David Duchovny On ‘The X-Files’ Revival: ‘I Hadn’t Been Asked To Say That Kind Of C–p In A Long Time’

The X-Files reboot is well on its way by now, and much like his co-star, David Duchovny is finding it a unique challenge to step back into his X-Files role 13 years later.

“I am a better actor and Gillian is a better actor, and we get to bring those changes and abilities to the roles as they are written and as they were established. The X-Files is not going to be the same. I can’t be the same and we are not the same. We are not the same performers,” Duchovny said.

Mr. Duchovny expanded on the idea that fans of The X-Files may find their performances different, better for the experiences both he and Anderson have had since the original run of The X-Files ended.

“If I were to look back at the first or second year of the show, I wouldn’t try to act like that guy,” Duchovny said. “I’m capable of doing more. She’s capable of doing more. It’ll be interesting to see how we keep the characters the same but also the actors are better.”

Unlike Gillian Anderson, David didn’t find the difficulty in stepping back into his X-Files character. To the contrary, Duchovny found the basics of becoming Fox Mulder once again comfortable like fitting into an old glove, but it was the dialogue in The X-Files revival script that tested David’s abilities.

“It felt very familiar, I thought, ‘Let’s do it; let’s do these characters.’ Unfortunately I had about five pages of expositional dialogue and that was interesting because I hadn’t been asked to say that kind of c–p in a long time. There were things like ‘electrogravitic propulsion.’ You say that!” Mr. Duchovny laughed.

David added that the first script of The X-Files revival had much, much more of the same, testing his patience as well as his vocal chords.

“That’s just a titbit, but there were five pages of it. It was great that that was the first day because it was like, ‘OK, this is how the guy speaks. This is the world we are in. Let’s get in shape for it.'”

Meanwhile, Gillian Anderson had some more basic issues with getting into her character on The X-Files revival.

“It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve played her,” Anderson said of The X-Files’ Dana Scully. “I can’t remember what year the movie was, but it felt like [Dana] was further away from me than I’d thought she would be. But I’ve also worked really hard at putting her entirely to sleep, so that was successful; she’s just taken longer to wake up.”

The series premiere for The X-Files revival is scheduled to air on Sunday, January 24, 2016, on Fox.

[Featured image: David Duchovny courtesy of Theo Wargo/NBC/Getty Images for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon]