Stylist Nancy Collini
Transcript The Men's Book 2011 (September/October)
Five years into Showtime’s decidedly adult sitcom Californication, David Duchovny continues to come out on top as irresistibly flawed, lady-loving author Hank Moody.
What makes a prime-time show stick? For much of the last decade, Showtime has been a leader in absorbing, R-rated weekly drama. Weeds, Dexter, The Tudors and The Big C have all done their part in establishing premium cable as the destination for small-screen creativity. Its stars are some of the most talented actors of stage and screen–and not just the leads. Perhaps our favorite of Showtime’s offerings is Californication, helmed by unsinkable x-factor David Duchovny.
Stylish,sexually charged and delightfully dysfunctional,Californication speaks to us with boundless libido and quick wit. But it’s Duchovny himself that first drew us in and keeps us coming back.
“I didn’t know what the show was at the beginning,” admits Duchovny. “Maybe [show creator] Tom Kapinos didn’t know, either. What I signed on for was grown-up humor, which frankly, was lacking in most films and TV. There are a lot of childish men in movies.”
That’s what he wanted, and that’s what viewers got, as Duchovny’s character, Hank Moody, found himself in an endless string of NSFW situations. (Duchovny’s depiction earned him the 2008 Best Actor Golden Globe.) Despite all the philandering antics—set against the backdrop of morally ambiguous Hollywood —Hank is considerate at his core, and the show’s heart beats to the time of Hank’s devotion to his ex-wife, Karen (Natascha McElhone), and daughter, Becca (Madeleine Martin). “If the romance between Hank and Karen weren’t to weave in and out over five years, the show would have f loated away into nothingness,” insists Duchovny.
“Despite all the weirdness and comedy, it’s a given that we’re supposed to get back into the love story.”
Fans of the show love McElhone, a worldclass beauty who gives her character a longsuffering dynamism that few could. “I love watching Natascha work,” insists Duchovny. She has such a soulful way of acting. I can’t imagine it would have worked with anyone else playing her. She can carry that idea that this guy eventually wants to come home to her.”
Meanwhile, young Miss Martin is shockingly good, considering her age… This year she can finally vote.“Maddy is just kind of amazing,” Duchovny enthuses. “I’ve worked a few times with young people who were born to act. Personally, I
Came to it late, and then there are these freaks of nature who are just actors. That’s how good and confident [Martin] is.”
Duchovny was born and raised in New York City, and was on his way to earning a Ph.D. in English lit at Yale before trying his hand at acting. But Martin was in her early teens when the show began filming, and Duchovny recalls moments that had to be monitored for her protection. “She’s of age now, but we’ve always been protective of her,” he says. “When we would do the table reads of the show, for Showtime’s benefit, Maddy would sit there with her iPod on for the scenes she wasn’t in. These days, she can hear the whole thing.”
He gives much credit to the writers of the show and his co-stars, yet it’s his embodiment of this strange and hypnotic character that truly propels Cali fornication.“I think the key to Hank is the honesty that he holds true to,” Duchovny says. “Hank doesn’t weather hypocrisy gladly or easily. He has an inability not to tell the truth. It’s his major flaw, and virtue as well. In a way, it’s very chivalrous.”
During his career, Duchovny has established a peculiar knack for quirky portrayals and for playing flawed heroes.Most famously, he played Agent Fox Mulder in The X-Files, but was also lauded for his performances in big- and small-screen hits like Twin Peaks, Kalifornia, Zoolander, The TV Set and The Joneses (the latter of which featured Demi Moore and Amber Heard, and was filmed over a six-week period in Alpharetta). But Duchovny recently added a particularly odd duck to his filmography in the form of indie film, Goats, costarring Vera Farmiga, Minnie Driver, Ty Burrell and Keri Russell. Set in Arizona, Goats is a sweet coming-of-age story in which 16-year-old Ellis (Graham Phillips) returns from a prep school back East and establishes a Mr. Miyagi-like dynamic with the “Goat Man,” aka Duchovny. “I’m the pool man, the landscaper, who takes on the role of de facto mentor,” Duchovny reveals. “I’m the pot-smoking, goat-herding mentor. It’s a nice and clever script. It could be a funny, sweet movie. I hope to God it comes out that way.”
Indeed, one of Duchovny’s biggest fears as an actor is the idea that a labor of love like Goats will not live up to its potential on the big screen. “That’s the worst,” he says. “It’s a punch in the stomach. But you never know. As you get more experienced, and you do enough films, you realize you just can’t know. Things can go terribly wrong after filming—things you can’t always tell on the set.”
Regardless of the outcome, Duchovny’s made it his motto to always do his best work, and to look back on every project without regret. “It’s very important, when you’re doing a show or film, that you’re doing great work,” he says. “Just always do something new and fresh. You may see it and you go, ‘What the f**k…’ People forget about the biggest bombs–and the biggest hits, too, for that matter. You just have to get back up and keep on swinging.”
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