David Duchovny keeps head above water

David Duchovny learned the hard way; submarines are cramped.

He plays a KGB operative aboard a sub in “Phantom,” which was filmed using an actual “Russian Cold War-era sub,” Duchovny, 52, said this week.

“It was smaller than I thought because there’s no space on a submarine that’s not functional and it was all true. Nothing had to be done to make this seem real: It was real.

“I didn’t feel claustrophobic but at one point somebody forgot to switch something and it started to take on thousands of gallons of water and it was listing (but never sinking). If we were really underwater I’d have felt differently.”

Submarine movies have been popular since the silent era, and Duchovny understands their masculine appeal.

“I wouldn’t call it a chick flick but it’s the same as ‘Lifeboat’ or ‘12 Angry Men,’ ” he said. “You put these combustible elements where characters want different things and they’re trapped, they can’t get out.

“There’s something about that, that is appealing dramatically. And something about a submarine is just cool. We don’t go into them but we wonder, ‘Would I feel claustrophobic? What would it be like 20,000 leagues below the surface?’”

For the actor who became famous as FBI agent Fox Mulder on “The X-Files” and has scored for six seasons as a raunchy writer with “Californication,” Duchovny’s recent film roles include Goat Man in “Goats” and now Bruni in “Phantom,” a fanatic eager to take over the sub and blow up the world.

“There’s no strategy,” he said of his choice of parts. “It’s what comes my way. When (director Todd Robinson) called me, one of the first things I asked was, why me? If I have to ask that, that’s a sign I should try to do it.”

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