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- [00:01]
A
Hi, I'm Chris Carter, creator of the X Files, and you're listening to the X Files Diaries.
- [00:15]
B
Well, hello again, everybody. Welcome back to X Files Diaries. I'm Annie.
- [00:20]
C
I'm Jen.
- [00:21]
B
And we have another really awesome interview for you guys today. To celebrate the 25th anniversary, Jen. Of Fight the Future, we have the one and only Chris Carter back to speak with us today.
- [00:36]
C
Yes, we do.
- [00:37]
B
You know, we had a great conversation with him last time. If you haven't listened, definitely go back and check that one out. But he had such a great time. He wanted to come back. And we were like, by all means, Chris. Let's do something more specific. Yeah. And so we all decided Fight the Future would be a great talk. Oh, my God. Do you see Benny? I'm so sorry, you guys. Benny is ruining my intro here because he is running around like he literally
- [01:00]
C
was just a blurb while your microphone just now.
- [01:03]
B
He jumped over the microphone. Not even kidding. Anyway, we could leave it in. It's all right.
- [01:08]
C
Good.
- [01:09]
B
So Fight the Future. And we had a great time talking to Chris about it. It's great. So to celebrate the anniversary, here you guys go. New interview with Chris Carter about Fight the Future. Well, thanks for coming back with us, Chris. This is really, really awesome to have you back. We're very excited to talk about Fight the Future. You know, it's turning 25 very soon. Right.
- [01:38]
A
It's amazing to me, right. When I watched it again, it was like, watching it for the first time.
- [01:44]
B
We were going to ask you that because you said you hadn't seen it in quite some time.
- [01:48]
C
Right.
- [01:48]
B
When's the last time you saw it?
- [01:50]
A
I honestly don't remember.
- [01:52]
B
What was that like, watching it again? Like, does it feel like. It doesn't feel dated to me whenever I watch. I mean, I've seen it many, many times, but.
- [02:01]
A
And the thing that really strikes me is what a beautiful job Rob Bowman did.
- [02:09]
C
Oh, yeah, yeah. Amazing.
- [02:12]
B
I spent a lot of time today just taking screen grabs of, like, just some of those beautiful shots. There are so many amazing shots. Particularly, there's one I think of when the. The kids in Texas are on their little swing set, and then it kind of lifts up over the fence, and then you see. Yeah.
- [02:30]
A
I love when those three little boys all point in the same direction.
- [02:34]
B
Yes.
- [02:35]
C
Yeah. On their bikes.
- [02:36]
B
Was that. I mean, was a lot of this stuff. Let's just jump right in here, I guess. Was a lot of this stuff. Were you there for, like, what percentage of the shooting were you present for?
- [02:44]
A
I want to say I was there the whole time, but I'm sure there were things that I missed or night shoots that I missed for some reason or another. That year was the hardest work year of my life.
- [03:00]
C
I'll bet.
- [03:01]
A
I had X Files Millennium and trying to make the X Files movie at the same time.
- [03:07]
C
Wow.
- [03:08]
B
Right, because you guys were making the movie during. Well, from script to production, you started around season four of X Files. Correct. And then, and then you were moved. You were still filming the movie while you were working on starting on season six.
- [03:23]
A
Right. And the thing about season six, this is another degree of difficulty. The thing about season six is it was shot in Los Angeles. So we had, we had moved from our home. We had to hire a whole new crew. So all those growing pains.
- [03:43]
C
Yeah.
- [03:44]
B
It's interesting because, I mean, Fight the Future was obviously quite an endeavor to make something that, you know, you're used to filming for television translate to the big screen. But from my point of view, it doesn't seem like. Because X Files is always sort of filmed in a very cinematography, beautiful way, almost like a feature way. So what was that transition like for you guys to. I mean, Rob Bowman's amazing. But was it difficult? Were there interesting difficulties that you had to go through?
- [04:14]
A
No, you know, we shot on film, so every day we would watch dailies in a trailer, which was a new thing. I had some more toys. The, the hardships were. No, they're roughly the same. It's just everything is going to be on a big screen. So the images are much more important because, you know, Gillian Anderson's face is going to be, you know, 20 foot tall.
- [04:48]
B
Right. Well, nothing wrong with that, but.
- [04:52]
A
And she looked so great in the movie. So, you know, they're young, they, they look, both of them look great. And it really, it. But it just takes. It's another level of nervousness that you've got something that's now got to translate to a bigger format.
- [05:13]
C
Yeah.
- [05:14]
B
Right. Well, let's talk a little bit about your process coming up with the story. I mean, it always makes me laugh every time I watch Fight the Future that it's called the X Files and yet the X Files are actually non existent in the movie, or at least they're closed. What was that decision? What went behind making that decision?
- [05:32]
A
It was a dramatic choice that Scully is thinking about leaving and then she does leave or then she is. The matter is taken out of her hands and then we reopen the X Files. So it was a choice that we made obviously prior to the making of the movie. Because we had to aim for that at the end of season five.
- [06:00]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's interesting too, because I'm wondering, as you're filming, well, making, creating, writing, seasons four and five, were there any plot points or situations that you sort of had to navigate around because you knew what was happening in the movie, like several episodes down the road? Like, do you recall any problems that you ran into story wise?
- [06:21]
A
No. Frank Spotnitz and I really were the people who oversaw the mythology and so we had full control over what we were doing. And we went to get. We went for. We. We went away together for Christmas vacation. I took my wife. He. He went with another person who worked on the show, Mary Estadorian, who is actually credited as associate producer on the show. And we went. When we went away for Christmas, we really figured everything out and imagined where we were headed and how to get there at the end of the season.
- [07:03]
B
Right.
- [07:05]
C
Was there ever any consideration for another storyline? Was this always going to be the store with this? Like, this was the one that you came up with from the beginning and it was like, yes, this is it. Or were there other ideas you threw around for stories that you might use for the movie?
- [07:20]
A
I think I'm going to say this was it because we had limited time. We had David Duchovny saying, if we're not going to do this, I'm going to go do something else. So we had kind of guns to our heads and we had. We couldn't kick around. We really. This was what we came up with and we stuck to it.
- [07:49]
C
Yeah, well, it worked out really well.
- [07:51]
B
Yeah. I. That's interesting too. I'm wondering because I remember hearing somewhere that you guys said that eventually the plan was to make features and end this. Like end the series and then make features. If you were going to do that, it was always going to be sort of a monster of the week plan. Or were you going to. Were you going to continue the mythology? Would that have been something you would have wanted to do?
- [08:14]
A
It's. Right now it's really. I can't remember what we were going to do. I can tell you right now that the Fox studio and network would never have let us in the TV show and make a series of movies.
- [08:29]
B
Right.
- [08:29]
A
The show was too successful and they would have figured out some other way to keep the TV show going.
- [08:38]
B
Right. I remember you talking about you went and saw the movie at the. Are you. I guess it was you and Frank that saw. At the Grammage Chinese Theater. You went and saw a screening of the movie and that everybody freaked out during the Almost Kiss scene. How many times did you. Do you remember seeing it in the theater? Was it. Was it many times, or did you. Did you just go around to many different theaters or what was that sort of time frame like for you when
- [09:03]
A
we hit the theaters? I went to the movies twice to watch it, although I had seen it on the big screen prior to seeing it at the Grauman's Man's Chinese Theater. Anyway, so I watched it twice, only in a pay, you know, a theater where I had to actually go in and pay money.
- [09:30]
B
Right.
- [09:32]
A
And I think by that point, I had seen it so many times I didn't need to go and see it again. But I don't know if I'm sure I talked about this or you heard about this, because I know I talked about it, that I went up to the balcony at the Grauman's Chinese Theater and I sat by myself, I should say. I didn't go up there with anyone else. There were people on the balcony, but I could look down. I could look down and see. And I think that's what you're referring to. I could see people's reactions to everything. They laughed at the right places, you know, they jumped at the right places. And that. All that was a thrill for me.
- [10:15]
B
That would have been new. Yeah. Like what? That would have been, really. That was the first time you're in the theater or in an environment with fans watching the show. Right.
- [10:23]
A
You don't. You watch it in editorial, and then you go home and watch it with your family.
- [10:30]
B
Right.
- [10:31]
A
That's always the way it was. And so you waited for a reaction online or however else you got it, and that was the way it worked here. You had. I had that experience. But all you have is box office, and so you, you know, that's. That's the indicator.
- [10:54]
B
Was there anything about the response of the fans, I mean, in the theaters with you? But also maybe afterwards hearing, you know, the scuttlebutt, so to speak, that surprised you, like anyone's reaction to the film? I mean, it was. It was successful, obviously, but were there any. Any reactions that surprised you that you recall reading or hearing about?
- [11:15]
A
No. You know, I. I think there were some bad reviews, but there are plenty of good reviews. No, I know that the studio is very happy because we came in on budget, that. That was a big thing. And, you know, the happy with the box office in the end and the way it was received and, yeah, you know, it probably couldn't have gone better and it's funny because the movie made $185 million, which today isn't all that much in box office, but I think worldwide it probably made considerably more money.
- [11:55]
B
I know that you guys followed. Was it Fox's first big film after Titanic? I'm trying to remember if that was the right timing.
- [12:04]
A
I think that Titanic was being made roughly at the same time. I just remember Fox being very nervous about that movie. It was so wildly over budget.
- [12:14]
B
Right, right.
- [12:16]
C
That probably made. Maybe they brought the hammer down on you guys a little bit more strictly because of all that. Maybe.
- [12:21]
A
Now that you mentioned that, I actually think that that's true. We were. They were scrutinizing us much more carefully because they had, you know, a wildfire burning out of control with Jim Cameron.
- [12:39]
C
They wanted to make sure they weren't going to have another one.
- [12:42]
B
Right. You had a property that was trustworthy, too. So they probably gave you a certain element of trust and, you know, I would assume so.
- [12:52]
A
You know, the television side of the business and the feature side of the business, they don't, they don't talk to each other. They. With the movie, we. We didn't get the green light until just before we started making the movie. And they pulled a fast one on us too, because without telling us, because they knew that that second unit that was up there filming on the ice or the snow, they actually gave them the go ahead and didn't tell us. So they were filming up there prior to our green light. And that. That was really shady of them.
- [13:34]
B
Yeah. I mean, because that's. Well, that's a very intense shoot too, for. To put you guys through.
- [13:40]
A
Exactly.
- [13:41]
B
Very well, let's talk about that. Let's get into some of the nitty gritty of the film here, shall we? I. I think it's such a cool choice for you guys to go the way you opened the movie with, you know, long, long, long ago, the North Texas. But it's snow. It's just very clever and fun. And then to cut to the. The boys falling through, jumping ahead in time and like, it's gotta be at least 15, 16 minutes before we even see Mulder and Scully. Was that a concern for you or were you just like, you know what? No, we want to make this like a episode of the show and we're going to make everybody wait. Like, was that a concern?
- [14:20]
A
Yeah, that's kind of like a big teaser. I think when you delay the introduction of your characters. And the introduction of Mulder is clever and the introduction of Scully is beautiful. When you delay, you know that that entry, that entrance, I should say, it makes it that much sweeter. And that was by design.
- [14:46]
B
Yeah, I love that. I think that the way you guys decided to introduce Mulder and Scully and the plot of the show and a very complex mythology to an outsider, to a way that was accessible to fans and people who probably maybe had never seen the X Files before, was really, really well done. I think that every time I'm watching it, because as a fan, I'm not bored watching Mulder give his spiel to the bartender. It's amazing, it's funny, it's entertaining, and it's telling everyone everything they need to know about this character in 15 seconds. So props to you guys.
- [15:25]
A
Thanks.
- [15:26]
B
I wanted to ask about this character, Michaux, played by Terry o'. Quinn. You guys obviously had him back multiple times on the X Files because he was in season two and then he came back in season nine. This is sort of a geeky question, but was is he supposed to be in any way connected to his character in season nine, the Shadow man character? Because Michaux is. He's a big character on the movie. He's very recognizable. And then I always think that maybe Shadow man is like a clone of him or something. Totally coincidence. He's shaking his head at me like,
- [16:03]
A
nope, you know, I'm going to tell you the reason, and it has nothing to do with Shadow Man. We just love Cherry o'. Quinn.
- [16:12]
B
Yeah. Okay.
- [16:13]
A
And, you know, he played a big part on Millennium, and you could give him a page of dialogue and he could do it. And on Millennium, where you have got a character like Lance Henriksen, Frank Black, who. Who's a man of few words, you give all the words to somebody like Terry o', Quinn, and he just. He carries these scenes, and we just love him. And he's gone on to great things.
- [16:41]
C
Yeah.
- [16:42]
B
Awesome. I. Martin Landau. What a get.
- [16:45]
A
Yeah.
- [16:46]
B
Was he in your mind when you wrote this character, or how did the casting process go for him?
- [16:51]
A
I honestly cannot remember. I was a big fan because I'd watched Mission Impossible as a kid, and he actually. He was a friend of a friend, and may. We may have seen him in something just before, but he seemed. Right now, it seems like the natural or inevitable choice, but I don't remember the way we actually got him.
- [17:20]
B
Jen, didn't we have a question from one of our listeners about the characters that were introduced in this with all the German names or something?
- [17:28]
C
Yeah, that was from Jeff. We asked our listeners if they had any questions. If by some chance we happened to be talking to Chris Carter about Fight the Future, and Jeff asked, why did so many of the characters in Fight the Future have German last names? In addition to Strughold, whom we know as a German industrialist, there was also Kurzweil and Bronze Fog. Was this a reference to Paperclip or was this just all kind of coincidental?
- [17:56]
A
Just coinc.
- [17:57]
C
Okay. I've always wondered that. So that's. That's. That's as good as answer is any.
- [18:02]
A
My grandfather was German and CGB Spender is. Those are. The initials are for Carl Gerhard Bush, who was my grandfather.
- [18:15]
B
Oh, named you after your grandfather.
- [18:18]
C
Yeah.
- [18:18]
B
I don't know how I feel about that. Chris.
- [18:22]
C
It's a great name. It's a great name.
- [18:24]
B
Perfect. Perfect.
- [18:25]
C
I love him.
- [18:27]
B
Let's talk about him, actually, because I have a question. I. I personally, I know Jen does as well. We both love John Neville, who plays the well Manicured man. And obviously he was been. He was given a bigger role in this, this movie because he was going to sort of be, I don't know, double agent kind of turn to help Mulder. I want to know, like, because his relationship between. Between him and Smoking man has always seemed particularly contentious, all the way back to season two, season three. Like, is there something in your mind? I like the idea that they have this, like, beef. Like, what's their beef, Chris?
- [19:09]
A
Well, you know, they. The wet Manicured Man, John Neville is the odd man out. When he shows up at that meeting, he realizes that his vote doesn't count. Of course, it sets everything in motion. But I mean, the well Manicured man and the cigarette Smoking man, the names tell the story. One is dapper and classy. Classy. And the secret Smoking man is a villain through and through, right? Yeah.
- [19:42]
B
Well said was the choice to make a well Manicured Man. I mean, he had. He's kind of been helpful from the start, although it's kind of his motivations are unclear. But I'm remembering, I think it was back in, like, season three, maybe Paperclip, around that time when he was kind of trying to protect Scully. Was it always your intention for him to unload all of this information on Mulder in the movie? Like, was that.
- [20:04]
A
Yes. Yeah. And then, of course, there's a price to pay for that.
- [20:10]
B
Right? Oh, I actually was gonna ask about that too, because.
- [20:14]
C
You go ahead.
- [20:15]
B
Yeah, no, go. You go ahead, Jen.
- [20:17]
C
All right, sure. I was just gonna. I was gonna ask, and it's a fairly obscure question about the plot, but I noticed in your audio commentary with Rob Bowman for Fight the Future, it's mentioned that well manicured man commits suicide. That's how he dies when his car explodes. Andy and I talked about it and we said, did we think it was suicide? Cause for some reason I had always assumed that he kind of expected to get murdered, but that it was a murder, not a suicide. I'm wondering, do you have any recollection about what your intention was with that?
- [20:52]
A
It's a suicide and he's gotta blow up the driver. Cause the driver would have outed him too. Right.
- [20:59]
B
All right. Okay. So he. He. He controlled that entire thing. He. He set the bomb. He knew that was going to happen. Okay, that does totally make sense.
- [21:09]
C
I get it now. Yeah. Yeah, because he doesn't want the driver telling people that, you know, well, manicured man gave the vaccine to Mulder and all that, so. Yeah. Oh, yeah, Okay. I totally get that now. I'm always learning. Always learning.
- [21:21]
B
Yeah. Yeah. No, that's interesting.
- [21:23]
A
Another beat in the movie, not dissimilar. That people can miss very easily. And that's when Mulder goes out to the ambulance.
- [21:34]
C
Yes.
- [21:36]
A
And the driver shoots him. And Mulder goes down. And he's lying there. And you may not realize it, but there's another ambulance pulling up behind the ambulance, right?
- [21:53]
B
Yeah.
- [21:53]
A
Did you guys get that?
- [21:55]
C
Yeah, I mean, I think I did. Like, the. The. The second ambulance is the ambulance that.
- [21:59]
A
That's the real.
- [22:00]
C
The real. The real ambulance that he called. Right. So he didn't call a real ambulance and then like, the fake ambulance showed up. Is that right?
- [22:07]
A
Exactly.
- [22:08]
B
Maybe you can clear this up for me then, because I'm curious.
- [22:10]
C
The.
- [22:11]
B
The first ambulance, were they just kind of laying in wait to get Scully? Yeah, but they didn't know the bee was on her. So were they just planning to break in and get her anyway, or. Like, what. What was their plan?
- [22:24]
A
You. You're going to stump me here. I don't remember how that happened. Unless they were lying in wait and they were bugging them or something.
- [22:35]
B
Yeah, Yeah. I mean, and the gunmen are like, searching around for stuff in there, so I imagine maybe they were just surveilling Scully and following her around. And the bee was just convenient. I suppose I'm just so distracted by the hallway romance that I just usually just don't even think about it.
- [22:52]
C
But, yeah, we didn't get that much into the logistics.
- [22:53]
B
Yeah, we're just.
- [22:54]
C
We're hung up on everything prior to that.
- [22:56]
A
And that. That was a trained b.
- [22:59]
C
Yes, that's A real bee, isn't it?
- [23:01]
A
Well, that. And that. That is the actual be in the vial at the end. I'm just teasing it.
- [23:07]
B
No, no, I was like, wait a minute. Wait for a second.
- [23:11]
C
Wow. Isn't that an interesting twist?
- [23:14]
B
I don't think that the. What is. The animal rights groups, they're going to let you keep that bee, but.
- [23:19]
A
Right.
- [23:20]
B
That would have been a cool souvenir, though.
- [23:22]
C
I would love to have that be.
- [23:25]
B
Well, well, Chris, let's talk about this. Let's talk about this hallway scene, because this is. This is a biggie for you guys for deciding to, you know, not have a kiss, but have an almost Kiss moment between Mulder and Scully here. This is obviously a huge shift in their established dynamic. So what went into the decision to do this here at. In the movie?
- [23:47]
A
Yeah, well, of course, you know, we had held off for how many years?
- [23:57]
C
Yeah, too many, Chris. That's how many.
- [23:59]
B
Very long time.
- [24:01]
A
And we've got this big screen event. We had to act, we had to do. We had to tell a big story for a big screen event. And because people had. Were, you know, on the edge of their seat about this kiss, because we have held out for so long, it was a perfect moment and time to do it for the movie. And of course, we take it away from you as soon as it happens.
- [24:30]
C
Yeah, it's true. Rex Files fashion.
- [24:32]
A
I actually think the most romantic scene is when Mulder's putting his coat around Scully and the spaceship.
- [24:39]
B
That's very. That's very sweet and also kind of sexy. I don't even know if it's supposed to be, but it is.
- [24:45]
A
It is.
- [24:46]
B
Yeah.
- [24:46]
C
Yeah, it is very sweet. There's a lot of. There's a lot of little sweet, sort of romantic, sexy moments throughout this movie. So. Yeah, that's just one of them.
- [24:54]
B
Yeah. Well, I. The interesting thing, and I wanted to ask you this because the fandom's in a bit of a tizzy and we need to clear something up here. There's apparently on the Blu Ray, there's something called the alternate bee sting where it looks like a kiss was filmed. An actual kiss. And we know that there were outtakes that were just silly. But my question is, what was this alternate scene like? Was it ever a possibility that a kiss was gonna happen and you guys were just gonna decide later, or was this just like, what was going on? Was it always meant to be an Almost Gotcha moment?
- [25:32]
A
An Almost Gotcha moment. I mean, it make. It stands to reason that if she's going to get stung by a bee. It's got to interrupt something or other. And, you know, it was scripted that they don't kiss. It's an almost.
- [25:48]
B
Okay. Yeah. Like you guys said, this was actually big in terms of the intent because there's clearly some stuff going on between them. And even though they're unable to kiss, we have to go on with the story. What was your decision then? To obviously. Which is what you decided to do in season six, decide. Nope. We're gonna. We're gonna reel it back. We're not gonna discuss the kiss, we're not gonna talk about. We're gonna go right back to square one. What. What were you guys. Were you just kind of like, you know what, let's just pretend that didn't happen or in your mind was like, what was going on with that decision? I'm just very curious, you know, it
- [26:26]
A
was a moment of madness for Mulder and Scully. They shouldn't have been doing what they were doing. And so I think it's like one of those things, like, that really didn't happen, did it?
- [26:35]
B
The denial.
- [26:36]
A
Yes.
- [26:36]
B
Right, That's. It's frustratingly authentic, I have to say.
- [26:42]
C
It is. That's what people do.
- [26:44]
A
Soon. Soon thereafter, they do kiss under the mistletoe.
- [26:49]
B
Well, it's. Or the New Year's, but yes. It's not soon, Chris. It's not soon. It's not a year later.
- [26:57]
C
But by X Files, I mean, we had waited, you know, five years. Then we get an almost kiss. Then the fact that we had to wait like a year, a year and a half for the real kiss by X File standard's not that long, in my opinion.
- [27:08]
B
I guess that's.
- [27:08]
C
I'm okay with it. And honest, honestly, the almost kiss I find incredibly hot. So I was actually pretty okay with it.
- [27:15]
A
I. I think so too. And there's. I. I don't know why there is. Even when Scully gets sung by the Bee, there's almost like a shit eating grin on Mulder's face. And it always throws me a little bit.
- [27:31]
B
No, for me, I mean, I don't know. Shit eating is the description I would use. It almost looks like he. I don't want to say is regretful, but like, he, like, oh, I. Like, I shouldn't have done that. Like, oh, like she. She's. She backed out at the last moment because he doesn't know what's happening. Like before, before he knows that she's gotten stung. He's just like, oh, I made. I went too far. Like, that's Kind of how I read it. So was that a David choice or you. You.
- [27:57]
A
That's a choice that David made.
- [27:59]
B
Oh, love that. I love it. It's. It threw you, but do you like it?
- [28:06]
A
Yeah, it just was unexpected.
- [28:08]
B
Yeah, but that feels, again, authentic. Yeah, yeah.
- [28:13]
C
No, I love it. I love everything about that scene.
- [28:16]
A
You know, there's something I've never mentioned to anybody, so you guys are getting at half the press.
- [28:21]
C
Ooh, we're all ears.
- [28:23]
A
I've never liked the way that David eats sunflower seeds.
- [28:30]
C
Oh, now you're gonna have to give us more. Like what? What exactly. About it does not appeal.
- [28:36]
A
It's probably the only way that he could do it and act, so I know why he made the choice. But I played baseball, and we ate sunflower seeds, which is where those sunflower seeds come from, anyway. And we used to take a handful and put them on our mouth in our cheek, and then we would crack them with our teeth, like most people do, and spit out the seeds. Seed, but the shell.
- [29:06]
B
Right.
- [29:07]
A
And so when he kind of cracks them with his teeth and his fingers, it's too delicate for me.
- [29:16]
B
It is a bit weird, right?
- [29:18]
A
Of course, you can't. He probably can't spit out a word of dialogue doing it.
- [29:22]
B
Right.
- [29:22]
A
We did it, so it makes sense. But every time I see him eat a sunflower seed, I like, come on.
- [29:32]
C
Did you ever, like. Did you ever consider, like, directing him to do it differently? Or you're just like, whatever David does is whatever he does?
- [29:39]
A
No, it made sense when I saw it at first. I was like, do I tell him? You can't. You can't act. Speak.
- [29:47]
B
Right.
- [29:48]
A
Sunflower seeds at the same time.
- [29:50]
C
Fair enough.
- [29:50]
B
You can't. You can't.
- [29:52]
A
Not the way I do it. Of course, I'm not an actor, so I can.
- [29:56]
B
That was the most hilarious anecdote, I think, ever.
- [29:59]
C
That is really interesting.
- [30:00]
B
It's always exactly what you're talking about.
- [30:02]
C
I do, too, because it's always thrown me too. I'm like. I always thought, is that really how people eat sunflower seeds? Because I didn't think it was, but I didn't really know anyone else that did, so now I know.
- [30:13]
A
Yeah.
- [30:14]
B
Yeah. That is really.
- [30:15]
C
That was actually really fun.
- [30:17]
B
Jen, did you. Before we move on from the hallway scene, since it's our favorite, did you have any questions for Chris about it?
- [30:23]
C
About the hallway scene?
- [30:25]
B
Yeah.
- [30:26]
C
I think you've referred to this before. Chris, was it your intention that there would be a sort of arc or link between the almost kiss in the hallway and then the mouth to most resuscitation scene in the spaceship near the end, Was that. Was there like a link in your mind, like this is the completion of the kiss, or is it just kind of a coincidental scene?
- [30:47]
A
Coincidental.
- [30:48]
C
Okay. Oh, fair enough.
- [30:50]
B
It worked out. It worked out perfectly.
- [30:52]
C
We kind of took what we could get at that point. I mean, I still feel like that the almost kiss was good enough. Certainly at that stage of the X Files. It was so exciting to see it come. Just to know the intention was there, I think was most important thing.
- [31:05]
B
Yeah, we're giving you a hard time, but we. We love it as it is.
- [31:09]
A
Okay?
- [31:10]
C
Absolutely. Absolutely.
- [31:12]
A
When I watched it last, it's the same thing struck me, and I. I don't think we ever thought about it. You're talking about the mouth to mouth.
- [31:22]
C
Yeah, right.
- [31:24]
A
I. I don't think we ever thought about it as any kind of substitute.
- [31:31]
B
Right, right. Yeah.
- [31:33]
C
That would not be. Not. That's not like the sexiest situation in which no bring lips together. So that's fair enough.
- [31:39]
A
Yeah.
- [31:40]
B
No, but. Yeah, that. I mean, I just keep thinking about what that. What that must have been like for you to be in that theater and hear all those people screaming. Like what? Like.
- [31:50]
A
Yeah.
- [31:50]
B
Was that just super rewarding or were you just like, wow, I had no clue so many people wanted them to kiss. Like, I. I'm just.
- [31:58]
A
You know, I have to say, one of the most rewarding things happened when I watched the movie recently. And it was my wife who seen the movie, you know, a lot. Well, she was doing something else, and when I put the movie on, she sat down and watched the whole thing with me. That for me, is. Was as satisfying as any audience reaction. Oh, nice.
- [32:26]
B
You know what? I think we're gonna take credit for that. Chris giving you guys a little date night. I like that. That's cute. Okay, so speaking of the kiss moment, moving into your season six arc, I have a question that Jen's gonna hate me for asking you, but I have to ask you. Was Diana Fowley even a thought in your mind when you were making the movie, or was this just. Was she kind of sort of a tool to keep. To reel back the Mulder and Scully relationship in season six, or was that just kind of a lucky coincidence?
- [33:02]
A
I think that was a lucky coincidence, and that's my recollection right now. Yeah, I think that's coincidental.
- [33:12]
B
When I say lucky, I think I mean for me and literally no one else.
- [33:16]
C
But this is an ongoing thing. Eddie I guess likes Diana Fowley. And I do not.
- [33:23]
B
I don't like Diana Fowley, but I enjoy the tension that she brought to the show. I thought that was a fun little thing. And Chris is nodding. He agrees with me.
- [33:33]
A
Yeah.
- [33:36]
B
So, yeah, obviously then she was never a thought in the movie. Like, I'm just curious if that was even a. Because she got shot at the end of the end. And then were you thinking she might die? Like, that was still up in the air or.
- [33:51]
A
Up in the air. And I have to say, she came about partly because of conversations I had with David, because actually, David and I collaborated in so many small ways. I'm sure that I told the story about how the alien bounty hunter came
- [34:12]
B
to be because he wrote On Colony.
- [34:15]
C
Right.
- [34:16]
A
You know, it ended up being a huge part of the show.
- [34:19]
B
Yeah.
- [34:19]
C
Yeah. Very cool.
- [34:21]
B
It was his idea then to have a. Like, a love triangle situation, is what you're saying, I think.
- [34:28]
A
Yeah, it would kind of.
- [34:30]
B
Okay.
- [34:31]
C
Interesting, interesting. I'm gonna jump in with another listener question along similar lines. This one was from Gante. Mulder. Was there any consideration given to including Krychek in the movie?
- [34:45]
A
Yeah, it's funny. There was consideration, and we would have loved to do it. We just couldn't figure out how to do it. You know, it was just one of those things that just didn't work. And we tried to. Of course, we included the Lone Gunman. You know, we. We. You know, we wanted to make it a family affair, and there's some things that just didn't work.
- [35:07]
C
Yeah.
- [35:07]
B
Yeah.
- [35:07]
C
Fair enough. Yeah. You fit in a lot. So really glad that you managed to squeeze in the Lone Gunman.
- [35:12]
B
Right. I was gonna say, I would probably rather have the Long Gunman in that situation. As much as I love Krychek, we have enough bad guys. We have a whole room full of syndicate people, so.
- [35:21]
A
Right.
- [35:22]
C
Yeah. I have to say, when I went to see the movie, the only thing in my theater that got as big a reaction as the Almost kiss was the appearance of the Lone Gunman. As soon as they appeared on the screen, there was such a cheer.
- [35:34]
A
Yeah. And that was a really fun day of filming as well. I. I don't know if you guys know, but the. The villain overseer in the hallway. That was the first assistant director on the movie.
- [35:52]
B
Oh.
- [35:53]
A
By Josh McLaughlin.
- [35:55]
C
All right. The. The guy who's hanging around the hallway keeping an eye on Mulder while he's in the hospital. Right.
- [36:02]
B
In the hospital. Yeah.
- [36:03]
C
Yeah. The bad guy.
- [36:04]
A
Yeah.
- [36:05]
C
That's the first assistant director.
- [36:06]
B
Love it.
- [36:07]
C
Just throw him in, you know. Here you have this role too. He does a great job, actually. He seems really sinister.
- [36:13]
A
I mean, it's no dialogue, but he played the part.
- [36:17]
C
He absolutely did look the part too.
- [36:20]
B
I also heard that David really enjoyed showing off his bare butt in this scene. Is that true?
- [36:29]
A
Yeah, Any time to show your bare butt, you know, that's what the big screen allows.
- [36:37]
B
I didn't make that up, Chris. I heard that somewhere, I promise.
- [36:41]
C
Oh, can I jump in with it? Speaking about what the big screen allows, this is just completely out of left field, but there's rumors that. That you had the opportunity to have one fuck in the movie and that it was going to be Scully that was going to have it. Was that true? Or then why did you cut it? If so,
- [37:01]
A
I don't recall. Because they do give you one for PG 13. Yeah, but if someone were to get that honor, it would have been Scully.
- [37:10]
C
That's good enough. We're gonna give. We're gonna give her an honorary Fox. That's good enough for me.
- [37:15]
B
I think that part that you're talking about, Jen, was when he. They. They're driving and they first pull up to the trains and they.
- [37:21]
C
That's what I'm thinking.
- [37:22]
B
And she says, I don't fucking believe this.
- [37:24]
C
Something like that, I think was like the original perhaps thought. But yeah, I mean, the fact that she. She should have gotten it is good enough for me.
- [37:32]
B
I love it. I have another random sort of plot question that's actually a listener question from Kathy G. And I'm wondering if you'll remember this, Chris. Near the beginning of the movie, when Mulder gets into the cab and he's drunk, he says to the driver, arlington.
- [37:52]
A
Yeah.
- [37:53]
B
I don't know if you realize how this troubles fans because Molder doesn't live in Arlington. Was this an error or is this like a secret location he's going to that we are unaware of of.
- [38:04]
A
He's going to another bar.
- [38:06]
B
Oh, I love that answer.
- [38:12]
C
Like his favorite late night bar.
- [38:14]
A
Exactly.
- [38:15]
B
You heard it here, folks.
- [38:17]
C
I like it.
- [38:17]
B
And then. And then he decided actually to sober up and go see Scully instead. All right, I enjoy that.
- [38:24]
C
That's a great. That's a great answer. I don't know why it never occurred to me that he was just going to another bar, but that makes perfect sense.
- [38:29]
B
I'm so impressed because I was expecting you to be like, I don't know. He was right. Not an answer.
- [38:35]
C
That was great. I love it.
- [38:39]
B
I have another question about the space. Okay. I've always kind of wondered this about the spaceship near the end when they're in Antarctica and they have this huge. There's this huge, massive spaceship with all of the human subjects that are mutating into the. Who are all these people? I. Are they alien abductees? Like, it's a massive amount of missing people. Right. Like, what. What's the thinking behind that? Like, who are all these people?
- [39:07]
A
I don't know.
- [39:11]
B
I always wonder. But it could be abductees. Right? That's kind of what I was thinking, that he's.
- [39:17]
A
And how many people disappear without a trace.
- [39:20]
B
Right.
- [39:21]
A
Every year? I mean, you know, it's. It's got to be thousands.
- [39:25]
B
But it's in theory. These are people that, like the Syndicate is kidnapping, I guess, or just taking for their experiments. That's a lot of people. There's some evil. Evil people. I mean, we know this, but this ups their evilness. I love it.
- [39:40]
C
Absolutely. You know, big screen, big evil.
- [39:44]
A
I wonder if anyone has ever imagined how many bodies there are in that spaceship by looking at the scale of it.
- [39:55]
B
A lot. A lot.
- [39:56]
A
Yeah.
- [39:57]
B
I'm just like, yeah, you're right. Like, people disappear every day, but that's a lot of people that have disappeared.
- [40:02]
C
That's very chilling.
- [40:03]
A
But, yeah, chilling is the word I would use to.
- [40:07]
C
Chilling.
- [40:07]
B
Yeah.
- [40:08]
C
Can I jump in with a spaceship related question? Speaking of the spaceship, this is another sort of contentious question amongst the. The fans. When the spaceship is taking off, Mulder sees the spaceship. Scully's sort of out of it at that point. She. She kind of seems to be saying something. And on like the Blu Ray, the closed captioning has her saying, I see it, but that doesn't seem to be in the script. Can you tell us, does Scully say, I see it when the spaceship takes off? No, she doesn't say that.
- [40:41]
B
It seems like quite an egregious closed captioning error, isn't that.
- [40:46]
A
I mean, I had nothing to do with closed captioning.
- [40:49]
B
Right.
- [40:51]
A
And in fact, that my DVD doesn't include closed captions.
- [40:55]
C
Ah.
- [40:56]
A
So that's even. I. I would have been up on my feet shaking my fist at the screen.
- [41:05]
B
As were we. Because it was one of those things that, I mean, nobody would have ever thought until people are at home watching their DVDs or Blu Rays with the captions on and suddenly we're like, wait, she does see it. That changes everything. Yeah, it. That's frustrating. Yeah.
- [41:20]
C
Yeah, it's a very. It's a very key plot point. And I remember. Yeah. For years, I didn't think she had said anything. And then all of a sudden, fans were talking about this, and I'm like, I didn't even know this was an issue. Well, it's not an issue anymore. We've had it for Mr. Carter himself. So now they've settled it. That's good enough for me.
- [41:34]
A
Maybe she says it in French.
- [41:37]
C
I should listen to the French track and see if she does say it. We'll do that. Try all the different languages.
- [41:41]
B
I'm very glad you cleared that up, actually.
- [41:43]
C
Thank you. Yeah. I'm going to jump in with another listener question, too. This is just one of those things that drives fans crazy. This specifically came from Melty. How did Mulder and Scully get back from Antarctica? Everyone seems to find it really hard to figure out because, you know, the Snow cat was at a gas. How did they get out of there?
- [42:05]
A
You asked these questions.
- [42:08]
B
I have a theory.
- [42:09]
A
What's your theory?
- [42:10]
B
My theory is that Smoking man left some gas.
- [42:14]
A
Ah.
- [42:15]
B
Because he's right there by the. By, the Snow Cat. And his. His. One of his main goals is to make sure Mulder's still out there, you know, pulling his shenanigans. So I. For me, that's kind of what I always assumed, that he just left some gas and then they were able to get out. That's. That's. For some reason, this plagues lots of people, but it has never really plagued me.
- [42:37]
C
No, it's. I've always been kind of okay with it, but it has. Lots of people do wonder.
- [42:41]
A
It begs the question, and I honestly don't have a good answer. It's like one of those things where, you know, they shot it. We liked it. Let's keep it in. You know, you could have done something editorially instead of them, you know, that were. You could have suggested a rescue or a way out, but. But we didn't. So it's a long walk, and you have. You have to assume that they. They made the walk, even though Scully had just come out of a pod and, you know, she was barely coherent.
- [43:18]
B
She's tough, though. She's tough out of it.
- [43:21]
A
You know, she. She's a tough girl, as you say.
- [43:24]
C
Absolutely.
- [43:25]
A
Tina, There's. I. I don't know if this story has been told, circulated, or is known or are not, that when we were building that encampment with those domes, right, There were people, obviously, who had to work on the construction of them, and there was a crew member who mistakenly got left behind for the night.
- [43:56]
C
Oh, my goodness.
- [43:57]
A
And was had to spend the night in one of those domes by himself.
- [44:03]
B
Oh, my God.
- [44:04]
A
Claims there was a polar bear who came creeping around. And I don't know whether it's true or not, but that is a story that circulated.
- [44:18]
B
Wow.
- [44:19]
C
One of the legends of the movie,
- [44:20]
B
obviously, kind of terrifying, but it's very X Filesy, too.
- [44:24]
C
It's quite X Filesy. Wow. Scary.
- [44:26]
A
Yeah. It's not the only bear that affected the show. Do you guys remember in the reboot.
- [44:34]
B
Yes.
- [44:35]
A
There's that outtake with Scully and the bear. Yeah.
- [44:37]
C
Is that. Is it plus one?
- [44:39]
B
I think it was plus one.
- [44:40]
C
Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's like a bear right there while Jillian and David are shooting.
- [44:45]
A
Yes.
- [44:46]
B
That's.
- [44:47]
C
But, you know, that's. That's the Vancouver area for you. You just never know when a bear is going to show up. That's just. That's Canada.
- [44:54]
B
I love that. Speaking of the domes, like, you guys had already established the bees in season four. And this is, I think, the last we see of the bees is in. In Fight the Future. And I love the way that you guys end the movie because it's like this. They're still out there, guys. They're still out there. Was the bees. I mean, obviously you said that the story was always set, but, like, was the whole idea of the bees carrying the virus and everything always going to be. Going to be in the movie as, like, a huge plot point? And were you. Did you know that you were going to wrap it up in the movie?
- [45:31]
A
We didn't. And you know that that came about because of my conversations with Ann Simon, and we had to figure out a way. A delivery method. And so the bees worked out perfectly in that way, but we just never explored that again. And so no more bees. But I have to say, working with bees is dicey.
- [46:00]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [46:02]
C
They can't be real easy to train. No, I was just going to say, was there any consideration given to just trying to do a CGI of the. Of the bees rather than having real ones?
- [46:15]
A
It's augmented with cgi. So, no, we needed real bees. And I just remember walking into that dome and being in there with bees, and it was a weird thing. So. No. That we actually worked with people who worked with bees was something that I think. I bet no movie that I can think of can make a claim to
- [46:47]
B
something like that on that scale, particularly and without injuring your stars.
- [46:52]
C
Right.
- [46:52]
B
David and Jillian, neither of them got stung.
- [46:54]
C
Correct.
- [46:54]
A
Oh, and I've got a great story about bee stings. And I'll tell you real quickly because it involves Robert Patrick. So Robert Patrick told me a story, this is after the show is over, that, you know, he's a. Rides motorbikes, and he was riding his bike down the highway and a bee flew in his helmet and stung him.
- [47:24]
B
While he was driving.
- [47:25]
A
While he was driving. And he felt himself start to get a little woozy and so pulled over and got off of his bike and. And all of a sudden he went down and onto the ground and he. Something was happening with him. And he wasn't allergic to bees, but he tried to flag somebody down and people wouldn't stop. And whatever he did caused his motorcycle to fall on him and burn his leg with the exhaust pipe, which woke him up and let him continue to try to get somebody to help him. Somebody finally did. He was rushed to the hospital. Anaphylactic shock. He had developed the adult onset of allergy to bee stings.
- [48:15]
B
Wow.
- [48:16]
A
Almost killed him. He wasn't allergic.
- [48:19]
B
Right.
- [48:19]
A
Whole life. But it became allergic as an adult.
- [48:23]
C
Did not know that was possible. That's like. This is a cautionary tale for us and our listeners.
- [48:29]
A
Yeah.
- [48:29]
C
If you. Even if you don't think you're allergic to bee stings, you heard can come on and. Wow.
- [48:37]
B
You know, I've never been stung by a bee. Knock on wood. Ever.
- [48:40]
C
Touch wood. Yeah, I don't know if I have either. Bees are our friends, though. I love bees.
- [48:45]
A
Yeah, we love bees.
- [48:47]
B
Yeah. That wasn't a fear for you? I know a lot of these X Filesy things come out of, like, your own, you know, fears or. Or things that you find scary. Was bees on that list or.
- [48:58]
A
No, no, but bees are kind of scary just generally and especially swarms of bees. I've dealt with a swarm of bees before, and they kind of chased me. So it was. It was a fear.
- [49:13]
C
Yeah. Bees in large numbers. Very scary. That's a really scary scene, that scene with all of the bees. Yikes. Even all these years later, it creeps me out.
- [49:22]
B
Mm. Well, the last couple questions I have, Chris, are actually regarding the music. I think, obviously, Mark Snow is amazing, and his contributions have been to every single episode and movie of the X Files. Was it really exciting to be able to work with, like, a whole orchestra and he has all these new things to play with? Like, what was that process like with him?
- [49:45]
A
I just loved it. I mean, because we would sit with Mark Snow in his little studio and listen to the score for each episode, which he would have. Would work. You know, he'd do it on his synthesizer.
- [49:57]
B
Right.
- [49:58]
A
And here we have a chance to have a whole orchestra and watch Mark conduct. And it was just. It was like another. It actually felt like the minor leagues and the major leagues. Like, we had stepped up into the major leagues with that. That experience.
- [50:17]
C
Yeah.
- [50:17]
B
Like, what must that have been like then, to hear the X Files theme for the first time played by an orchestra? Like, that sound great.
- [50:25]
A
And I don't remember if it was. I think it was in the second movie. We needed someone to whistle the theme. Actual professional whistler. And I think that the whistler. And this was pointed out by the guy who's the head of music for fox, the whistler was off key. So the head of Fox had walked in and said, that's off key. And I think that the replacement. This is my recollection. Was Mark Snow's wife.
- [51:04]
B
Oh, wow.
- [51:06]
C
She was better than the professional whistler.
- [51:08]
A
Better than a professional whistler.
- [51:10]
C
Impressive.
- [51:11]
B
Yeah. That's very cool.
- [51:13]
A
Yeah.
- [51:15]
B
My other music question. I wanted to talk about the Foo Fighters because obviously it's kind of a. There's a connection here, I think, between the Foo Fighters and the X Files. Dave Grohl was on an episode. Was it Pusher? Right. Jen, we were just talking about that.
- [51:31]
C
He's in the back.
- [51:32]
B
Was. How did that relationship come about? Like, did he want to do something that he re recorded walking after you for the movie?
- [51:38]
C
Correct.
- [51:39]
B
I. Did he come to you guys, or did you want him on the soundtrack? Or how did that whole thing come about?
- [51:45]
A
All I remember was that we were. I was very. I was very excited that he was going to play the after party. Do you remember this?
- [51:54]
C
No, I don't think I knew that
- [51:56]
A
the Foo Fighters were going to play the after party, which was held at the Santa Monica airport. And it was like, at the last moment, he pulled out. Such a disappointment because I thought for sure we were going to have the Foo Fighters playing at our party. And he told me, and this is maybe his way of letting me down easy, he said the Foo Fighters had done a Mentos commercial.
- [52:29]
C
Oh, yeah. I think I remember that.
- [52:31]
A
And their fans were so angry at them that when they would perform in concert after that, they would be pelted with Mentos.
- [52:39]
C
Oh, no.
- [52:41]
A
They had a kind of Mentos shell shock that he gave performing live, that that was their excuse for not playing the party.
- [52:53]
B
Oh, my God. That's a great little story.
- [52:55]
C
I mean, it's a very. It's a very unique excuse, I'll say that.
- [53:00]
B
I mean, so unique. I believe it.
- [53:02]
C
That's yeah, yeah, it's hard to make that up.
- [53:05]
B
Well, I mean. Thanks, Chris. The only thing I think I have left to ask is if. Is there anything about Fight the future here, now, 25 years later, plot or production or anything that you think it would be important for people to understand that maybe people don't understand about it or anything you'd like to clarify?
- [53:30]
A
Yes. Mulder does not pee on the Independence Day poster.
- [53:36]
C
Oh, I did not know that because I kind of thought he did.
- [53:39]
A
He peace below the poster is at eye level. So everyone thinks that I was like a. Some kind of in joke statement that we were making an Independence Day and it wasn't. But I love that Roland Emmerich said that was his favorite moment in the movie.
- [53:58]
C
That's right. That's good. That's actually quite interesting because I always kind of thought like, okay, being on the poster, fair enough, but that was not the intention. That's good to know, actually. That's.
- [54:09]
A
Yeah.
- [54:10]
B
It wasn't like a spitting on this movie. It was an homage to the movie. All right.
- [54:15]
A
It was an appreciation of it.
- [54:17]
B
There we go.
- [54:17]
C
That's actually very important. That's very different. That's good to know, actually. I appreciate that.
- [54:23]
B
Well, thank you so much, Chris. Do you have anything else that you want to ask, Jen?
- [54:27]
C
No, I think. I think I've covered anything that I wanted to ask, and I so appreciate Chris taking the time to answer them all. Did you have anything you wanted to add, Chris?
- [54:37]
A
No, but it's a pleasure to do this. And I can't believe you guys know the show inside and out and season and connections and, you know, you astound me with your knowledge of the show and you always keep me on my toes.
- [54:54]
C
Well, thank you.
- [54:54]
B
Well, hopefully that's a good thing. We. We probably know it too well, but please take it as a compliment. Take it as a compliment.
- [55:01]
C
Yeah. And that's a great compliment coming from you as well, Chris. We appreciate it.
- [55:05]
B
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for giving us the time.
- [55:07]
A
Oh, gosh, I'm happy to.
- [55:12]
B
Well, there you have it, guys. Chris Carter's thoughts on Fight the Future. What a delight to have him on. Thanks go out to Chris yet again for giving some time to us and let us know what you guys thought on Twitter. We are XFD podcast and please let us know what you think of what Chris said or anything at all about the X Files. We always want to hear it. And we will be back with you guys on the next episode of X Files Diaries.
- [55:39]
C
Bye.