TRANSCRIPT: Actor David Duchovny has won Golden Globe awards for both of his hit television shows– first as Agent Mulder on “The X-Files”, and now for his current role as Hank Moody on “Californication”. ”The X-Files” ran for nine years and became a cult phenomenon, and “Californication” is now it it’s sixth season as a hit on Showtime. David stopped by the SiriusXM studios to sit down with Ron Bennington and talk about the new season of “Californication”. Excerpts from the interview appear below. You can hear this interview here.
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Ron Bennington: Six years into this character and he’s still doesn’t seem like he’s going to get a break.
David Duchovny: No. Well, that’s the nature of serialized television writing. You sign a contract with an audience in a way, for a character and for a tone of a show. And you just can’t break it all of a sudden and turn into a different show. So, that’s kind of the humor and the funny part of our show – is that this guy doesn’t get a break.
Ron Bennington: Natascha (McElhone) was in here the other day.
David Duchovny: Was she?
Ron Bennington: And I asked her. I go – why does she stay with Hank? And she’s like – it’s just a male fantasy.
David Duchovny: Yeah. (laughs) Well, Tom Kapinos, whose show it is – the writer and the creator of the show, for him – he’s always said it’s a wish fulfillment fantasy of a writer. Him being a writer. That a writer would be attractive to women, that a writer would kind of be treated like a rock star by women – so, he’s always said it’s a complete wish fulfillment of a writer.
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Duchovny on Writers
Ron Bennington: I wonder how many people started writing because of like Norman Mailer or Hemingway, just somebody who was bigger than life.
David Duchovny: Like a cowboy kind of an image. Well, Kerouac would be an early example of that or Byron, going back. There have been in the last couple of hundred years, like rock star writers. I mean Jay McInerney was in the 80s.
Ron Bennington: Yeah, the 80s was the last time I think we really said – here are the writers that are speaking for a generation. And then for some reason, the critics really fucking turned on that whole crew. Just sort of blasting them.
David Duchovny: Well, I think it’s difficult now because there’s so many venues of voices. There’s so much dialogue. There’s so much being said with all the social networks and tweeting and all that – that it’s hard for somebody…it’s hard to get a consensus. There’s no consensus. There’s no cultural consensus. There’s all these little niches and all these little parts of it.
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Duchovny on Violence and Sex in Entertainment
Ron Bennington: The weird thing about where we are as a society is that we’re talking about violence in film and all, but I still think most people would be more comfortable watching “Dexter” with their kids in the room than they would “Californication”.
David Duchovny: (laughs) That’s true. Yeah.
Ron Bennington: Isn’t that the strangest thing about our society?
David Duchovny: Yeah. It’s very strange. The quote was always attributed to Jack Nicholson – I don’t know if he ever said it, but it was – and this isn’t the exact quote, but it’s something like – Cut off a tit. Get an “R”. Kiss a tit. Get an “X”. So it’s like…I think that is…it’s not quite a double standard, but it does get to the heart of like something very American.
Ron Bennington: What do you think that is about us? Where we’re very comfortable – because I…since this stuff came up and Quentin was just in this really great battle with an English interviewer yesterday.
David Duchovny: About violence in his films?
Ron Bennington: Yeah, about violence and him saying – I’m not copping to this, dude. I have nothing to do with it.
David Duchovny: Right, right.
Ron Bennington: But really I think the question is for us, the audience. The audience who’s grown up on violence, enjoys watching violence.
David Duchovny: Personally, I don’t enjoy watching violence. I’ve never enjoyed violent film. I never loved Westerns. I never got it, but anyway, go ahead.
Ron Bennington: No, but I think across the board, I mean if you look at Scorsese or Coppola…I mean we consider these masters.
David Duchovny: Well, they are.
Ron Bennington: And they use violence in that way. But for you, it never worked? You watched what kind of films when you were younger?
David Duchovny: Well no, I mean those films that you’re referencing – they’re my favorite films of all time. If you’re talking about “The Godfather” and you’re talking about….
Ron Bennington: “Goodfellas” and “Taxi Driver”.
David Duchovny: Yeah and they are…but the violence in those movies is actually scary. It’s not this cartoon violence where…you know I’m not bad mouthing “Bond”, but I watch what that guy goes through in a movie and it’s like you’d be dead after 3 minutes. It’s not real. Whereas the violence in “The Godfather” films and in the Scorsese films is not cartoonish – if you get stabbed, you die.
Ron Bennington: Yeah, so you’re saying as long as there’s some repercussions.
David Duchovny: Or if it belongs in the film. If it’s part of the film and not just a reason for the film being.
Ron Bennington: What’s even stranger with that too – even after 9-11, they still were blowing up New York in movies. And even “The Avengers” did it last year, and I’m like – you would think at some point, we would say to ourselves – we’ve been through this for real. Why is this still entertaining? I mean right now, there is huge amounts of people who love to see horrible things happen to the planet Earth.
David Duchovny: Well, I think my view is in terms of violence or sex or things that people want to see more or less of in film, music, art – is that’s what it is. It’s film, music and art. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.
Ron Bennington: Right. It would be up to the audience themselves.
David Duchovny: When you start…when the state or when people that aren’t making the art, start getting into legislating what it should be – then you’ve got Soviet state sponsored art. And it’s not art. It’s gonna be crap. So, you’ve just got to let artists do what they do. They’re going to sink or swim at the box office or people watching. So if the violence sells, then I’m not going to legislate against it.
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Duchovny Talks About Seeing “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” With His Mom
David Duchovny: I mean I certainly do. I remember going to see “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”. And I heard it was a funny movie. And I happened to be hanging out with my mother that day and I said – come to this movie. And I think I wanted to share like my culture with her. And I remember sitting next to her and just like feeling horrible. And I can’t remember…it probably wasn’t…I know there was a masturbation scene.
Ron Bennington: Yeah, there was a masturbation scene. There was a very short sex scene.
David Duchovny: Yeah, but it wasn’t a big deal, but it was…I remember just the sweat forming on the back of my neck, so I get it. And I’m not going to watch “Californication” with my children. So, I mean that’s your job as a parent to kind of filter this stuff, but it gets harder and harder because there is so much stuff out there. It’s harder to filter. It’s not like you’re filtering 3 channels of television anymore.
Ron Bennington: Yet, it is just an amazing amount stuff. And then they also say – well, this goes back to the home and all, but you know if you have kids…well first of all, my parents, I think, had very little idea what I was even doing with the 3.
David Duchovny: Well, what’s interesting to me is that the people who want less government are also the people that are saying they want to censor. So like, how much money and manpower are you going to need in order to censor this stuff that you want to censor?
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Duchovny Talks About Mental Health Care in America
Ron Bennington: Well, that’s the other thing that they’re bringing up about doing something with mental health. And I’m like – most of the people I know are trying to get help, have money enough to do it, but still can’t seem to get better. And yet, we’re going to be able to just be able to pick out the kooks in the street and say – hey, we’re here to help you.
David Duchovny: Yeah, it’s hard.
David Duchovny: Yeah. It’s a tough call because on the other hand, walking around New York, you do see people that are in another world and yet they’re on the street. They’re not getting help as far as I can see. And it’s rare, but you see some people that are really in some kind of schizoid alternate reality.
Ron Bennington: Oh, I think if you get on the subway, you will, by the time that you get off the subway – run into someone who you could probably say – everybody has decided not to look at. Like the great thing about New York City is that people will give that person their space. (David laughs)
David Duchovny: (laughing) You say that like it’s a positive thing. Yeah, let him be free. Let him do his thing.
Ron Bennington: Work it out. Work it out, man. Because I’m going to be off here in a couple of minutes.
David Duchovny: Right.
Ron Bennington: Louis CK does this really great bit about somebody coming to meet him in New York. And there’s a homeless person on the street asking for money and he’s helping pull him away. And he’s saying – oh, was that guy faking? Oh no, no, no, he really does need your help, but we’re going to keep right on going. Because that’s what you have to do I think, if you live in an urban area. You couldn’t possibly pay attention to each thing as you’re moving along.
David Duchovny: Well, it’s an interesting question about charity and the human psyche. I mean I think we can deal with individual examples of pain much better. If you were to sit and actually dwell upon the amount of pain in this world – it’s paralyzing. So who knows whether or not in New York, you become more sensitive or desensitized to it? I don’t know. That’s the kind of discussions about violence and sex in movies and film and television – you’re not going to figure out the calculus of what leads to what. There’s never going to be an equation. So stop trying to draw the line.
Ron Bennington: Yeah. At some point, I think even when people say it’s about personal responsibility – you’re still looking at generations that it would take to fix some of these problems. You would still say….
David Duchovny: Well, there’s no fixing of humanity. We are who we are.
Ron Bennington: Right.
David Duchovny: I mean warts and all, right? You can’t fix it. You can only hope to limit the amount of pain people go through.
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Duchovny Talks About Why He Doesn’t Read Reviews
Ron Bennington: Do you read reviews?
David Duchovny: No.
Ron Bennington: Stay away from it. Have you always done that? Your whole career?
David Duchovny: No. I read some bad ones. (laughs) If I was reading good ones, I don’t think I would have made that decision.
Ron Bennington: So was there a certain review where you were just like – I’m done.
Ron Bennington: Right. Because even a good review – there’s something in there that pisses you off. Something.
David Duchovny: Well, if there were critics who were critical in a way that is helpful, in a way that is constructive – if there was a dialogue between creators and critics. Maybe there was at some point in a culture. Certainly not now. I don’t think, because it’s like the tenor of criticism, at least music and television criticism has been very personal and very wrapped up in the past work of somebody – the past life of somebody. There’s all these ideas that are brought to bare upon this individual work of art which should be standing on it’s own.
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Ron Bennington: ”Californication” – it’s an amazing show and 6th season and no end in sight, man.
David Duchovny: You never know with cable. You never know.
Ron Bennington: You never know with cable, but sooner or later, Hank’s going to end up face down on the floor.
David Duchovny: He’s got to die. He’s got to die. He’s got to die youngish.
Ron Bennington: Thanks so much for stopping by.
David Duchovny: Thank you.
Ron Bennington: It’s always interesting to talk to you. I’ll see you next time coming through.
David Duchovny: Thanks man. Thanks.
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