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SmartLess

"David Duchovny"

with David Duchovny

Published November 3, 2025
View Show Notes

About This Episode

The hosts talk with David Duchovny about his path from top-tier academic studies in English literature at Princeton and Yale to a multifaceted creative career as an actor, novelist, screenwriter, musician, and director. Duchovny describes how his family's literary background shaped his love of reading and writing, his early acting experiences and commercial work, the rise of The X-Files and its global impact, and his later work in music and fiction. They also discuss the challenges of reading discipline, managing multiple creative pursuits, fandom around The X-Files, and Duchovny's thoughts on the likelihood of extraterrestrial life.

Topics Covered

Acting craft Art and creativity Music career Television history Fame and celebrity culture Personal narrative Baseball Reading and literature Sports fandom UFOs

Disclaimer: We provide independent summaries of podcasts and are not affiliated with or endorsed in any way by any podcast or creator. All podcast names and content are the property of their respective owners. The views and opinions expressed within the podcasts belong solely to the original hosts and guests and do not reflect the views or positions of Summapod.

Quick Takeaways

  • David Duchovny transitioned from pursuing a PhD in English literature at Yale to acting after being drawn to the collaborative and emotional aspects of performance.
  • His parents and grandparents instilled a deep respect for reading, writing, and education, which later fueled his work as a novelist and poet.
  • Duchovny's first on-camera jobs included beer commercials, and his earliest stage work involved an ambitious, darkly comic Bukowski adaptation performed in an S&M dungeon.
  • He initially resisted doing television, but The X-Files became a global hit that he now appreciates as a meaningful part of many fans' lives.
  • Duchovny writes novels in intense, focused stretches and uses his academic background naturally, often drawing on literary references from memory.
  • He taught himself guitar around the time of Californication, went on to write and perform rock music, and learned to adjust his stage presence, including how to work without an instrument as a "crutch."
  • The conversation explores how hard it can be to cultivate a reading habit for pleasure, contrasting Jason's struggle with Duchovny's upbringing in a book-centered household.
  • Duchovny believes it is statistically unlikely that humans are the only sentient life in the universe, even though he has not learned anything definitive about aliens from working on The X-Files.
  • He manages multiple careers by prioritizing whatever project is directly in front of him, dedicating months at a time to novel writing while fitting songwriting and acting around it.
  • Both Duchovny and the hosts emphasize the importance of respecting the roles and projects that resonated deeply with audiences, rather than trying to disown them.

Podcast Notes

Intro banter and recent host experiences

Opening chat about doing the show again and joking about a blood pact

Hosts joke about whether they made a blood pact and one of them not remembering who it was with[2:08]
They transition into the show's standard "Smart. Less." intro rhythm[2:30]

Dodgers game outing and Will being left out

One host shares that people said he'd become like the "Jack Nicholson of the Dodgers" because he's on the broadcast a lot[2:43]
• They note he appears on the Dodgers broadcast frequently, mirroring Jack Nicholson's presence at Lakers games
Two hosts attended a Dodgers game together and were called "two-thirds of the Smartless crew" by people at the game[3:10]
• They tease that players or staff jokingly asked "where's our money?" when they saw them
Will jokes about repeatedly being left out of events like dinners and games[3:11]
They reference upcoming travel plans to Rome, again teasing Will about not being included[3:14]

Remembering a World Series game and baseball moments

They recall going to what they think was Game 1 of the World Series when Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off grand slam[3:46]
• They debate whether it was the first or last game of the series and clarify it was the first game
They jokingly say the Yankees "dropped the ball" on the series, acknowledging it as a pun[4:10]
• One host notes that the comment may have alienated a large number of Yankee fans

Jason's finger injury right before recording

Jason explains he injured his finger minutes before the show while playing with his dog and tripping[4:36]
• He grabbed a door to break his fall and his finger bent all the way back, prompting him to ice it
They note how lucky it is that he finished his play run, because he wouldn't have been able to perform with that injury[4:55]

Sean's dog Ricky and bringing dogs to other people's houses

Jason asks why Sean and his wife have separately asked if their dogs are good with other dogs[5:02]
• Sean says he wants to bring his dog Ricky over when he comes to see a movie but doesn't want conflict with their dogs
Jason questions why Ricky needs so much constant company and notes they left Ricky alone for almost a year while abroad[5:52]
• Sean says as a dog owner he doesn't like leaving Ricky alone for three to four hours
Will voices a broader complaint that people increasingly bring dogs to other people's houses and assume it's acceptable[6:11]
• He emphasizes that even as a dog lover, he believes you don't need to bring your dog everywhere because it can create messes and chaos

Mock-psychoanalyzing Jason's irritation

Will imagines Jason stewing about the dog request days earlier, describing him in a chair with a fire on, watching cable news and scowling[7:03]
• They jokingly reference Jason's "pre-scowl" that warns his wife to be cautious before entering the room
Jason jokes that he "will scratch" and that his wife is afraid of "dad"[6:57]

Live show mention and side bet about guests

Hollywood Bowl live show plug and ticket joking

They mention an upcoming Smartless live show at the Hollywood Bowl on November 15th[8:30]
• Jason jokingly asks if he needs to buy tickets and requests stage seats, and they talk about giving him two comps including a plus one
They express nerves about performing at the Hollywood Bowl given how hard it is just to make the podcast[8:30]

Side bet about whose guest is "bigger"

Will and Jason both tease that their individual guests for the live show are huge movie stars and propose a side bet on whose is bigger[8:30]
• Sean is designated as the judge, and they jokingly describe a $10, $10, $20 bet with automatic presses

Introducing David Duchovny and his credentials

Comprehensive intro of David Duchovny

Will introduces David Duchovny as an award-winning actor, writer, director, New York Times bestselling author, podcaster, singer-songwriter, and multiple Golden Globe and Emmy nominee[9:46]
• He notes Duchovny has SAG Awards, a degree from Princeton, a master's in literature from Yale, and an unfinished PhD
They mention he is known for an iconic TV show that was his breakthrough after years of work[10:02]
They formally welcome "David Duchovny" to the show, and Sean admits he expected him as the guest[10:21]

Questioning his move from academia to show business

Sean points out that Duchovny graduated at the top of his high school class, went to Princeton and Yale, and then seemingly "lowered" himself by entering show business[11:06]
• Duchovny jokes that he must have a "gaping hole" inside him that led him to "slum it" with actors
He explains that at Princeton he majored in English literature and wrote his thesis on Samuel Beckett's novels[11:48]
• He chose the novels because few people wrote about them, meaning he didn't have to do much research and could "make the shit up" himself without comparisons

Mellon Fellowship and Yale graduate work

After Princeton, Duchovny took a year off to travel, knowing only that he wanted to be a writer[12:14]
He received a Mellon Fellowship aimed at steering potential high earners into academia by supporting PhD study[12:21]
• He used the fellowship to go to Yale intending to become a professor of English literature and write novels in the summers
He confirms he has written four or five novels and recently released a book of poems[12:57]

Music career and learning guitar

Discussing Duchovny's albums and musical style

They note Duchovny has released multiple records and toured in Europe and the U.S.[13:08]
• Will praises his music, calling it genuinely good rather than a vanity project, and specifically mentions liking the song "Hell or High Water"
Duchovny describes his music as rock and roll, leaning toward 70s and late-60s rock with some overlap with 90s indie rock[13:51]
• He says 90s music "garage-ified" 70s rock, and that he stays away from jazzy, "yacht rock" territory

Stage presence, singing, and relationship with the guitar

Duchovny explains he is largely self-taught on guitar and can't reliably play the same way twice, so he doesn't play on stage out of respect for his band[14:20]
• He writes the songs and sings them, but without a guitar on stage he doesn't know what to do with his hands and tends to cling to the mic stand
He initially moved around a lot on stage like an emcee wanting people to have a good time, but his wife suggested he didn't need to move so much[15:04]
• Seeing Liam Gallagher's stillness on stage showed him how powerful being still can be compared to nervous movement
He admits he sometimes closes his eyes when singing but worries about missing things happening in the audience[15:34]

Reading discipline, family background, and love of books

Jason's struggle to sit and read for pleasure

Jason says he doesn't read for pleasure and is envious of people who can sit quietly and read for long periods[16:11]
• He describes the difficulty of choosing to sit in silence with a book instead of doing countless other things, even though he has discipline in other areas
Duchovny is surprised because Jason seems like a reader and notes that Jason has loved the few books he's read when pushed[17:42]
• Jason recalls enjoying a novel while lonely on a location job, using the book as an escape from his surroundings

Duchovny's parental and ancestral influence toward education and writing

Duchovny explains that his mother grew up in a small Scottish town in a family of fishmongers and saw education as the only way out[17:29]
• Through a genealogy TV show he learned that an ancestor was literally listed as "widow of fishmonger" as an occupation
His mother was the first person in her family to go to college, in the 1940s, and strongly believed in education and reading as tools for social mobility[18:22]
On his father's side, his grandfather wrote serialized, cliffhanger stories in Yiddish for the newspaper The Forward[18:38]
• His grandfather's stories featured melodramatic scenarios like someone being tied to train tracks, in a Dickensian style
Duchovny's father always called himself a novelist while working a nine-to-five job, and finally published his first novel at age 73, two years before he died[19:27]
• He jokes that his father became a "hot young novelist" in his seventies, reinforcing the family's respect for writing
Duchovny summarizes that he grew up in a household where respect for the written word and for education was foundational[19:05]

Using academic learning in his fiction and engaging with literary tradition

He says that starting to write novels about ten years ago finally let him feel he'd joined the "conversation" with the writers he admired[20:08]
• He mentions seeing online comments accusing him of showing off his learning with literary references, but clarifies he writes without books around and draws from memory
He compares this sense of joining a long-running conversation to actors eventually feeling they are in conversation with their own heroes through the work they do[20:22]

Path from academia to acting

Taking drama classes at Yale and first stage experiences

While pursuing his PhD at Yale, Duchovny gravitated to the drama school, taking writing classes and meeting actors[21:17]
• He originally framed it as research for writing plays so he could understand what it felt like to say lines on stage
Actors recruited him for a Schnitzler play where he had only a line or two, and he enjoyed the experience without any revelation[21:31]
• Overconfident after the first performance, he smoked a joint before the second and found that the show went badly, realizing he "didn't have anything" under that state

Formal acting training and shift in career intention

He began studying in New York with Marcia Haufrecht, who taught Strasberg Method and was connected to the Actors Studio[22:31]
• Those classes emphasized the interior emotional world, which he found hard to explore once he became a working actor with practical pressures
Initially he rationalized acting as a way to inform his playwriting, but eventually he was drawn to the teamwork and high-wire pressure of performance itself[24:04]
• He compares different life pursuits to different games, each with its own rules and strengths to develop, and saw acting as a separate game from academia

Early professional work: commercials and experimental theater

First paid job: Michelob beer commercial

Duchovny recalls his first paying job as a Michelob beer commercial where he meets an old professor at a bar[24:55]
• He was extremely tense and nervous despite being in his mid-twenties and feeling he'd staked his life on this new career
To loosen up, he started tossing pretzels into his mouth, which the director initially loved and then eventually told him to stop once they had it[24:59]

Bukowski adaptation with a blow-up doll in an S&M dungeon

His acting class staged one-acts in an S&M dungeon and he adapted Charles Bukowski's short story "The Copulating Mermaid of Venice, California"[26:13]
• In the story, two men steal a body from a morgue, one has sex with the seemingly dead woman out of shame, then forces his friend to do the same, and later claims she came to life as a mermaid and swam away
Female classmates initially volunteered to play the corpse, but none showed up when it was time to perform, leaving them without a body[27:10]
• The dominatrix who ran the dungeon, Magda, offered a blow-up doll as the corpse substitute
During the first performance, the blow-up doll's arms and legs flailed comically while he was trying to play an intense scene, making the audience laugh[28:09]
• Between shows he went to a sporting goods store and bought ankle weights to hold the doll's limbs down, reducing but not eliminating the unintended movement
He staged a moment where he returns "wet" from the ocean by sponging himself with a pail of water offstage, only to realize the audience could hear him doing it, undermining the illusion[28:05]
• The play only ran for two nights but left a vivid memory as his first significant stage venture

Breaking into film and TV, and The X-Files

First film role via Henry Jaglom and getting an agent

An early girlfriend, Maggie Wheeler, got him a part in Henry Jaglom's independent film "New Year's Day"[29:47]
• He had a couple of notable scenes which helped him in Los Angeles by giving him film footage to show, leading to agency representation

Moving to Los Angeles and survival jobs

He moved to LA with few roots, lived in an efficiency apartment on 4th Street in Santa Monica without a kitchen, and washed dishes in the shower[30:31]
• He catered events and bartended, including a wedding at Anthony Edwards' house, before later working near him when other shows were taping
Commercials provided much of his early income, and he auditioned heavily for TV roles without initial success[31:56]

Context for TV testing process and contracts

The hosts explain the traditional network testing process where actors sign multi-year contracts and then audition in front of executives with no leverage if they get the part[33:06]
• They emphasize how nerve-wracking it is to sign a five-year deal with a specific episodic fee while still broke and then perform under that pressure

Landing The X-Files and Fox's early days

Duchovny says The X-Files came through a standard audition, but he initially didn't want to do television because of a strict divide between TV and film actors at the time[33:53]
He describes Fox in 1993 as an upstart network with limited programming and reach, making their ratings bar different from the big three networks[34:50]
• Series like Married with Children and 90210 were among Fox's early hits, but it lacked an established drama slate when The X-Files launched
He notes that by the third year The X-Files felt huge globally, even if it had begun as a modest hit on a smaller network[36:16]

Filming in Vancouver and learning on the job

Duchovny says he initially loved relocating to Vancouver because he lacked roots in LA and could focus on the work away from industry noise[36:36]
• He praises Vancouver as a beautiful part of the world and notes that isolation from Hollywood let them concentrate on making the show without constant feedback
Long 14-hour days on The X-Files served as his real acting education, forcing him to perform daily under demanding conditions[38:10]

Bias toward film and evolution of TV acting

Duchovny acknowledges he had a built-in bias that film acting was higher status, partly because TV acting he grew up watching felt different in quality[38:13]
• He mentions that his more subtle, "movie-style" acting had previously hurt his chances in TV auditions, with people saying he "was a movie star" but still not hiring him

Writing and directing episodes, including a baseball story

Duchovny wrote and directed several X-Files episodes, including a baseball-themed one called "The Unnatural"[40:26]
• He notes that this episode would interest Jason because of its baseball angle and encourages him to watch it

Respecting The X-Files' legacy and fan connection

He admits that at one time he wanted to leave the show behind and reinvent himself, but his view changed with age[41:48]
• Over time he came to see that The X-Files holds a specific place in people's lives and that he represents that to them, making it important not to dismiss it
He says it would make him an "asshole" not to respect what the show means to fans, even if the significance is not personal to him in the same way[43:39]
• The hosts echo this sentiment by reflecting on their own roles that resonated with audiences and how rejecting them can alienate fans and deprive themselves of appreciation

Writing novels, screenplays, and managing multiple creative pursuits

From screenplay to novel to film with "Bucky Fucking Dent"

Duchovny originally wrote "Bucky Fucking Dent" as a screenplay around 2005-2006 but struggled to get it made[45:25]
• He eventually turned it into a novel and later directed a film adaptation, finding that writing the novel was the best preparation for directing
He offers to send Jason a copy of the book for a plane ride and describes it as "near baseball" fiction rather than non-fiction[46:37]

Preferred tone and genre as writer and actor

Duchovny cites James L. Brooks films like "Terms of Endearment" as models for the emotional-comic balance he seeks in his work[47:34]
• He likes stories that move fluidly between deep emotion and humor, and says this balance is where he "lives" creatively

Time management across novels, acting, and music

In response to a direct question about time management, Duchovny says he focuses on whatever project is directly in front of him[48:10]
• Songwriting can happen at any time with a guitar, but novel writing requires everything else to stop so he can work eight-hour days for a few months
He cannot write while acting or directing, needing to compartmentalize those activities[49:45]
He admits he doesn't have a single overriding goal; instead he feels a lifelong "itch" to satisfy rather than short-term objectives[49:47]
• His current ambitions include making a series from one of his novels and acting in a movie he wrote that is scheduled to shoot in February

Recent and upcoming screen projects

They mention a new series titled "Malice" with Duchovny that is set to come out in November on Amazon[51:51]
• Duchovny notes that he has a movie he wrote but is not directing, in which he will be acting, illustrating his various creative roles

Views on extraterrestrial life and alien lore

Probability of alien life vs. human uniqueness

When asked whether he learned anything from The X-Files about aliens, Duchovny says he did not learn anything definitive[53:02]
He believes the odds strongly favor extraterrestrial life given the vast number of galaxies, planets, and "Goldilocks" planets[55:02]
• He suggests we may not yet have the technology to perceive them, and that they may exist in ways or spaces we cannot currently detect

Humorous speculation about abductions and probes

Duchovny jokes about an old practice of putting deviants and criminals on a "ship of fools" and imagines alien civilizations doing the same with their deviants and dentists[54:25]
• He comically suggests that alien abduction stories involving anal probes and dental drilling might stem from such a vessel reaching Earth

Hobbies, TV viewing, and sports fandom

Lack of hobbies and TV guilty pleasures

Duchovny says he is bad with hobbies and feels he should have one, but he doesn't[57:05]
• Despite that, he does watch television and mentions watching "Love Island," noting the surprising length of each season

Baseball and basketball fandom

Duchovny confirms he is a big Yankees fan and references having a big day as a Yankees supporter on the day of the recording[57:56]
He says his favorite sport to watch is basketball and that his NBA team is the New York Knicks, aligning with his New York upbringing[1:01:24]
• He explains his Knicks fandom by simply saying he grew up in New York and that's the team he gravitated to

Discussion of the hosts' fathers as late-in-life novelists

Will shares that his father wrote and published novels after retirement, including one released around age 86[27:29]
• He names his father's book "The Monmouth Manifesto" and describes it as historical fiction connected to the American Revolution and loyalists moving to Canada

Wrap-up: appreciation and playful closing banter

Thanking Duchovny and recapping his range of talents

The hosts thank David Duchovny for spending extra time with them, noting they rarely go over but did so because they enjoyed the conversation[1:11:48]
• They list his roles again: actor, writer, screenwriter, novelist, musician, academic, and "all around great guy"

Post-guest debrief: admiration for his intellect and résumé

After he leaves, they describe him as confident and smart, linking his confidence to his intelligence and accomplishments[1:13:01]
Sean is amazed by Duchovny's academic path-top of his high school class, Princeton, Yale, master's in English literature, then acting lessons and commercials[1:13:07]
• They laugh about imagining his parents' expectations and then seeing his first job involving sex with an inflatable doll on stage

Light riffing on the title "Malice" and failed bit

They playfully speculate on what the show "Malice" might be about, including a jokey idea of it being about a girlfriend named Alice ("M-Alice")[1:15:33]
• A host alludes to having tried to tee up a joke about the title that didn't land, and they move toward outro music and credits

Lessons Learned

Actionable insights and wisdom you can apply to your business, career, and personal life.

1

A strong intellectual or academic foundation does not limit you to one path; it can enrich creative careers in acting, writing, and music by giving you deeper references, discipline, and perspective.

Reflection Questions:

  • • How could your existing education or specialized knowledge be used more creatively in the work you do now?
  • • Where might you be assuming that your background locks you into a particular path when it could actually be a unique advantage elsewhere?
  • • What is one concrete way you could bring more of your intellectual interests into a current creative or professional project this month?
2

Respecting the projects and roles that made you known-rather than running from them-builds a healthier relationship with your audience and with your own history.

Reflection Questions:

  • • What past success or role in your life have you been subtly trying to distance yourself from, and why?
  • • How might treating that earlier work as something to honor instead of escape change how you show up with colleagues, clients, or fans?
  • • What specific action could you take this week to acknowledge and appreciate a past project that opened doors for you?
3

Deep work on complex projects (like a novel or major initiative) often requires focused, time-bound immersion rather than multitasking across many ambitions at once.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Which of your current goals would benefit most from an uninterrupted block of focused work over the next few months?
  • • How could you structure your schedule so that, for a defined period, one project clearly takes priority over everything else?
  • • What distractions or competing commitments would you need to pause temporarily in order to give one important project the immersion it deserves?
4

Creative growth often comes from stepping into unfamiliar roles-like moving from solitary writing into collaborative performance-because each "game" trains different strengths.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Which adjacent role or "game" in your field have you been curious about but hesitant to try (for example, presenting instead of just preparing)?
  • • How might experimenting in a neighboring discipline sharpen skills you can bring back to your main craft?
  • • What small, low-risk experiment could you run in the next 30 days to test yourself in a new but related role?
5

Lifelong curiosity, fueled by reading and learning, compounds over time and eventually lets you join the broader "conversation" in your field rather than just observe it.

Reflection Questions:

  • • What subject or body of work do you feel drawn to but haven't yet explored deeply enough to participate in its conversation?
  • • How could you build a modest but consistent reading or learning habit that aligns with that area instead of trying to overhaul everything at once?
  • • Which book, article series, or course could you commit to finishing in the next six weeks that would move you from spectator to emerging participant in a conversation you care about?

Episode Summary - Notes by Hayden

"David Duchovny"
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