David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson Reveal X-Files ‘Tension,’ Reflect on Very ‘Dysfunctional’ Moment

Former X-Files costars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are opening up about some of their behind-the-scenes conflicts while filming the hit ’90s show.

On the Tuesday, November 12, episode of Duchovny’s Fail Better podcast, the two actors confessed to issues between them throughout their time on the series, on which they played FBI agents investigating extraterrestrial and paranormal activities.

“Obviously, we know each other very deeply, and yet we don’t know each other either in some weird way,” Duchovny lamented. “The part of this conversation that is the trickiest part for me is, I guess I would talk about like my failure of friendship or my failure of companionship.”

Anderson shared that the duo had “tension” on set and made it seem as if they tolerated each other while on camera, but would avoid each other after filming.

“There was a long time working on the show where we were just not even dealing with one another off camera,” she said. “There was a lot of tension, which didn’t matter apparently for the work because we’re both f—ing crazy, I guess. We can just go out there and do what we needed to do.”

“It’s crazy that we were able to present on camera the various feelings and emotions and attraction and all that kind of stuff, but then not speak to each other for weeks at a time,” she continued, as Duchovny admitted, “I could have handled myself better.”

According to Duchovny’s recollection, the pair had some troubles right off the back — with the actor recalling a time the show’s creator, Chris Carter, intervened.

“I think we were kind of butting heads so early on in the first season that Chris asked us if we would go into fake couples [therapy],” he shared. “Like, would we go into TV character couple therapy? I remember sitting in his office with you, and Chris is like, ‘Yeah, do you guys want to go into therapy.’ And I was like, ‘You mean as Mulder and Scully?’ I’m confused. I remember that.”

He also shared a particularly “dysfunctional” moment between the pair while they were on a private plane he chartered after the Emmys to bring them back up to set.

“I was giving you a ride and you were late, and I was so angry. And then we sat on this private plane, flying to Vancouver from LA, not talking,” he said, revealing that during the flight, Anderson actually wrote him a letter.

“You’re just like 6 feet away from me, writing a letter to me … I don’t remember it exactly, but it was appreciative, and it was like it was all the things that I wanted to hear,” he added. “But it’s just amazing that we couldn’t just have that conversation. The fact that it’s a private plane, it’s just all ridiculous.”

Anderson, however, had no recollection of that incident.

The show originally aired from 1993-2002 on Fox, with Duchovny leaving the series in 2001.

While Duchovny noted he “never apologized” to her for his abrupt exit, Anderson told her former costar she wasn’t necessarily “upset” by his departure. He, however, admitted her speaking out in the press about being done playing Dana Scully as the second season of the 2018 revival aired “hurt my feelings.”

“I get it and I support it whatever you want to do, but I was like, ‘Oh, she’s quitting me, she doesn’t like working with me anymore,'” he told her. “That little kid inside is going like, ‘Hey!’ And then I was like, ‘But I didn’t say anything to her back in the day.'”

Of her decision to step away from playing Scully, Anderson said it wasn’t due to her costar — explaining, “It felt like Scully’s trajectory was no longer one of strength and agency.”