! It's beautiful.

Chris: It's beautiful out here, you just haven't seen it underneath all that rain the last thirteen days. Is that right, I heard it on the news that it's been raining the last thirteen days here?

David: It's been raining a lot but you know, I'm not really allowed to comment on that any more, because I said something jokingly once that it rains a lot here and I've been persona non grata ever since. You know even though the weather is the most frequently talked about subject here, I am excluded from that dialogue!!

Chris: Off limits. Alright, we won't talk about that. You've got a movie coming up...

--which led an exasperated Duchovny to finally air out the full truth.

DUCHOVNY TELLS ALL... IN VAIN

From 1993 to 1997, DD had not publicly discussed the original deal between himself, CC, and 20th Century Fox-- still did not, even when fire and brimstone was being rained on his head.

But while he was pushing for the move, 20th Century Fox was, by contrast, leaving the question entirely to speculation-- hoping, one can speculate, that Duchovny would eventually drop the matter (and letting the press, one can guess, tear him down enough to force a withdrawal)--

February 10, 1998: Duchovny is under contract for another two years, and will appear in The X-Files movie this summer. He has said, however, that he would rather leave the show than spend any more time away from his wife, actress Tea Leoni, who works in Los Angeles.

A move may not be as imminent as once believed. For one thing, the costs — $2.6 million per episode — could balloon to $4 million if the show is produced in L.A. Multiply the difference by 24 — the number of episodes in a standard TV season — and the cost of a move becomes prohibitive.

Seven days after the above article (and over four months after the Conan O'Brien appearance), David Duchovny disclosed everything--

February 17, 1998: The untold story, Duchovny says, is that he never imagined he'd be in Vancouver for five years when he got involved in The X-Files.

"It's gone from being three weeks to five years, and there was never a decision that I made, as an actor living in Los Angeles, to be away from home so long," Duchovny says.

(Again, he mentioned--

"It's not that I've become a star and am flexing my muscles. It's really a five-year debate I've been having with the powers that be," he says.

The glare of adverse publicity has left him with mixed feelings about Vancouver.

"What's too bad is that I like Vancouver and I've really enjoyed working here for five years," Duchovny says. "But I have to say I've been coloured by this experience.

"I don't hold the city responsible. But I can't say that when I think of Vancouver, I'm not going to think of that."

In spite of all that, Duchovny has not entirely ruled out working in Vancouver....

Duchovny admits disagreements over whether to keep the show in Vancouver have placed a strain on his relationship with Carter, but says it's nothing that can't be solved.

This statement was congruous with his previous record, and held together consistently that year (and many more to come)--

March 30, 1998: Duchovny said he has no hard feelings, but that the time has come to move on. “I have enjoyed living and working in the city for the past five years,” Duchovny said late Sunday night from his Kitsilano home. “It’s a lovely city, and the decision [to move] in no way reflects on the city or the people I work with.

“This is a harder-working crew than any I have ever worked with, and there’s no doubt that Vancouver is the best place to shoot the show. It’s just that the time has come for me to go home.”

Duchovny said that “regardless of any misunderstandings” in the local media in the past year, he harbours deep affection for the city.

“I’ve spent one-seventh of my life here already,” Duchovny said. “Tbe place can’t help but become part of you, and there will always be a part of me that remains.”

April 22, 1998: Bob: Was moving the show to L.A. your idea?

David: It's a long story. I mean, the story goes back five years when one of my first concerns about doing the show was the fact that it shot out of L.A. And every year that we stayed up there was year in which I said, "Yeah, but weren't we talking about moving?" It was like they had a carrot out in front of me the whole time , and it finally just got to the point where I just had to go back home and just say, you know, you guys promised at some point. So it's never been like the kind of thing where I got to Vancouver and I said "My God, they're all Canadian!" and I had to go home- it's never been anything personal- it's only been that eventually we would bring the show back. And if I had been more active in that than Gillian that's probably the case, but it's always like I seem to be going first.

May 6, 1998: RO: Alright. Now congratulations. First of all on your show getting moved to LA, you were suppose to be up there for the pilot and you were up there for five years in Vancouver[.]

DD: Well when you sign a contract to do a show and they don't tell you its gonna shoot so far away from home. Every year it keeps getting farther and farther away.

June 14, 1998: Duchovny has been insisting on the move for three years and announced that if the show stayed in Vancouver, he would terminate his contract.

July 1998: Q: SOME COLUMNISTS THOUGHT YOUR PLEA TO SHOOT IN LA WAS A DISGUISED PITCH FOR MORE MONEY

DD: It's not about money: it is simply that I married a woman who lives in Los Angeles and I'd like to see her when I come home from work. And it's not about getting out of the rain in Vancouver. If I wasn't married, I'd stay in Vancouver: it's beautiful, the people are friendly but they leave you alone.

July 3, 1998: The move was precipitated by David Duchovny, who stars as Fox Mulder, marrying L.A.-based actress Tea Leoni. But the relocation had been discussed by others long before the Duchovny nuptials.

August 4, 1998: Duchovny has lived with Fox Mulder for five years now, working 14-hour days, 10 months out of 12, in Vancouver, although his marriage last year to the actress Téa Leoni hardened his resolve to have the action moved to Los Angeles.

August 17, 1998: Last year, Duchovny and Anderson campaigned for the show to be relocated to Los Angeles and the sixth series is currently in production there. For the actor, it means that he can be at home with his wife, the actress Tea Leoni, and that, he says, has made a huge difference to the quality of his life.

"I wanted to move to LA before I was married, but after it there was no question, it had to happen," he says. "I want to play other parts, but there is something comforting in knowing how to play this character, getting up in the morning and kissing the wife goodbye, going to work and doing your job. For the moment, it's fine, it really is."

November 22, 1998: ET: What's it like being in L.A.?

David: It is great! I'm a lot happier working here. It has nothing to do with liking L.A. more than Vancouver. It's just living at home, working out of my home, it makes a big difference.

[Bonus: January 1999: "Moving the show to Los Angeles was not really an effort to save the television show on my part," he says honestly. "It was really an effort just to live at home with my wife and to fulfill a promise that had been made to me early on in the show, which was that the show would not stay in Vancouver for its entire duration -whether that be five years or 25 years - that eventually I would get to work at home, which is Los Angeles for me."]

TEN THIRTEEN STOOD BEHIND HIM

I've already touched on this topic in previous posts (all linked above.) Suffice it to say, Ten Thirteen fully understood and stood behind David (particularly Kim Manners, who praised the move, and Gillian Anderson, who welcomed it.)

As for the press, there were some forgiving or detached voices who gave the situation a fair shake. But not all of them.

A WINDOW INTO DUCHOVNY'S WORLD: 1998

There were a lot of broken hearts in this mess: Vancouver's for feeling rejected and Duchovny's for being misinterpreted (and thus rejected.)

"Hurt people hurt people"-- in this case, DD felt the brunt of it.

THE PAIN OF PUBLIC REJECTION

Early 1998 (during the filming of Mind's Eye): Which is why, after nearly 125 episodes of The X-Files, he's also frustrated. "Doing the same part for five years, no matter how great the part is, gets kind of boring," he admits. Over the course of a 12-hour workday, the man who is Mulder will shuttle from set to trailer and back no fewer than 20 times--sometimes to do a single line in a scene. At the end of two such days, I will feel something I never expected to feel for a television star who earns a reported $110,000 an episode: sympathy. This is a really dreary way to spend the week.

Also, since this is Vancouver, it's raining. But Duchovny knows he can't complain about the weather any more than he can about his schedule. As we enter his trailer, he points to a color snapshot of a local strip club. The marquee in the photo reads: DAVID DUCHOVNY IS BARRED. GO HOME. It's a reminder of the citywide indignation he stirred last fall with an idle gibe on a late-night talk show about Vancouver's "400 inches of rain a day...."

If The X Files were an L.A.-based ensemble TV show that left its stars enough time to do films, Duchovny might have managed to break the stereotype by now. But with those 12-hour days in Vancouver, and a window of only six weeks between seasons, he's been stymied.

June 11, 1998: [Q:] The move from Vancouver to L.A.--did you demand that to exercise your power?

[DD:] I don't have any need to show my power. I just have a need to do what works for me in my life. We went to shoot the pilot in Vancouver five years ago, and that's all I thought we were doing--shooting the pilot. I came to this with more experience than anyone else, and therefore, I had a lot to say before anyone signed up. I said, "I don't want to move from L.A." And they said, "Oh, we'll just shoot the pilot."

Every year, it became, "Oh, next year we'll come back to L.A." It became time for me to say, These things were promised to me, and now my life has changed. I have my wife in L.A. It's not my problem that the show will be harder to shoot in L.A. or look different, that's your problem. Let's just get it done.

[Q:] They roasted you big time in the press for it.

[DD:] It was a very hostile environment in Vancouver, as far as the press is concerned. The initial tone toward my move to Los Angeles was turned into "I hate you." People reacted to that, which was "I hate you, too." It's too bad, because I had a really good time in that city.

August 9, 1998: It was because of his marriage that he announced last year that if The X-Files remained based in low-cost, Vancouver he would refuse to return. His last few months in Vancouver were marred by a barrage of hostile publicity. The Vancouver media took his determination to be with his wife in Los Angeles as a rejection of their city.

August. 21, 1998: STRAIGHT talking is very much the style of David Duchovny, who quit a PhD at Yale University to concentrate on acting.

But his philosophy of being direct landed the star in trouble when he made it clear he wanted the bosses of The X Files to re- locate the TV series from Vancouver to Los Angeles.

His reason was simple. He had married Téa Leoni, star of the sci-fi disaster movie Deep Impact, and for 10 months of their first year of marriage, he was in the Canadian city while she was home in California.

But Duchovny's campaign resulted in him being transformed from Vancouver's favourite adopted son to an object of hate. The home he had rented in Vancouver was pelted with eggs by angry Canadians who felt Duchovny had let them, and their city, down.

He said: "I would have been angry if people had thrown eggs at my house because they were anti- Jewish. But this just saddened me.

"People whom I thought had embraced me had become unreasonable because of stupid things that had been said about me."

It had been claimed Duchovny insisted on moving The X Files to the sunshine of California because he couldn't stand Vancouver's wet weather.

"I was told I was selfish and infantile. I was being portrayed as an actor who was whimsical and didn't like the Vancouver rain.

"The image was created of a pampered actor who didn't want his hair messed up by the rain. Think about it. I'm a guy from New York who was raised in New York, a city that has lousy weather and my mother's Scottish, for God's sake. For me to complain about the weather is ridiculous. Bring on the rain - I don't care at all."

It was evident he was still very upset by events in Vancouver and he took the time to stress that love for Téa Leoni was the prime factor in his demand to go to Los Angeles.

He added: "After living abroad for five years, I wanted to go home because I now had a wife and I wanted to live with her. I thought this was reasonable."

[Bonus: Nicholas Lea commented on the pelting-- July 15, 1998: Still, matrimony didn't ease the long-distance commute caused by Duchovny's Vancouver workdays -- or the flak he took while asking for the show's relocation to L.A. next season. "It was hard on him," says actor Nick Lea. "He was handed the key to the city and ended with eggs being thrown at his house. People just didn't see that he wanted to be with his wife."]

September 1998: He has felt the impact of XF fame, however, when it came to vocalizing his desire to move the show from Vancouver to LA. While promoting his movie, Playing God, last fall, Duchovny was adamant about wanting to move to LA, and the press had a field day, especially in Vancouver. "It was a hard year. It was a very hostile environment after a while in Vancouver, at least as far as the press is concerned," says Duchovny. "The people sometimes took that cue. That was a lesson I learned, that the press really sets the tone of discourse, the tone of how people are perceived - and it's very powerful. I think a lot of the times that writers in general don't realize that kind of power that they have to set the initial tone. The initial tone of me wanting to move to LA was turned into, 'I hate you,'" he explains, referring specifically to his perceived attitude towards Vancouver. "Which wasn't it at all. And people reacted to that, which was, 'I hate you, too.' That's how it went all year long. It was too bad, because I had a really good time in that city."

Setting the record straight, Duchovny elaborates on why he wanted the show to relocate. "I don't have any need to show my power. I just have a need to do what works for me in my life," he says bluntly. "We went to shoot that show in Vancouver five years ago, and that's all I thought we were doing - shooting the pilot there. I came to this with more experience than anybody else on the show, and therefore, I had a lot to say before I signed up. And one was I don't want to move from LA. And they said, 'Oh, we'll just shoot the pilot.' That didn't happen. Every year, it became, 'Oh, next year we'll come back to LA.' It became time for me to put my foot down and to say, these things were promised to me, and now my life has changed. I have my wife in LA. It's not my problem that the show is going to be harder to shoot in LA or look different - that's your problem. Let's just get it done."

Duchovny never hid his preference for leaving behind Vancouver, British Columbia, where the show shot its first five years. He wanted to be near home, and he wanted to be with his newlywed wife, actress Téa (Deep Impact) Leoni. How that change in locales will affect the series and its overall look remains to be seen.

October 1998: Cinescape: It's been said you demanded the move to L.A. Is that accurate?

Duchovny: I don't have any need to show my power. I just have a need to do what works for me in my life. I thought we were just shooting a pilot in Vancouver [all those] years ago....Every year, it was, "Oh, we'll come back to L.A." It became time for me to put my foot down and say, "Now I have a wife and it's not my problem the show will be harder to shoot in L.A. or look different or be more expensive. That's your problem."

Cinescape: Excuse me for saying this, but one could really feel sorry for you.

Duchovny: Don't worry, I get paid a lot of money in damages. All kidding aside, you have to imagine this: The X Files is filmed in Vancouver, Canada. I feel like I've spent the last five years in a sort of military base. Twelve hours in front of the camera, the rest of the time alone in my apartment. I felt like a soldier off the main war area. On the one hand it was good because nobody could stop me from concentrating on my job, on the other hand I was totally isolated. When I went to LA during a longer filming break I felt like an alien.

Cinescape: Was it then that you got yourself a dog?

Duchovny: Yes, that was extremely important for my inner balance. She was a substitute for family, a lover and friends. And I saved the money I would have spent on a therapist. She's called "Blue", after the Bob Dylan song "Tangled Up In Blue".

Cinescape: Under such conditions, how did you manage to stay true to yourself?

Duchovny: I must have had a lot of reserves.

November 1998: Duchovny won't miss all that frequent flying. "I can circle the Earth for the rest of my life and not pay for it," he says.

But will they miss the rain?

Duchovny insists he is a fan of the precipitation.

"The sad thing about the whole discussion is that my wife is in love with the rain," Duchovny said. "She lives for it. I, too -- even though I am portrayed as a guy who hates rain -- love it."

November 1998: "They moved the show and look what happened," he said. "[Tea] got pregnant. I can't imagine being apart from her working while she's pregnant." Leoni is reportedly three to four months along, but Duchovny declined to be specific.

"(The move) became a public issue discussed by 99 percent of people who have no idea what they were talking about, and the 1 percent, myself, the crew -- the people I've worked with for five years understood me completely that my motives weren't capricious or whimsical."

(Bonus-- Returning to L.A. was endorsed by his co-star. "Overall it's easier to do the show here," say Anderson. "I am a person who is affected very strongly by the weather. Vancouver is a beautiful, beautiful city, but it is dark when you get up in the morning. It makes you depressed . . . I felt very cooped-up there.")

December 1998: The X-Files was originally filmed in Vancouver, which gave the show its moody, rainy look (and saved the studio from paying Hollywood salaries to the crew). But when Duchovny fell in love with and married Téa Leoni (who starred in the TV show The Naked Truth and the films Flirting With Disaster and Deep Impact), the long shooting schedule and lengthy separations began to drag on him. Furthermore, he managed to offend Canadians when he complained to a reporter that "Vancouver is a nice place if you like 400 inches of rainfall a day." Soon after, the marquee on a local strip club suggested that Duchovny go home, and he took the advice, persuading the producers to move the show from Canada to Los Angeles....

Playboy: Is it true that a Vancouver strip club told you to go home because you knocked the city--comparing it to a tropical rain forest without the tropics?

Duchovny: There was a reporter at the Vancouver Province who thought that he could sell papers by misrepresenting me and putting me on the cover of the paper. Then the strip club thought that it could get in the paper, and it did, by barring me from the club, which I'd been to maybe once in five years. Bad-mouthing me became a way for people to sell whatever they were selling.

Playboy: But you did knock the city.

Duchovny: Yeah, and if I had to do it again I wouldn't. Everybody knows it rains a lot up there, and everybody who saw that interview could see I was joking. I thought it was clear that I was making a joke, but I underestimated the xenophobia and the fact that I was a foreigner and a guest in that city. I won't do that again.

This addition about the press's misrepresentation is particularly poignant--

Playboy: With that said, how do you feel about doing interviews?

Duchovny: I get interviewed out. There are only so many interviews I want to do. I get tired of hearing the sound of my voice. I repeat myself, which makes me feel like an imposter. It can send you into a funk.

One of the tricks of interviewing that always kills me is a question like, "Tell me about your acting style." And I'll say, "Well, the kind of acting that I do is blah blah blah." Then that will appear in the article without the question, like I just started talking about my acting style. Why do actors always appear so self-centered? Well, they've got people asking them questions about themselves. It's not their choice to talk about themselves. I would rather talk about other people. It's more interesting to hear about you than to talk about me. I like it when Norman Mailer interviews somebody because it's always about Mailer. You know you're safe with him, because you don't have to talk much about yourself. You'll talk about Mailer's impression of you and how you remind him of him.

Newsweek felt so bad about putting us on the cover that they had to insult us in the article. There was this give-and-take in that article where they asked me, like you did, if The X-Files is a religious show. I said, "It's as religious as Howdy Doody." The writer says, "No, but really--" And I go, "Well, it has to do with people having metaphysical yearnings that are no longer answered in traditional ways." Then I see the article and it says, "Duchovny alternates between flip and pretentious." Well, where else could I fall? What were the possibilities for me? You asked me the question, I tried to tell you what I think, you didn't accept that so I tried to answer it in the terms you gave me. And then you present me as an obnoxious high schooler-pretentious former Yale graduate student, putting me in the most clichiéd group. After that article I just went, "F-k it. I'm not going to win this one." So I decided to be quiet. This will be the last interview I'll do for a while. I have no reason to publicize the TV show. I felt loyal to the movie and I wanted to get my face out there. I played that game. But when you see that kind of s-t come back at you, it's painful.

December 1998: Duchovny is the first to admit that it won't entirely be business as usual for The X-Files now that the series has relocated to LA. "The show is going to be harder to do in LA. I mean, I never said that Vancouver wasn't the place to do it. Vancouver is the best place to shoot The X Files. The show will change," he admits matter-of-factly, "but I think that's a good thing because it's been five years. We're going to be challenged and maybe it'll be better, maybe it'll be worse, but it will be different." More importantly, Duchovny adds, "It will be very calming as far as the show goes."

TABLOID SPINS AND UNTRUTHS

That, of course, didn't stop media publications from printing heavily-biased, ill-researched editorials for clicks.

Below are a meagre sampling from late-1998 to early 2003--

September 1998: His commitment to the cause has never been unshakeable. He risked alienating the rest of the cast and crew by insisting the production move from Vancouver to LA so he could be closer to his wife, Téa Leoni. Leoni needed to be in LA for her series The Naked Truth, and Duchovny was tired of travelling back and forth. The irony was that by the time that move was in the works, Leoni ’s show had been cancelled. The show duly relocated and the many people who work on TXF - some of whom had bought houses in Vancouver, settled their kids in local schools - had all moved to suit one man.

That man is unrepentant. "I don’t think wanting to live a more normal life with my wife makes me a bad guy," Duchovny says in his defence. But it shows that, at the moment, he’s his own first priority, not the show.…

While Chris Carter was literally surfing through college, Duchovny was finding a way to sabotage a promising academic career.… He was an excellent student. And he hated it.

(Bonus, the real context: he was tired of stock portfolio bros: "The atmosphere was incredibly arrogant and stifling," he recalls, "and I never felt very comfortable sitting next to people who’d count up their stock portfolios and complain, ‘Todd and Kimmy won’t be able to fly down to the Bahamas for Spring Break...’" he says. "I always felt like an alien at places like Princeton and Yale. I just had to get out of that Wasp-ish environment, and acting was the only thing that gave me creative validation.")

May 1999: The sentence trails off. He sighs. Over the years, flip responses to journalists have cost him.... A crack about the weather in Vancouver-the former home of X-Files production-turned an entire town against him. Newsweek concluded that "he appears to take almost nothing seriously....After uttering something actorly and pretentious, he'll undercut with an idiotic joke."

September 2, 1999: Nobody but Duchovny was happy about moving the show from Vancouver to Los Angeles, a move Duchovny wanted – and got – in a power play. The move was because his wife, Tea Leoni, was in a show that filmed in L.A. Never mind that Leoni’s show, The Naked Truth, was abysmal and soon to be canceled.

June 6, 2001: Duchovny seems perfectly relaxed about his current spot at a professional crossroads. “The X-Files” saga has been as soap operatic off-screen as on. Duchovny was the prime instigator in moving the show from its original location in rainy Vancouver, Canada, to Southern California in order to be able to spend more time with his wife, actress Tea Leoni, and baby daughter, Madelaine West.

The 40-year-old actor also was one of the first pieces of talent to attack corporate synergy. In 1999 he sued Fox, the studio behind “The X-Files,” for syndicating the show at what he felt was an unfairly low price to its own cable outlet and Fox-owned stations. The move dramatically reduced the fees owed Duchovny, who says he had forgone some of his upfront salary for a larger piece of the back end. Fox settled the case, paying Duchovny more than $20 million, it’s rumored, although under terms of the settlement he can’t comment.

IN RETROSPECT

Time and distance inevitably worked its magic.

1999-2000

The year after brought new controversy: David Duchovny filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox for cheating him out of money, and spent the latter part of 1999 and early 2000 fighting them in court.

The narrative subsequently shifted: if David chose not to return (like he chose to move to California), then it would likely grind the show to a halt. Ironically, this one didn't catch on-- probably because DD kept his lips sealed on legal talk, but more likely because The X-Files was losing its cultural firepower. If he decided to leave, the public (and some fans) would understand.

Through it all, David stayed the course and (you guessed it) repeated exactly what he had been saying for years and years and years--

April 16, 1999: For his part, Duchovny, who resides in Malibu in a house the couple purchased shortly after their wedding, is relishing a newfound sense of normalcy: "Living in Los Angeles with Téa helps so much. As lovely as Vancouver is, it wasn’t home, and my wife didn’t live there," which made working on The X-Files so demanding that "it felt like a military maneuver." Now, he says, "it just feels like a job. I get up and go to work in the morning, and I come home at night. It’s so much easier for me to shoot here." (Despite feeling this way, Duchovny says he’s ready to leave The X-Files when his contract expires at the end of next season.)

June 1999: [Q:] Looking back on nearly six years of The X-Files, are there any worst or funniest moments?

[DD:] Well it's not pleasant being out in the cold and rain covered in gunk, but I don't really think about worst times.

July 22, 1999: QUESTION: Hi. Now that it's been a year since the production has been moved to Los Angeles from Vancouver, did things pretty much play out the way you hoped they would this year?

DUCHOVNY: Well, it was just -- it was a lot easier in terms of lifestyle, for me. I mean, I got to live at home. I got to live with my wife. My wife got pregnant, which probably wouldn't have happened if I was in Vancouver. [laughter] And if it did, I would have had a lot of questions to ask. [laughter] So, it just -- my life was a lot easier in terms of my life. My working life was probably harder. It was tougher to do the show, logistically, in Los Angeles just because of locations being further spread apart, and traffic, and all the things that we associate with Los Angeles. So, that was tougher, but not significantly, and you know, I miss Vancouver, in terms of shooting, and in terms of having relationships with a crew for five years. But it was time for me to make a change and have a change and I'm happy the way it worked out.

IN THE YEARS SINCE

After the show's close, DD wasn't shy about his affection for Vancouver, and even returned to film I Want to Believe in 2007.

May 2005: Q: If you could live anywhere and still do your job, where would you live? -- Katie DiLello, Vestal, NY

DD: Contrary to popular belief, I loved Vancouver and often think of living there.

2007: Q: How does it feel to be back in Vancouver?

DD: I’ve been back in Vancouver a few times since, working, so that kind of took away the reunion feel to it. I love Vancouver, so it’s always good to come up here. I have a lot of friends up here. We worked up in Whistler for three weeks, and I’d never really been up there and that was just an amazing environment to work in. So aside from not being with my kids and my wife, I love being here.

The Complete X-Files, 2008: “I had never expected that the show would run five years,” David Duchovny explains. “And at some point in the middle of the third year, Chris and I were complaining to one another about how tired we were. We were saying, ‘Okay, we’re going to do five. We’ll get out of here at five.’ And then five came around, and no one was going anywhere."

Had I wanted to test everyone's sanity for a bit longer, I'd include other complimentary quotes doled out during The X-Files's Revival. But the point has been made-- let's not belabor it.

CONCLUSION