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The star of The X-Files speaks frankly to Andrew Duncan about marriage, the pressures of fame and the cult TV show that made his name.
On the success of The X-Files
"Conspiracy theories - the assumption that three or four people are responsible for the world's ills - are soft thinking, but it makes hard, powerful drama. Viewers like to see guys in big black hats fighting those in white hats. Originally our fan base was 'fringe' people who hadn't seen the subject matter on mainstream TV before. I didn't have much in common with their passions, but my job was to make it real. You can get lost in analysis trying to wonder why The X Files works, but one of the main attractions is that it's a good show."
On Mulder
"When I first read the script I realised Mulder couldn't be wild-eyed and unreliable. He's clearly insane, so he has to appear very sane and earn the audience's trust. One of the nice touches is that Mulder is a man searching for truth, and yet he may be the most dangerous man around, screwing things up. Liars could be more responsible and protective, because in this complicated world you need bluffing and diplomacy to make things work."
His feelings on returning to the TV series after making the first X-Files film
"OK, I'd love to be off the TV show, but because of my greed I have to give them two extra years. That's not very heroic. But it's heroic that I remain loyal to the people I work with, never turn up drunk or unprepared.
"Gillian Anderson [who plays agent Dana Scully] is the same. We trust each other and I'm eternally grateful to her, but when the work is over she is the last person I want to see. I spend 14 hours a day, ten months of the year with her. People don't understand our lack of need to have a friendship, and they think it indicates I dislike her. In fact, it's why we're still able to do the show. Of course I'll get bored, but I have a commitment and it becomes a challenge to find some interest."
On marriage to Téa Leoni
"[It happened] a bit late, I agree. In any other period of history I'd have been dead at that age and they'd have assumed I was gay. Like Michelangelo, or Leonardo da Vinci. But I was a late developer. I didn't go through puberty until I was 35."
"I didn't have the need to have a family, and all of a sudden I met [Téa], and then I did. It was pretty much like that, very weird. But it doesn't have to make sense. If you were eating an orange and were asked to explain why you like it, you couldn't, even if you broke down the chemical components. In the end, you know it's true and it doesn't have to make sense to anyone else."
On acting
"A lot of people, whatever their work, think it's not quite right. If you want to be specific about acting, it has to do with prostitution. I'm getting money in return for bringing personal things that maybe shouldn't be displayed to the market place. In most cases it's trivial, but in the best scenarios you are performing an interesting service.
"We have such a fragmented world with so many cultures. In ancient Greece they had only Homer who spoke the Odyssey, and that was their journey, which they understood. It's pretentious to think we're as talented as Homer, but we have to try to fulfil the same function - provide a mythical quest and journey for viewers."
On fame
"Everyone has pressures. If my marriage fails, or relationships have broken up in the past, it's my fault - not my job's. The only difference is it's a lot easier to work out problems in private.
"When people are yacking about you, it's horrible. OK, I have the advantages, so I have to deal with the disadvantages, but probably the most selfish thing a person can do to a child, born or unborn, is to get your stupid self famous. If the child I don't yet have - although I'd like to have - comes to me at 18 saying, 'How could you have done that to me?' I'll reply, 'I understand. In my defence I must say I was doing my job, and fame happened.'"
"I feel fine about my function in The X Files, but fans throw adulation at Mulder and it kind of bounces off and sticks to me. We probably all want that in the abstract, but when you experience it, it feels aggressive and scary, and tunes you into some kind of primal fear of a lynch mob, even if they're adoring you. It's common sense to realise that human nature means they adore you today, but they'll erect the scaffold tomorrow."
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Now take a look at our full guide to The X-Files.
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