How the cult TV series “The X-Files” was filmed: footage from filming and interesting facts about the series (19 photos)

Oh, how I loved the X-Files series as a child. And at school, my friends and I constantly discussed our favorite episodes. Well, that same music from the screensaver still gives me nostalgic goosebumps all over my body.





1. When Chris Carter wrote the script for The X-Files for the FOX channel, he was inspired by such mystical projects as Moonlight Detective Agency and Kolchak. The Night Stalker. In particular, the relationship between Mulder and Scully was very reminiscent of the relationship between David Addison and Madeline Hayes from Moonlight Detective Agency.



Chris Carter

Also, Chris Carter was inspired to create the series by a report by Professor John Mack from Harvard University, who claimed that approximately 3% of the US population believed that they were abducted by aliens.

2. Such famous actors as Adam Baldwin and Bruce Campbell auditioned for the role of Fox Mulder. Although, to be honest, today it would be difficult for me to imagine the same Bruce Campbell as Fox Mulder. But in the end, it was actor David Duchovny who got the main role, although Chris Carter himself didn’t really like him.





As Duchovny himself said, he came to the audition wearing a tie with pictures of piglets on it. To this day, David Duchovny considers this tie his talisman.

3. After numerous auditions for the role of Agent Scully, Chris Carter realized that no one could handle this role better than 24-year-old actress Gillian Anderson. This moment disappointed David Duchovny a little, since he (and others too) wanted to see a long-legged and busty blonde as his partner. But Carter was strongly against it, so he did everything to ensure that Gillian got the role...



The image of Scully, by the way, was based on agent Clarice Starling from the film “The Silence of the Lambs”, played by the famous actress Jodie Foster.

Over time, Gillian Anderson was even offered the role of an FBI agent in the film “The Silence of the Lambs 2.” She, of course, would have gladly accepted such an offer, but according to the terms of the contract, she had no right to play an FBI agent anywhere except in the series “The X-Files.”



4. In her resume, Gillian Anderson lied about her age, writing that she was 26 years old, not 24. She believed that this age looked more respectable and she would have a better chance of passing the audition.



5. Actress Gillian Anderson is 160 centimeters tall, while David Duchovny is 183 centimeters tall. Such a huge age difference became a problem for filming joint scenes between the actors, since when they were together in the same frame, they looked very inorganic.

Then it was decided to place Gillian Anderson on a special small platform during such scenes in order to reduce this difference in height.



According to the actress, she was afraid to get into the role too much and fall off the platform. But fortunately nothing like this ever happened.

6. Carter planned to shoot his serial film in Los Angeles, but due to the fact that he could not find a decent forest, which was required by the plot, the film crew had to go to Vancouver (Canada), where there were no problems with the forest.



Thus, the first five seasons were in Vancouver, and then (starting from the sixth season) filming moved to Los Angeles, where it was originally planned to film the series.

7. Agent Mulder and Scully's IDs were different from the actual FBI IDs. The fact is that forging FBI IDs was a serious crime, even if such fakes were created for the filming of a movie.



Then the filmmakers decided to slightly change the inscription inside the circle on the document. In the original it should read "Department of Justice. Federal Bureau of Investigation", whereas in the film we can see the inscription "Department of Investigation. Bureau of Justice". Even the word "Federal" was removed from the document, while the abbreviation FBI itself remained intact. And what's the difference? Nobody will read it anyway.



8. Despite the fact that the series "The X-Files" has an age limit of "12+", one episode called "Home" (Season 4, Episode 2) has an age limit of "18+".

9. As in the case of the Tales from the Crypt series, both well-known actors and little-known actors who would later gain unprecedented popularity appeared in The X-Files.

For example, Ryan Reynolds, Jack Black, Lucy Lawless and others appeared in some episodes. In other episodes we could see Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, who would later play leading roles in the cult TV series Breaking Bad.



Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul

It is noteworthy that the script for many episodes was written by Vince Gilligan, who will invent and also direct the series “Breaking Bad”.

10. At the end of season 7, Fox Mulder was abducted by aliens, which is why David Duchovny did not appear at all in the first half of season 8, and Scully's partner was a new agent named John Doggett, played by Robert Patrick, whom many of us immediately remembered for the role of the T-1000 from the film "Terminator 2".



As it turned out, even before the premiere of the 7th season, David Duchovny sued 20th century FOX, accusing the company of losing millions of dollars because of it. As a result, the dispute was settled, and Duchovny received compensation in the amount of $20 million.

After the settlement of this dispute, David Duchovny stopped participating in the filming of the next season, which greatly frightened Chris Carter, since he was well aware that the series was supported largely by the duo of Duchovny and Anderson.



As a result, it was decided to introduce a new agent, John Doggett, into the series, for whose role about a hundred actors were auditioned, including again Bruce Campbell, known for his role as Ash in the film Army of Darkness. But in the end the role went to Robert Patrick.

However, David Duchovny did return to the series in the second half of season 8. True, many fans were very unhappy that Duchovny’s role was greatly reduced.



11. The series ceased to exist in May 2002, when the last episode of the 9th season was released. And no one hoped to see new episodes. But suddenly in 2016, almost 15 years later, a new tenth season of the series was released. The joy of the fans knew no bounds, because David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson returned to their roles, albeit a little older. True, the season was quite short and included only 6 episodes.



Well, in 2018, the last 11th season of the series was released. According to Jtilian Anderson, this was the last time she returned to the role of Dana Scully.

12. During the entire broadcast of the series, 218 episodes were released, as well as 2 full-length films: “Fight for the Future” (1998) and “I Want to Believe” (2008). Thanks to this, the X-Files series is still one of the three longest-running science fiction series.



13. William B. Davis played the main antagonist, nicknamed "Smoking Man", in both older and later episodes of the series. A distinctive feature of the character was that he practically did not take the cigarette out of his mouth. But the most interesting thing is that before filming the series, the actor had not smoked for more than 20 years. But for the sake of filming the series, he had to remember his old bad habit again.



By the way, initially the Smoker was supposed to be a character for one episode, but in the end everyone liked him so much that they decided to make him the main antagonist of the series.

14. According to the plot of the series, Mulder believed in aliens and other otherworldly things, while Scully was a skeptic. But in real life, the actors had everything exactly the opposite.



15. Chris Carter did not come up with the names of the main characters at random. Mulder is his mother's maiden name, and Scully is the writer's last name. who wrote the first book on ufology (Frank Scully). Well, Chris Carter named the main character Fox in honor of his best friend.

16. Back in the first season, Scully was abducted by aliens, which is why she did not appear for two episodes. This absence was due to her pregnancy and childbirth. Because of this, the actress almost lost her job, as the terms of the contract were violated. But fortunately, everything worked out.