David William Duchovny (/dʊˈkʌvni/ duu-KUV-nee; born (1960-08-07)August 7, 1960) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for playing FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series The X-Files and writer Hank Moody on the television series Californication, both of which have earned him Golden Globe awards. Duchovny appeared in both X-Files films, the 1998 science fiction-thriller of the same name and the supernatural-thriller The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008). He executive-produced and starred in the historically based cop drama Aquarius (2015–16). Duchovny earned an A.B. in English literature from Princeton University, and an MA in English literature from Yale University, and has since published four books, Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale (2015), Bucky F*cking Dent (2016), Miss Subways (2018) and Truly Like Lightning (2021).
Early life
Duchovny was born in New York, in 1960. He is the son of Amram “Ami” Ducovny (1927–2003), a writer and publicist who worked for the American Jewish Committee, and his wife Margaret “Meg” (née Miller), a school administrator and teacher. Duchovny’s mother is a Scottish Presbyterian immigrant from Aberdeen, Scotland. Duchovny’s father was from a Russian and Polish-Jewish family and dropped the h in his last name to avoid the sort of mispronunciations he encountered while serving in the Army. In the Polish language, duchowny means ‘clergyman’. Duchovny’s paternal grandfather was a Jewish emigrant from Berdychiv, Russian Empire (now in Ukraine), and Duchovny’s paternal grandmother was a Jewish emigrant from Russian Poland (now in Poland).
Duchovny attended The Collegiate School For Boys in Manhattan (where he was a classmate of John F. Kennedy, Jr.) from which he graduated as head boy and valedictorian in 1978. He then attended Princeton University where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude in 1982 with an A.B. in English literature. He was a member of Charter Club, one of the university’s eating clubs. In 1982, his poetry received an honorable mention for a college prize from the Academy of American Poets. The title of his senior thesis was The Schizophrenic Critique of Pure Reason in Beckett’s Early Novels. He played junior varsity basketball at Princeton. He earned a Master of Arts in English Literature from Yale University and subsequently began work on a Ph.D. that remains unfinished. The title of his uncompleted doctoral thesis is Magic and Technology in Contemporary Fiction and Poetry.
Career
Duchovny appeared in an advertisement for Löwenbräu beer in 1987. The next year he appeared in Working Girl (1988). He had a small recurring role as a transgender DEA agent on the series Twin Peaks and played the narrator and host in the Showtime softcore erotica TV series Red Shoe Diaries. In 1992, he played the role of Rollie Totheroh in the biographic film Chaplin, directed by Richard Attenborough and based on the life of Charlie Chaplin. In 1992 he had a small role in the family film Beethoven.
In 1993, Duchovny began starring in the science fiction series The X-Files, as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder, a conspiracy theorist who believed his sister had been abducted by aliens. The show evolved into a cult hit and became one of The Fox Network’s first major television hits. According to The X-Files creator Chris Carter, Duchovny turned out to be one of the best-read people he knew. After getting the role, Duchovny thought the show would not last for long or would not make as much impact as it did. Executive producer Frank Spotnitz called Duchovny “amazingly smart”. Spotnitz further stated that Duchovny was behind some of the main characteristic ideas behind Mulder. Also in 1993, Duchovny was cast alongside Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis, in the Dominic Sena-directed thriller Kalifornia.
During The X-Files run, in between the fifth and sixth seasons, Duchovny co-starred alongside Gillian Anderson in a 1998 film also titled The X-Files that continued the storyline. He remained with the series until leaving the show in 2001, partly because of a contract dispute that occurred after season seven finished filming. Duchovny appeared in half of the season eight episodes, but did not appear in season nine until the series finale in 2002. He also provided the voice for a parody of his Mulder character in the episode “The Springfield Files” of the animated comedy series The Simpsons. Duchovny has been nominated for four Emmy Awards.
Duchovny caused controversy when it became public that he was the primary reason for The X-Files moving filming locations from Vancouver, British Columbia to Los Angeles in 1998. Many residents of Vancouver were upset with Duchovny over scripted jokes on Late Night with Conan O’Brien about the city’s heavy rainfall, including one where he joked, “Vancouver is a very nice place, if you like 400 inches of rainfall a day.” (Duchovny’s character Mulder would later reference this joke in the Season 5 episode “Schizogeny”.) He also stated, “Of course, I’m tired of the rain. But if I wasn’t married to a woman that lives in L.A. I’d stay in Vancouver. It’s a lovely city.” During the run of The X-Files, he also made several guest appearances in the cult TV satire The Larry Sanders Show, playing a fictionalized version of himself who is very attracted to Sanders. In the final episode of the series, he performed a parody of Sharon Stone’s ‘flashing’ scene from Basic Instinct and a parody of Dr. Hannibal Lecter being introduced to Agent Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs.
Duchovny has guest hosted Saturday Night Live twice (May 13, 1995 and May 9, 1998). Both shows were season finales. In 2000 he starred in the feature film Return to Me, a romantic comedy/drama directed by Bonnie Hunt and co-starring Minnie Driver and Carroll O’Connor. In 2001, Duchovny starred as Ira Kane in the sci-fi comedy film Evolution, alongside Seann William Scott, and had a cameo as hand model J.P. Prewitt in the Ben Stiller comedy Zoolander. He appeared in a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in May 2000. He got to the $250,000 question, but answered his $500,000 question incorrectly and lost $218,000, leaving him with $32,000. He appeared on Celebrity Jeopardy! in 1995 and 2010.
Duchovny provided the voice of Ethan Cole in the 2005 video game Area 51, as well as that of the title character in the 2003 video game XIII. In 2003 Duchovny starred in the 84th episode of the HBO show Sex and the City. He played the role of Jeremy, Carrie Bradshaw’s high-school ex-boyfriend, who has committed himself to a Connecticut mental health facility. In 2005, Duchovny provided the voice-over for a PSA radio campaign for Act Against Violence. In 2005, Duchovny, who had already made his directorial debut with an episode of The X-Files, wrote, directed, and appeared in the feature film House of D. The film starred Anton Yelchin, Robin Williams, and Duchovny’s then-wife Téa Leoni in a coming-of-age tale. It received mostly poor reviews and little box office success. Duchovny also directed “Judas on a Pole,” an episode of Bones, during the show’s second season.
From 2007–2014, Duchovny played the troubled, womanizing novelist, Hank Moody, in the Showtime series, Californication. The portrayal landed him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Comedy or Musical in 2007. In March 2014, NBC announced that a new TV series, entitled Aquarius, would be produced starring Duchovny. Duchovny portrayed a 1960s police sergeant investigating small-time criminal and budding cult leader Charles Manson. In March 2015, Duchovny was announced as returning in a six-episode continuation of The X-Files. It premiered on January 24, 2016, on Fox.
In 2017, he made the decision to put his acting career on hold so he could focus more on his career as a novelist and singer/songwriter. Duchovny’s last acting job was in the 11th season of The X-Files. He made his return to acting in The Craft: Legacy, the 2020 film sequel to The Craft.
Personal life
Duchovny married actress Téa Leoni on May 13, 1997. They have two children, daughter Madelaine West Duchovny (born April 13, 1999) and son Kyd Miller Duchovny (born June 15, 2002).
In 2008, the couple separated; Duchovny received treatment for sex addiction from August to October. Claims by the Daily Mail that he had an affair with Hungarian tennis instructor Edit Pakay led to legal threats and a retraction by the paper on November 15. In 2009, Duchovny and Leoni reunited but separated again on June 29, 2011. Duchovny filed for divorce in June 2014, and the couple had agreed to settlement terms by that August.
Duchovny is a vegetarian and is supportive of environmentalism, and an enthusiast of electric vehicle technology. He made an appearance at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival in support of the film Revenge of the Electric Car.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Working Girl | Tess’s Friend | Non-speaking |
| 1989 | New Year’s Day | Billy | |
| 1990 | Denial | John | |
| Bad Influence | Club Goer | ||
| Julia Has Two Lovers | Daniel | ||
| 1991 | Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead | Bruce | |
| The Rapture | Randy | ||
| 1992 | Ruby | Officer Tippit | |
| Beethoven | Brad | ||
| Red Shoe Diaries | Jake Winters | ||
| Venice/Venice | Dylan | ||
| Chaplin | Roland “Rollie” Totheroh | Cameo | |
| 1993 | Kalifornia | Brian Kessler | |
| 1997 | Playing God | Dr. Eugene Sands | |
| 1998 | The X-Files: Fight the Future | FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder | |
| 2000 | Return to Me | Bob Rueland | |
| 2001 | Evolution | Dr. Ira Kane | |
| Zoolander | JP Prewitt | ||
| 2002 | Full Frontal | Bill / Gus | |
| 2004 | Connie and Carla | Jeff | |
| House of D | Tom Warshaw | Also writer and director | |
| 2005 | Trust the Man | Tom | |
| 2006 | Queer Duck: the Movie | Tiny Jesus | |
| The TV Set | Mike Klein | ||
| 2007 | Things We Lost in the Fire | Brian Burke | |
| The Secret | Dr. Benjamin Marris | ||
| Quantum Hoops | Narrator | ||
| 2008 | The X-Files: I Want to Believe | Fox Mulder | |
| 2009 | The Joneses | Steve Jones | |
| 2012 | Goats | Goat Man | |
| 2013 | Phantom | Bruni | |
| Louder Than Words | John Fareri | ||
| 2020 | The Craft: Legacy | Adam Harrison | |
| TBA | The Bubble | Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–1991 | Twin Peaks | DEA Agent Denise Bryson | 3 episodes |
| 1992 | Baby Snatcher | David Anderson | Television movie |
| 1992–1997 | Red Shoe Diaries | Jake Winters | 10 episodes |
| 1993–2002; 2016–2018 |
The X-Files | FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder | 191 episodes |
| 1995–1998 | The Larry Sanders Show | Himself | 3 episodes |
| 1995–1998 | Saturday Night Live | Host / himself | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | Eek! The Cat | Fox Mulder (voice) | Episode: “Eek Space 9” |
| 1996 | Frasier | Tom (voice) | Episode: “Frasier Loves Roz” |
| Space: Above and Beyond | Handsome Alvin | Episode: “R&R” | |
| 1997 | The Simpsons | Fox Mulder (voice) | Episode: “The Springfield Files” |
| Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man | Richard (voice) | Episode: “The Girls of Route Canal” | |
| 1998 | Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | Himself | Episode: “Metaphors” |
| 2001 | The Lone Gunmen | Fox Mulder | Episode: #12 All About Yves |
| 2002 | Primetime Glick | Himself | 2 episodes |
| Life with Bonnie | Johnny Volcano | 2 episodes | |
| 2003 | Sex and the City | Jeremy | Episode: “Boy, Interrupted” |
| 2007–2014 | Californication | Hank Moody | 84 episodes |
| 2015–2016 | Aquarius | Sam Hodiak | 26 episodes |
| 2016 | Better Things | Himself | Episode: “Brown” |
| 2017 | Twin Peaks | Denise Bryson | Episode: “Part 4” |
| 2021 | The Chair | Himself | Episode: “The Last Bus in Town” |
Video games
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | The X-Files Game | Fox Mulder | |
| 2003 | XIII | Jason Fly | |
| 2004 | The X-Files: Resist or Serve | Fox Mulder | |
| 2005 | Area 51 | Ethan Cole |
Discography and tours
Studio albums
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2015 | Hell or Highwater |
| 2018 | Every Third Thought |
| 2021 | Gestureland |
Tours
Books
Music
On May 12, 2015, Duchovny released his first music album entitled Hell or Highwater, which consists of 12 songs.
On February 9, 2018, Duchovny released his second album entitled Every Third Thought.
Other works
Awards and nominations
| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Viewers for Quality Television | Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series | The X-Files | Nominated |
| 1996 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | Nominated | |
| National TV Awards | Most Popular Actor | Won | ||
| Screen Actors Guild | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| 1997 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | Won | |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series | The Larry Sanders Show | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series | The X-Files | Nominated | ||
| Satellite Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | Won | ||
| Saturn Awards | Best Actor on Television | Nominated | ||
| Screen Actors Guild | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Nominated | |||
| Television Critic Association | Individual Achievement in Drama | Nominated | ||
| 1998 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | Nominated | |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| Satellite Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | Nominated | ||
| Saturn Awards | Best Actor on Television | Nominated | ||
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Nominated | |||
| 1999 | American Comedy Awards | Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a Television Series | The Larry Sanders Show | Won |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | The X-Files | Nominated | |
| Saturn Awards | Best Actor on Television | Nominated | ||
| Best Actor (film) | Nominated | |||
| Screen Actors Guild | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Nominated | |||
| 2000 | Kids’ Choice Awards | Favorite Television Friends (with Gillian Anderson) | Nominated | |
| Screen Actors Guild | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| 2003 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series | Life with Bonnie | Nominated |
| 2008 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy | Californication | Won |
| Satellite Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy | Nominated | ||
| 2009 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy | Nominated | |
| Screen Actors Guild | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| 2010 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy | Nominated | |
| 2012 | Nominated | |||
| 2016 | Saturn Awards | Best Actor on Television | The X-Files | Nominated |
