abbey at the Haven found (and maybe transcribed) this article from
the 4-25-05 INTELLIGENCER (don't know what city it's based in),
from HOD's 4-8-05 Philadelphia press day:
http://community.idealistshaven.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49104
Duchovny makes directbrial debut
"House of D" stars the director's real-life wife, Tea Leoni,
and Robin Williams.
By Lou Gaul
The Intelligencer
For his big-screen directing debut, former "X-Files" favorite
David Duchovny decided to give his fans a tale that qualifies
as one from the heart.
With "House of D," which opens Friday, the 44-year-old
actor-turned-filmmaker offers a coming-of-age story about a
13-year-old boy (Anton Yelchin of "Hearts of Atlantis") living in
Greenwich Villiage in 1973. The teen deals with his emotionally
unstable widowed mother, is best friends with a mentally challenged
delivery man (Robin Williams), and receives advice from an inmate
(singer-turned-actress Erykah Badu) at the women's House of Detention
referred to in the title. Duchovny plays the boy as an adult.
That emotional choice may surprise some of the fans of Duchovny,
an intellectual who earned an undergraduate degree from Princeton
University and a master's degree in English literature at Yale
University before discovering acting.
"I was at Yale and thinking I would be an academic who got a Ph.D.
and be on a tenure track," Duchovny recalls, speaking at his
Center City hotel when he visited to present "House of D" at
the 14th annual Philadelphia Film Festival. "Then, I got to
know some drama students, and they were having so much fun."
The son of a Jewish father and Scottish mother, who were both
writers, Duchovny was raised in Greenwich Village and received his
first screen break with a bit part in the comedy "Working Girl"
(1988). He co-starred in "The Rapture" (1991), an *****cally
charged tale, played a villain in the successful children's film
"Beethoven" (1992) and was cast as a potential victim in the serial
killer picture "Kalifornia" (1993) with Brad Pitt. He appeared in
a number of episodes of the *****c cable show "Red Shoes Diaries,"
created by Zalman King.
In 1993, Duchovny made his breakthrough as Special Agent Fox
Mulder in "The X-Files" (Fox; 1993-2002), created by Chris Carter
and co-starring Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully.
The innovative series concerned two FBI agents investigating
cases involving strange phenomena. (Each of the nine seasons
is available in a DVD boxed set for $99.99.)
The dark-themed series turned Duchovny into an overnight celebrity,
and he admitted to initially being seduced by the sudden popularity.
"I know fame from that show, so it's less of a mystery to me today,"
he says. "When I first started acting,I thought maybe I'd like
some of that (fame).
"Now, movie fame helps me to do this kind of film ('House of D')."
In 1998, the show spawned "X-Files: Fight the Future," a modestly
successful big-screen adaptation. A second movie inspired by the
show could become a reality.
"We all want to do it," Duchovny says. "It's just a matter of
Chris getting something on paper."
And how does Duchovny feel when viewing old episodes of "The X-Files"?
"It's almost like watching home movies," he says.
"I'll be watching and remember what I had for lunch that day.
I also watch it and think, 'This is really good.'"
No doubt viewing "House of D" has home-movie feel, since his wife,
Tea Leoni, with whom he has two children, plays a central character.
He jumped at the op****tunity to hire her.
"I did not hesitate to work with my wife," Duchovny says when
asked about the potential problems of directing a loved one.
"She asked and then was nervous about messing up my movie.
"I never had that feeling. I'm a big fan of her work."
With his bone-dry humor and laid-back charm, Duchovny enjoyed
success displaying his lighter touch on programs such as
"The Larry Sanders Show" with Gary Shandling and "*** and the City"
with Sarah Jessica Parker.
He showed his softer side in the charming romantic comedy
"Return to Me" (2000) with Minnie Driver,but that film never
clicked at the box-office. His big-budget fantasy comedy
"Evolution" (2001) with Julianne Moore and his musical comedy
"Connie and Carla" (2004) with Nia Vardalos suffered the same
financial fate.
Despite its modest $6 million budget, "House of D" couldn't find
a studio to back it until Williams decided to sup****t Duchovny
and work for scale.
"It would have been tough to make this film without Robin,"
Duchovny says. "This is a movie for adults starring
a 13-year-old boy. That's a difficult thing to sell."
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