The truth is coming… in January 2016. Fans are eagerly awaiting the much-desired reboot of Fox’s supernatural drama The X-Files, which will reportedly bring back both the beloved monster-of-the-week format AND the show’s twisty mythology for its 6-episode run. While the mysteries in the David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson-vehicle are purposely unexplainable, the reasoning behind many of the show’s plot lines and storyline choices is just the opposite. Some of the series’s most iconic facets are all thanks to behind-the-scenes meddling. Check out that, and more, in our roundup of X-Files little-known facts.
David Duchovny forced the whole production to move to Los Angeles because he missed his wife.
We all know how Téa Leoni and David Duchovny’s marriage panned out, but back in 1998, the couple was very much in love – so much so that he threatened to quit the show if they didn’t relocate filming. The series had been filming in Vancouver since its premiere, dwindling the actual interaction time between Duchovny and Leoni, who was filming The Naked Truth in California.
The actor’s hissy fit was successful, and the entire cast and crew were upheaved to Los Angeles.
Gillian Anderson’s real life pregnancy birthed the show’s entire mythology.
That whole abduction plot in season two? All thanks to Scully’s fertile hubby. When Anderson discovered she was pregnant with her first child (daughter Piper) halfway through season one, the show runners were flummoxed and staff writers searched for a way to keep the young star around. Cue the abduction plot line. What better way to explain Anderson’s maternity leave than to have her carted off in a space ship?
The storyline ended up aiding the show’s crew in more ways than one, however, and building, according to writer and producer Howard Gordon, what became the series’s mythology. Gordon revealed the backstory evolution in X-Files Confidential an unofficial companion book published in 1996.
“Ultimately it sort of was a blessing in disguise because it forced us to contrive something that has been grist for the mill and will continue to be, in terms of her abduction or disappearance. As it turned out, her pregnancy not only gave birth to [Anderson’s daughter] Piper, but to a whole new avenue of possibilities on the show.”
Anderson stood on a box for most of filming.
There’s nothing romantic or mysterious about talking to someone’s pectoral region. The dramatic 10-inch height difference between Duchovny and Anderson lent a unique challenge to filming their many one-on-one scenes. The solution? A custom-designed apple box that elevated the actress up to a more reasonable conversation height. The box even received its own moniker – the “Scully Box,” or according to some reports, the “Gilly Board.”
Anderson told Us Weekly about her step stool in October 1997.
“Sometimes when we’re in a situation walking side by side, like up to a door to pull out our badges and say we’re from the FBI, I have to step up onto something so that we’re on the same level. I mean, I don’t walk on boxes or have boxes attached to my feet. It’s funny: Sometimes I forget I’m on the box. Like, I’ll have this very serious moment in a very serious scene and I’ll turn to the camera and fall right off the box.”
The X-Files theme song was created mostly by accident.
Everyone knows “the truth” is coming when the first eerie notes of The X-Files theme song play. The unique sound almost never was, however. The memorable tune came only after composer Mark Snow had exhausted all ideas and began tinkering with his keyboard. After fiddling with settings, Snow told Billboard in August 1996 he unintentionally created an echo – and it stuck.
“I’d been trying to come up with the right mood, and I’d probably gone through about eight attempts when I started playing with a delay setting on one of my keyboards. I just hit a key and it kept echoing and I thought, ‘Hey, that sounds pretty cool.'”
Scully lost Anderson the chance to play Clarice Starling.
When Jodie Foster opted not to reprise her role as Special Agent Clarice Starling in the 2001 Silence of the Lambs follow-up, Hannibal, Anderson’s name was thrown into the running. The role ultimately went to Julianne Moore after it was discovered that Anderson’s contract sneakily prevented her from playing another FBI agent during her X-Files tenure.
Anderson eventually found her way into the story, joining NBC’s like-titled TV series as psychotherapist Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier. Hannibal was canceled this week, but has already caught the eye of cable network cast-off rescuers Netflix and Amazon.
Season four’s talking tattoo had an Oscar-Winning voice.
On the topic of Jodie Foster…
Season four’s “Never Again” provided some unexpected background into Scully’s life outside of work when an impromptu hookup lead to supernatural drama. After cavorting with a stranger, Scully finds herself in danger when the man begins to be mentally controlled by his arm tattoo. Yes, his talking arm tattoo. The demanding and seductive voice behind the Sailor Jerry-esque ink? None other than Academy darling Foster.
Walter White’s Albuquerque reign of terror is partly due to The X-Files.
Bryan Cranston’s four-time Emmy-winning turn as psychotic chemistry teacher Walter White on Breaking Bad might never have been without Fox’s alien series.
When Cranston appeared in a 1998 episode of The X-Files, playing a racist who will die if he stops moving, his one-off character left an indelible mark on Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. Gilligan, who wrote for X-Files before creating the groundbreaking series, cast Cranston as his lead based on the performance. And here you thought it was for Malcolm in the Middle.
Aaron Paul and Dean Norris also had bit roles during the show’s 9 season run.
Chris Carter pulled a Stan Lee – three times.
Series creator Chris Carter is helming the show’s resurrection, but it’s pretty likely we’ll also spy the screenwriter, producer and director onscreen. Carter has previously inserted himself into the series, making two appearances on the small screen, and one in 2008’s poorly-received film followup I Want to Believe.
In season 3’s “The Blessing Way,” Carter briefly appeared as an agent at a hearing in Skinner’s office. In the Duchovny-directed season 7 episode “Hollywood A.D.,” Carter pops up as a moviegoer.
The Cigarette Smoking Man “just said no” to tobacco.
William B. Davis’s Cigarette Smoking Man rivals only the Marlboro cowboy in terms of tobacco addiction, so it’s somewhat shocking that the Canadian actor is a staunch opponent of cancer sticks.
The actor smoked for 25 years but kicked the habit decades before gracing the small screen as the puff-happy villain. All those cigarettes he sucked down on The X-Files? Herbal.
Apparently neither chain smoking nor rockets can take out Davis. The 77-year-old Canadian actor’s X-Files character will reportedly be returning alongside Duchovny and Anderson in 2016 – despite his “death” during the series finale.
No desert? No problem. The X-Files crew just used spray paint.
New Mexico and Vancouver are not exactly similar terrains, so when the crew had to emulate the deserts of the Western state in a balmy temperate, they got innovative.
Season two’s finale, “Anasazi,” which found Mulder investigating some suspicious burned alien corpses, was heavy on the desert scenes.
Filming on-location wasn’t an option, so the crew used nearly 1,600 gallons of red paint to turn an old quarry into arid New Mexico. The clear skies? Digital magic.
