Duchovny says now that he's spent his life trying to recapture the thrill of sport - the astounding catches, the unworldly telepathic teamwork. Acting must have been a buzz. David commuted to New York more and more regularly, for classes and to work in off-Broadway shows until, realising he spent more time in New York than Yale (where he'd graduated and was now working on a doctorate), he decided to turn pro. At 27, very late, and surely another major buzz.
At first, Duchovny laboured in small roles in major productions. He played a party guest in Working Girl, starring Harrison Ford and Melanie Griffith (joining him way down the cast were Kevin Spacey and Ricki Lake), and was Club Goer #3, alongside Rob Lowe and James Spader in Bad Influence. His breakthrough was to come via artier works. First, he was spotted by self-promoting maverick director Henry Jaglom, who cast him as an arch-seducer in his latest study of modern-day relationships, New Year's Day. Next, he found himself togged up in high heels and underwire bra, as tranvestite DEA agent Dennis/Denise Bryson in Twin Peaks.
Then he was a group-sex freak with Mimi Rogers in the weird, apocalyptic The Rapture. He made dirty phone-love in the minimalist comedy drama Julia Has Two Lovers, then went back to Jaglom for Venice, Venice. There were more small roles in big movies. He was Officer Tippit in Ruby, the last and arguably least of a slew of JFK movies. He was a cameraman in Richard Attenborough's excellent Chaplin, and played alongside Bonnie Hunt in Beethoven, about a big, funny dog.
And he got to star in The Red Shoe Diaries. This was a made-for-cable film by Zalman King, the third part of a trilogy-of-sorts which began with the controversial Wild Orchid, starring Mickey Rourke. Here Duchovny played Jake Winters, a grieving widower who discovers his wife's diaries and finds she was having all manner of illicit rumpo. The film spawned many sequels, usually episodic, with Duchovny appearing in each as star or narrator; the premise being that Winters buys small ads asking women to send him their explicit diaries. Only this way, it seems, can he conquer his grief. This series, along with The Rapture and the fact that Duchovny liked to date beautiful women (including Lisa Loeb, Perrey Reeves and Sheryl Lee), probably contributed to rumours that he had to seek treatment for sex addiction. Untrue. Oh, there's also that famous photo of him naked, pouring tea, and holding his genitals in a teacup. When asked what his wife Tea Leoni thought of it, he replied: "First, I think she thought it was funny. Second, I think she thought I was an idiot for doing it. And finally, she's vowed never to drink out of that cup"
