Although he has always been known for his stoicism on “The X-Files,” David Duchovny has recently turned mushy in the romantic comedy “Return to Me.” His dry wit and sex symbol status made him a perfect candidate for the film, and has also contributed to his rise to fame as a TV star and movie actor.
Born in New York City to parents Amram (a publicist for the American Jewish Committee) and Margaret (a teacher), David was shy and studious as a child. His parents divorced when he was 11, and he continued to live in NY with his mother. He attended a prestigious prep school, and went on to play basketball and baseball for Princeton University. He then went on to Yale graduate school, where he earned a master’s degree in English.
While he was working on his doctoral thesis, he found himself hanging around the drama department more than the English department, and began commuting to NY for acting lessons and parts in off-Broadway plays. At first, he wanted to be a playwright, and decided that acting lessons would help him. He soon realized that his true passion was in acting, and abandoned grad school to pursue acting full-time. Although his first jobs were in beer commercials, he soon landed a role on “Twin Peaks,” as the cross dressing D.E.A. agent Dennis/Denise Bryson. Soon after that, he earned supporting roles in a few lesser known movies, and went on to star in movies like “The Rapture” and “Kalifornia.”
Next, he was cast in “The Red Shoe Diaries” which became a cult favorite. However, it wasn’t until his role in “The X-Files” that he was really recognized as an actor. Even though “The X-Files” seemed to be failing in its first season, it beat out other established dramas for an Emmy award, and became one of the most critically acclaimed shows on television.
Now in its eighth season, “The X-Files” has always been a groundbreaking show, and David even got to write and direct a few episodes. His sarcastic sense of humor comes into play when he writes, and he recently told Entertainment Weekly, “When I write for ‘The X-Files,’ my hatred and love for it show at the same time.” Additionally, Duchovny directed an episode in which one of his character’s cases is being made into a TV show. He told E! Online that this episode is “… obviously about the difference between reality and acting, Hollywood and the rest of the world, truth and fiction--all of which is very personal to me.” Aside from the writing and directing, the show continues to be successful because of the chemistry between David’s Mulder and Gillian Anderson’s Scully.
Most recently, Duchovny turned to romantic comedy as the sensitive Bob Rueland in “Return to Me,” opposite Minnie Driver. In the film, he plays a widower who falls in love with the woman who received his wife’s heart in a transplant. Coined by critics as an old-fashioned love story, the film allowed David to venture into new territory. He described it to E! Online as “a very complicated, tricky movie that is both profoundly funny and sad at the same time.”
As far as his eligibility goes, David has been married for three years to actress Tea Leoni, and they now have a one and a half year-old daughter. He has said that fatherhood has changed him in a way he didn’t expect. He told E! Online, “Everything's changed. I think you realize that you've opened yourself up to such heartbreak when you're responsible for this helpless being, and you could never recover if anything happened.” Additionally, “Return to Me” director Bonnie Hunt also told Entertainment Weekly that he has mellowed a lot since he got married and became a father. When he’s not shooting “The X-Files” in Vancouver, he lives in Malibu.
