Yesterday star and EastEnders legend confirmed to join new The X-Files reboot

The X-Files reboot is officially shaping up, with Himesh Patel confirmed to star in the reboot from Oscar-winning director Ryan Coogler.

The actor, who's known for a variety of roles across the big and small screen, from EastEnders and Channel 4's Damned, to the films Yesterday and Don't Look Up, will reunite with his Station Eleven co-star Danielle Deadwyler, with the pair leading the sci-fi drama.

Patel and Deadwyler will both be playing new original characters in the series, rather than new versions of David Duchovny's Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson's Dana Scully .

The logline for the series reads: “Two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents (Deadwyler, Patel) form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.”

Original creator Chris Carter is executive producing, while Jennifer Yale (The Copenhagen Test) has been named as showrunner. Coogler is set to write, direct and produce and was inspired by his mother's love of the original series.

Most recently, X-Files legend Anderson opened up about the series, which has been greenlit by Hulu, after reading the first script.

Speaking at Washington DC's Awesome Con, she revealed that she'd had a "few conversations" with the writer-director about his vision for the revival, and came away confident in what he was cooking.
"He's such a cool guy and so talented," she began. "The pilot script is really good. I would say, have an open mind and give it a chance because it's gonna be f***ing cool. It's something different."

Anderson did not disclose whether she'll appear in the reboot, but went on to add: "It's special."

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