David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson’s tense working relationship on the set of X-Files prompted the show creator to suggest the two attend couples therapy. 

On the latest episode of Duchovny’s podcast, Fail Better, the actor recounted how their ‘ʙuттing heads’ prompted creator Chris Carter to pitch an unusual solution.

Anderson, 56, was a guest on the episode and while she did not recall that particular conversation, she did remember their tenuous working relationship at the time which saw them not speak off camera for weeks at a time.

‘I think we were kind of ʙuттing heads so early on in the first season that Chris asked us if we would go into fake couples therapy,’ Duchovny, 64, who played the role of Fox Mulder on the sci-fi series opposite Anderson’s Dana Scully, said. ‘Would we go into, like, TV character couple therapy?’ 

‘I remember sitting in his office with you,’ he continued. ‘and Chris is like, “Yeah, do you guys wanna go into therapy together?” And I was like, “You mean as Mulder and Scully? I’m confused.”‘

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson’s tense working relationship on the set of X-Files prompted the show creator to suggest the two attend couples therapy; the duo pictured season one

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For Duchovny, the epitome of their ‘dysfunctional’ relationship involved a flight the duo took together the day after an Emmys ceremony. 

The duo were sharing a private jet but did not speak to one another – however, Gillian wrote a thoughtful letter to him during their flight that moved David. 

‘I have an image of, like, the most dysfunctional we ever were,’ David recalled. ‘It was some Emmys, and it was the day after, and I had a private plane, and I was giving you a ride.’

‘You were late, and I was so angry, and then we sat on this private plane flying to Vancouver from L.A., not talking, and you wrote me a letter,’ he said. ‘So, you’re just, like, six feet away from me, writing a letter to me, that you give to me. And it’s a beautiful letter. I don’t remember it exactly, but it was appreciative, and it was all the things that I wanted to hear.’

The episode saw the duo reflect on their tenuous working relationship, and Duchovny admitted there was a ‘failure of friendship’ between them during the show’s first run from 1993 to 2002, which spanned nine seasons. 

The Emmy-nominated actor said that despite the success of the series, communication between he and Anderson was nil amid ‘a lot of tension’ between them.

‘There was a long time, working on the show, where we were just not even dealing with one another off-camera,’ Duchovny said. 

The Californication star noted that he did not feel the friction between he and Anderson manifested in their performances on the series.

David played the role of Fox Mulder on the sci-fi series opposite Anderson’s Dana Scully 

Anderson and Duchovny on season 10 of X-Files

It ‘didn’t matter, apparently, for the work cause we’re both f***ing crazy, I guess – we could just go out there and do what we needed to do,’ Duchovny said. 

Anderson acknowledged the situation was ‘kinda crazy,’ adding that it was a testament to their professional abilities as performers. 

‘I mean, it’s crazy that we were able to present on camera, you know, the various feelings and emotions and attraction and all that kind of stuff,’ Anderson said, ‘but then not speak to each other for weeks at a time.’

Duchovny said that he and Anderson never spoke too much about their backgrounds during their run on the series.

‘I don’t know that we ever sat down and said, “Hey, what was your childhood like?”‘ Duchovny said.

Anderson added, ‘We didn’t. And why would we? We were busy. We have a closeness that we don’t have with probably many other people, and went through something that we didn’t go through with any other people.

‘I mean, yes, there were crew and etc., but in terms of our experience as actors – and so, I thought it would be a curious investigation.’

The duo seen on season 11 of the hit show

Duchovny said that while he feels he ‘could’ve handled [himself] better,’ he thinks that the underlying hostilities between the two actors helped their onscreen performances.

‘Cause we’re, like, savin’ it up – I don’t know,’ Duchovny said. ‘And as you know, we went through a crazy-making kind of a process with this thing. We went from – I mean, I was pretty inexperienced. You were really inexperienced.

‘And all of a sudden … it was like a global phenomenon before the Internet. And we’re just scurrying, trying to figure out who we are.’

Anderson praised her one-time co-star for his work on the podcast, which has featured guests including Bette Midler, Andy Cohen, Rosie O’Donnell, Sean Penn and Ben Stiller.

‘Listening to the depth of your conversations that you were getting into with people and appreciating that,’ Anderson said, ‘I felt like I was learning more about you than I knew, or than I ever knew.’

Duchovny added, ‘We know each other very deeply and yet we don’t know each other either in some weird way.’