The X-Files was one of the hottest shows of the ‘90s if for nothing more than the chemistry between its two stars, Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Paired together as skeptic and believer, the duo spent the better part of the decade hunting monsters and uncovering government conspiracies about aliens, all while fighting their growing attraction to one another that culminated in their first on-screen kiss in 1999 during the episode titled Millennium. Two years before that, however, Anderson and Duchovny made headlines when they kissed at the Emmys following Anderson’s win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and now the star is opening up about that jaw-dropping moment.
Taking to TikTok to address the 1997 moment, which saw Anderson lean back and plant a kiss on Duchovny before she kissed her then-boyfriend Rodney Rowland, who was seated next to her, the Sex Education star joked that her true love interest at the time was actually Duchovny, which is why she kissed him first.
“So I’ve been told that you guys want some information about when I won the Emmy a century ago and I kissed David [Duchovny] first, and why did I not kiss my boyfriend Rodney. The fact is that David and I were actually living together and Rodney was my beard. I’m joking. That was a joke. Was that really mean?”
The X-Files
- Release Date
- September 10, 1993
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
- Seasons
- 11
Anderson went on to explain that she doesn’t really know why she chose Duchovny over Rowland, but she has a pretty good idea that the spur of the moment decision was because the two were practically husband and wife, having spent so much of their lives together filming The X-Files. In the end, she says her boyfriend was a good sport about it all, and didn’t take the snub to heart.
“I don’t know why I kissed him first. I guess because he was on the show with me, and we were practically married because we spent more time with each other than we did with our loved ones, and we were there to celebrate the series. Maybe that’s what it was, I don’t know. Rodney was a great guy, I don’t think it bothered him. He understood. It was complex, that’s all I got.”
Will Gillian Anderson Return for The X-Files Reboot?
Kissing aside, there’s no denying the impact that The X-Files had on not only television, but on pop culture. Duchovny and Anderson were everywhere in the ‘90s, from magazine covers and talk shows, to trading cards and posters, and though the series ended in 2002, it echoed long past its expiration date. This led to its revival in 2016 which lasted for a couple of years, and now Black Panther and Creed director Ryan Coogler is developing a reboot of the series for a new generation.
While Duchovny has been coy about whether he’d ever reprise his role of Agent Fox Mulder, Anderson has straight up said that she’d be open to appearing in the reboot if asked. Appearing on the Today Show earlier this year, Anderson remarked, “I’m not saying no.”
“Whether I am involved in it is a whole other thing. I’m not saying no. I think he’s [Coogler] really cool and I think if he did it, it would probably be done incredibly well. And maybe I’ll pop in for a little something something.”
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X-Files Creator Says Ryan Coogler Has ‘Got a Hard Job’ With the Reboot: ‘Casting Is a Hard Job’
Chris Carter says Ryan Coogler’s reboot will not be easy, but praises the Black Panther director’s “good ideas.”
Whether this reboot manages to capture the hearts and minds of audiences today the same way that the original did more than three decades ago remains to be seen, but we’ll be tuning in regardless in the hopes that we can once more see what Mulder and Scully have been up to in the interim.
