Fox Mulder - Conceptual History

Conceptual History

David Duchovny had worked in Los Angeles three years prior to The X-Files. At first he wanted to base his acting career around films, but in 1993 his manager Melanie Green gave him a script of the "pilot episode" of The X-Files. Green and Duchovny were both convinced it was a good script, so Duchovny auditioned for the lead. When Duchovny was auditioning for the part of Fox Mulder, he made a "terrific" audition, but talked rather slowly. Chris Carter thought that he was a "good judge of character", and thought that Duchovny wasn't too "bright". So he talked to Duchovny and asked him if he could "please" imagine himself as an FBI agent for the "future" weeks. The casting director of the show was very positive about him, while according to Carter, Duchovny turned out to be one of the best-read people he knew. After getting the role, Duchovny thought the show wouldn't last for long or that it wouldn't make as much impact as it did.

Carter has said that he named Mulder after his mother's maiden name. His first name, Fox, was actually not a tribute to the Fox network which aired The X-Files, as often assumed. Carter said he had a childhood friend named Fox. When Duchovny got the script many of his characteristics were "fully formed". Executive producer Frank Spotnitz called portraying actor Duchovny "amazingly smart". He further stated that Duchovny was behind some of the main characteristic ideas behind Mulder.

At the end of the seventh season Duchovny was fighting for a "better" contract with the Fox network, saying he wanted more money (while not saying how much) and a better scheduled work hour. After settling his contract dispute, portraying actor Duchovny quit full-time participation in the show after the seventh season. This contributed to uncertainties over the likelihood of an eighth season. Carter and most fans felt the show was at its natural endpoint with Duchovny's departure, but it was decided Mulder would be abducted at the end of the seventh season, leaving things open for the actor's return in 12 episodes the following year. Duchovny's character Mulder was replaced by John Jay Doggett (portrayed by Robert Patrick). In season nine, Duchovny wasn't available for shooting, so he only appeared in three episodes with small cameos, the first being a archive footage only in "Trust No 1", a brief cameo in "William", which he also directed and appeared full-time in the series finale, "The Truth".

After the shows cancellation, Carter and Frank Spotnitz started to talk about a movie sequel. Duchovny stated in an interview that very same year that it always had been a "desire" to come back to the franchise, saying it was a "natural" stage of development for the franchise to go to the cinema. When talking about Mulder in The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Duchovny said that he wanted to play him a "little different". He continued saying that Mulder had "lost every battle" saying he was "beaten down by life . He’s the same guy, but he is older Mulder”.

Mulder had a brief cameo on The Lone Gunmen, an X-Files spin-off featuring the characters of the same name. He appeared on the episode "All About Yves". In the Millennium episode "Lamentation", The main character, Frank Black, visits the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and Mulder and Dana Scully are briefly seen descending a stairway. In fact, they are Duchovny and Andersons' stand-ins.