David Duchovny, aka FBI Special Agent Mulder from the sci fi classic The X-Files, swims. It’s his thing, his get-the-stress out exercise.
Filming The X-Files on location in Vancouver, swimming was a part of his daily ritual, weather permitting.
“If I could do only one thing in Vancouver, I would swim in the Kitsilano Pool.”
“I enjoyed that so. When it was nice, I would go every day. I believe it’s one of the largest outdoor swimming pools in North Amercia. I like to swim to keep in shape, and I think this pool is like 11 laps for a mile. It’s just enormous. It’s outdoors and right on the ocean, so you actually feel like you are swimming in the ocean. If you get good weather in the spring and summer, it’s just the most beautiful place to swim in the world because you can see the harbor and the ships, the tankers out in the bay, and the mountains beyond. You’re swimming in this pool that’s so long, it feels like you’re never going to hit the other side.”
Duchovny even swam on the show that made him famous.
Long before his acting career took off, Duchovny attended Princeton as undergrad and got his masters in English lit at Yale. He’s a smart guy. Not that we’re surprised. The sport attracts the disciplined.
Duchovny’s career film didn’t shoot him to fame right off. He had to work at it and pay his dues. Small roles in Working Girl, a beer commercial, a recurring role on Twin Peaks and his narrator duties on Showtime’s Red Shoe Diaries paid the bills and kept him going.
It wasn’t until 1993 that Duchovny landed the role of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder, playing the edgy, seemingly out-there G-man who is convinced his sister has been adducted by aliens. The rest, they say, is history.
Today you can see Duchovny on Showtime’s Californication, playing Hank Moody, for which he has won a Golden Globe.
And you can see him at the beach (in the video above). Duchonvy’s an on-again off-again triathlete, though he’s quick to explain that swimming is his strongest leg.
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Just heard from Dominik Meichtry on Twitter: “I swam a 50 yard breast against Dave Duchovny, Hank Moody, over 15 yrs ago at Pepperdine Swim Camp. Super nice guy. He let me win.” (You can follow Meichtry on Twitter @SwissDom & his better half Jessica Hardy @swimhardy.)
When they were filming xfiles up at UBC (which was a lot) we would see David at the pool all the time right after we finished training, I seem to remember that he had a pretty good stroke in fact the scene above was filmed at the UBC pool!
Nostalgia
Wow, good eye Greg I didnt notice that. It’s pretty cool seeing all the shows filmed here. i think The Excorcism of Emily Rose was filmed on my floor in Totem.