Love 'n' Duchovny
New York Daily News - Movies - Love 'n' Duchovny
Love 'n' Duchovny
The actor warms to movie romance for his friend, director Bart Freundlich
BY MICHAEL GILTZ
Actor David Duchovny's new movie, "Trust the Man," opening Friday, revolves around friendship, so it's appropriate that he and writer-director Bart Freundlich were practically set up on a sort-of "date" years ago by mutual pals who said they would get along.
"Our first date was actually playing basketball at Collegiate School," jokes Freundlich about Duchovny, when the two are interviewed separately. "We went back and played with David's old high school coach against the team at Collegiate [the Upper West Side prep school Duchovny attended]. David and I went and we brought a couple of friends. We were huffing and puffing after a while. I think we won. We used our smarts."
In classic fashion, Duchovny remembers it differently.
"Actually, the first time I met Bart was on the set of 'Evolution' in 2001 when he was visiting Julie [Freundlich's wife, actress Julianne Moore]. The next time I saw him, I came down to my kitchen and he was coming out of the bathroom. My friend, [actor/director] Peter Berg, said, 'Oh yeah, Bart was supposed to stay at my house and I said he could stay here.'
"So what did Bart say about Collegiate?" Duchovny asks with a smirk. "Did he have a good time, or did it feel awkward? It was a good first date."
Okay, so it's a case of he says/he says - clearly, both men share a droll sense of humor, something Freundlich mined when writing his new film. In it, Duchovny plays Tom, a former ad executive who has quit his job and is taking care of the kids while his movie star wife (Moore) moves from success to success. His best pal is her brother (Billy Crudup), a freelance writer who is too afraid to commit to his ever-patient girlfriend (Maggie Gyllenhaal).
When Duchovny's character cheats on his wife and Crudup's character gets dumped, they both realize they're letting the women they love slip away. The movie glides from a realistic romantic comedy into a screwball finale where - hopefully - true love can triumph. But not before Duchovny can stumble across a pornographic Web site involving horses and join a sex addict meeting where he feels pressured to embellish his modest cheating with a fetish for deli meat.
"Tom's so earnest and neurotic that he has this one affair and he's so agonized over it that he says, 'I'm a sex addict!'" laughs Duchovny.
Clearly, Duchovny is not addicted to conquering Hollywood - his grab bag of credits range from doing the narration to the goofily cheesy softcore cable series "Red Shoe Diaries" to guest spots on "Sex and the City," from providing a voice for the straight-to-DVD animated flick "Queer Duck: The Movie" to costarring in the 2000 chick flick "Return to Me" to a hilarious cameo in Ben Stiller's "Zoolander."
If there's been a plan to Duchovny's career since hitting big on TV's "The X-Files," he's happy to say it's tough to see.
"It's hard to seem this unstructured," deadpans the 46-year-old New York-born and raised Duchovny, who's married to actress Tea Leoni and has two children. "There's no plan. Even people with a plan have no plan. I mean, they have a plan, but God help them if it works out. I work with friends like Bart or in a genre I want to do or the best thing that's available.
"I'll take something that's not fantastic because I want to stay sharp. I'll pretty much try anything if I can figure out the challenge of it - and sometimes, the challenge is, 'This [project] really sucks. How can I do okay with it?'"
That scattershot approach has paid off with unexpected highlights like his hilarious turn on "The Larry Sanders Show," and his goofy weatherman Johnny Volcano on "The Bonnie Hunt Show."
"And that got an Emmy nomination!" says Duchovny of the latter series. "It took me what, five years to get a nomination for 'The X-Files'? Bonnie, a friend of mine, calls me up and says, 'Hey, come and do this part.' So a week later I come in for a day and do the part, and that's an Emmy nomination."
So he won't bother with planning. But Duchovny's got several intriguing films in the works, including a sharp satire on network television called "The TV Set," costarring Sigourney Weaver, and "The Secret," a drama costarring Lili Taylor. And, of course, another "X-Files" movie is a possibility - the 1998 movie from the series left plot doors open - though not at the moment, as his "X" costar, Gillian Anderson, is pregnant.
But he will make one ambition: to direct another movie and build on the experience making his 2004 labor of love, "House of D."
Was it hard after directing to just go back to acting?
"He has that director's eye," says Freundlich. "David would ask, 'How are you going to do this?' I was like, 'None of your business, just go hit your mark,'" he laughs. "Actually, it helps [with actors].... When it's your 14th hour of filming, they know why you're still there."
Duchovny agrees.
"Did Bart say I gave him any tips?" asks Duchovny. "Because I've directed I would have thoughts. I'd say to Bart, 'Look, I have an idea. Take it or leave it. Do you want to hear it? 'Cuz I don't need to say it....' And he'd say, 'No, what is it?'
"When I'm directing, I want that too. I say, 'Tell me the idea, just don't be sensitive - I probably won't use it.' But I wouldn't ever say, 'How dare you tell me how to direct?!'"
Originally published on August 14, 2006
Love 'n' Duchovny
The actor warms to movie romance for his friend, director Bart Freundlich
BY MICHAEL GILTZ
Actor David Duchovny's new movie, "Trust the Man," opening Friday, revolves around friendship, so it's appropriate that he and writer-director Bart Freundlich were practically set up on a sort-of "date" years ago by mutual pals who said they would get along.
"Our first date was actually playing basketball at Collegiate School," jokes Freundlich about Duchovny, when the two are interviewed separately. "We went back and played with David's old high school coach against the team at Collegiate [the Upper West Side prep school Duchovny attended]. David and I went and we brought a couple of friends. We were huffing and puffing after a while. I think we won. We used our smarts."
In classic fashion, Duchovny remembers it differently.
"Actually, the first time I met Bart was on the set of 'Evolution' in 2001 when he was visiting Julie [Freundlich's wife, actress Julianne Moore]. The next time I saw him, I came down to my kitchen and he was coming out of the bathroom. My friend, [actor/director] Peter Berg, said, 'Oh yeah, Bart was supposed to stay at my house and I said he could stay here.'
"So what did Bart say about Collegiate?" Duchovny asks with a smirk. "Did he have a good time, or did it feel awkward? It was a good first date."
Okay, so it's a case of he says/he says - clearly, both men share a droll sense of humor, something Freundlich mined when writing his new film. In it, Duchovny plays Tom, a former ad executive who has quit his job and is taking care of the kids while his movie star wife (Moore) moves from success to success. His best pal is her brother (Billy Crudup), a freelance writer who is too afraid to commit to his ever-patient girlfriend (Maggie Gyllenhaal).
When Duchovny's character cheats on his wife and Crudup's character gets dumped, they both realize they're letting the women they love slip away. The movie glides from a realistic romantic comedy into a screwball finale where - hopefully - true love can triumph. But not before Duchovny can stumble across a pornographic Web site involving horses and join a sex addict meeting where he feels pressured to embellish his modest cheating with a fetish for deli meat.
"Tom's so earnest and neurotic that he has this one affair and he's so agonized over it that he says, 'I'm a sex addict!'" laughs Duchovny.
Clearly, Duchovny is not addicted to conquering Hollywood - his grab bag of credits range from doing the narration to the goofily cheesy softcore cable series "Red Shoe Diaries" to guest spots on "Sex and the City," from providing a voice for the straight-to-DVD animated flick "Queer Duck: The Movie" to costarring in the 2000 chick flick "Return to Me" to a hilarious cameo in Ben Stiller's "Zoolander."
If there's been a plan to Duchovny's career since hitting big on TV's "The X-Files," he's happy to say it's tough to see.
"It's hard to seem this unstructured," deadpans the 46-year-old New York-born and raised Duchovny, who's married to actress Tea Leoni and has two children. "There's no plan. Even people with a plan have no plan. I mean, they have a plan, but God help them if it works out. I work with friends like Bart or in a genre I want to do or the best thing that's available.
"I'll take something that's not fantastic because I want to stay sharp. I'll pretty much try anything if I can figure out the challenge of it - and sometimes, the challenge is, 'This [project] really sucks. How can I do okay with it?'"
That scattershot approach has paid off with unexpected highlights like his hilarious turn on "The Larry Sanders Show," and his goofy weatherman Johnny Volcano on "The Bonnie Hunt Show."
"And that got an Emmy nomination!" says Duchovny of the latter series. "It took me what, five years to get a nomination for 'The X-Files'? Bonnie, a friend of mine, calls me up and says, 'Hey, come and do this part.' So a week later I come in for a day and do the part, and that's an Emmy nomination."
So he won't bother with planning. But Duchovny's got several intriguing films in the works, including a sharp satire on network television called "The TV Set," costarring Sigourney Weaver, and "The Secret," a drama costarring Lili Taylor. And, of course, another "X-Files" movie is a possibility - the 1998 movie from the series left plot doors open - though not at the moment, as his "X" costar, Gillian Anderson, is pregnant.
But he will make one ambition: to direct another movie and build on the experience making his 2004 labor of love, "House of D."
Was it hard after directing to just go back to acting?
"He has that director's eye," says Freundlich. "David would ask, 'How are you going to do this?' I was like, 'None of your business, just go hit your mark,'" he laughs. "Actually, it helps [with actors].... When it's your 14th hour of filming, they know why you're still there."
Duchovny agrees.
"Did Bart say I gave him any tips?" asks Duchovny. "Because I've directed I would have thoughts. I'd say to Bart, 'Look, I have an idea. Take it or leave it. Do you want to hear it? 'Cuz I don't need to say it....' And he'd say, 'No, what is it?'
"When I'm directing, I want that too. I say, 'Tell me the idea, just don't be sensitive - I probably won't use it.' But I wouldn't ever say, 'How dare you tell me how to direct?!'"
Originally published on August 14, 2006