For decades, the will they-won't they tension between The X-Files' Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, aka David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, dominated TV screens (and the big screen twice), across nine seasons of the original series and a 10th season 14 years after the previous one wrapped, and an 11th two years later.
The pair of actors became global superstars, not only for their myth-busting, but also their superb chemistry. Which is why it comes as a shock to many to discover that during the making of the show, David and Gillian were not close. In fact, things between them were actually quite tense at points.
How did the dynamic between David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson first begin?
Things weren't always rocky between the two, though, who actually formed an instant connection when they first auditioned for the show.
© Getty Images"I think immediately, when we were reading together on the stairs to go in to audition, we knew that we could work together," David recalled to People. "There was an immediate connection through the work that we could do, and that lasted for a long, long time."
David and Gillian's "intense" relationship while making The X-Files
However, the pressures of making one of the most popular shows on TV eventually affected their working relationship. Back in 2008, David told Metro that there were "definitely being periods when we hated each other," contextualizing it as: "Familiarity breeds contempt."
"It's nothing to do with the other person. All that fades away and you're just left with the appreciation and love for the people you've worked with for so long," he added. "We used to argue about nothing. We couldn't stand the sight of each other."
© Getty ImagesIn 2015, Gillian herself told The Guardian: "Hate is too strong a word. We didn't talk for long periods of time. It was intense, and we were both pains in the [expletive] for the other at various times."
When asked how he got on her nerves, she cheekily smiled and then replied: "I'm not going to get into it. I'm not even going to begin to get into that," then adding: "But we are closer today than we ever have been."
Gillian was a guest on David's podcast Fail Better in 2024, where they further opened up about why they "drifted apart" on set. "There was a long time, working on the show, where we were just not even dealing with one another off-camera," he recalled.
© FOX"And there was a lot of tension. Which didn't matter, apparently, for the work cause we're both [expletive] crazy, I guess. We could just go out there and do what we needed to do."
Gillian noted: "That is kinda crazy. 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, but then not speak to each other for weeks at a time."
How are David and Gillian now?
The pair have thankfully since put their feud to bed, and opened up about why their relationship was so bad during a visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live! back in 2016. Gillian explained: "I wondered this for a long time and I think part of it [is that] we shot in Vancouver, and it's very moist in Vancouver… and so my hair gets very frizzy and so it takes forever, and between every single take we'd have to stand there and blow-dry my hair."
© Getty ImagesDavid asked: "And I got [expletive] at that?" to which Gillian quipped: "I think it added to the tension that I took so long! Is that anything to do with it?" David then joked: "It kind of makes me sound like an [expletive]."
The Californication actor told People in 2024 that the pair, who've reunited several times in recent years, are now definitely like family, saying: "When you share a seminal kind of experience in your life — this huge success with the show that we had — only we know what it's like to be in the center of that."
© FOX"It's almost like being in the same family. We know what it was like to be raised in that time. There's a certain kind of shared experience, knowledge, and past that never goes away."
