Feb-??-2002
The X-Files Magazine [US]
Doggett’s Pursuit
Ian Spelling

[typed by Megan]

Amazed us all in Season Eight, and now he’s for bigger and better things in Season 9 (and beyond…?). Robert Patrick chats about Special Agent John Doggett

“I love our show,” Robert Patrick enthuses of The X-Files. “A lot of people love The X-Files. Hopefully, it’s good diversion. One of the big things about The X-Files is that it’s often about questioning authority and not just accepting everything your government tells you is true. I think a lot of it applies right now, in this new world we’re in since September 11. That’s a big thing. Plus, I’d like to think that our characters are heroic and patriotic and on the side of good. They’re not nearly as heroic as the real police and firemen, but our intentions are good. We, as actors, are trying to make our characters people of virtue.”

Patrick, of course, joined The X-Files in Season Eight as Special Agent John Doggett, the man brought in to head up the investigation into the disappearance of Fox Mulder. Doggett initially displayed plenty of doubt. But based on what he himself saw and experienced – everything from shapeshifters to possible alien babies, from death to rebirth (via regurgitation!) – he is becoming increasingly faced with the possibility that perhaps Mulder wasn’t crazy and that perhaps Dana Scully has every reason in the world to believe in Mulder and his cause. Heck, by the end of Season Eight, after dealing with the imminent arrival of Scully’s baby, interacting a few times on missions with Mulder, and facing the possibility that he himself possesses some sort of psychic ability that may tie into the death of his son, Doggett was very close to becoming, well, less of a doubter…

“I thought there were a number of important episodes and moments,” Patrick says of Season Eight. “I think there were a lot of stand-alone episodes we did that were good experiences and good episodes. The one that sticks out is ‘Via Negativa’,” he says of the episode which earned The X-Files its second viewer discretion warning for graphic content (the first being for Season Four’s “Home”). “That was the one where Doggett’s mind was possessed by the leader of a religious group that was invading people’s psyches and getting them to commit these atrocities on his behalf. He started to get into my head. That was a great experience as an actor. It was challenging and a lot of fun. So far as specific character moments, I think he gained Scully’s trust and respect. He came through in the sense that he found Mulder. He gained respect for and insight into Mulder and what he’s done. He was a man of his word and accomplished his goal, and all the while he did that protecting Scully, watching after her and her best interests. Even though he loves Scully, he realized that he was there to protect her, and he didn’t intrude on her relationship Mulder. He stood back and respected that. I thought that was a great thing.

“I was also pleased with the scenes between Doggett and Mulder,” Patrick continues. “I thought they were great, and Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz did a great job of respecting both characters, allowing them to get together and find respect for each other. I really loved the way they wrote those scenes.

David Duchovny, the actor who of course portrayed Special Agent Fox Mulder from the very first episode, left the show at the end of Season Eight. Patrick comments on the actor and their brief working relationship. “I think David and I both responded as actors with mutual respect toward each other, and that carried over to the characters. It all went hand-in-hand. You also have to realize that a lot of what Chris and Frank wrote reflected what was going on in real life, in terms of me being a new actor on the show. Mulder and Doggett did a few missions together, but we were bitching in the corners of the office. It’s his office and I have respect for that, but I’m now there and I have a job to do. So what do I do? I can’t not have a backbone. I think Chris and Frank did a great job writing that transition and I commend David for the way he handled it. I thought it was first-rate all the way down the line.”

So, did Duchovny ever approach Patrick and say, either directly or in essence, ‘I’m not coming back. It’s all yours. Good luck’? “David and I had a couple of conversations about it and they went like this,” Patrick recalls. “David said, ‘Man, I’m having fun. This is fun. I’m really enjoying working with you.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I think it’s great. I want you to come back whenever you want and I hope you know that.’ He said, ‘I do and I will, maybe. I’ve got to see how things progress and how they write.’

“That’s how it went for a while,” says Patrick “Then, as things progressed, I got the sense that he wanted to stick with his game plan of saying goodbye and moving on. But I never got a definitive [answer] until the end. He said, ‘Hey man, you’ve got a great job. You’re doing a great job. Just have fun with it.’

“He probably decided that, after eight years, enough was a enough,” Patrick continues. “I’m not going to speak for him, but I want to convey that it was a great experience working with him. I think he really enjoyed it. But I think as he got back into it, he thought, ‘You know, I said I’m going to walk away and I’m going to stick to that.’ He never flat-out said that to me, but that was the sense I got.”

Once it become clear that Duchovny was not coming back, the fate of the series was thrown into question, and not just because of Duchovny’s departure. Carter, just before the eighth season kicked off, signed a one-year contract. And as of the season ended, Carter hard yet to sign on for year nine. Fans wondered if Carter would relinquish his day-to-day writing and producing duties. He did return, but only at the very last minute, after Spotnitz and company had started work on upcoming episodes.

Then there was the matter of Gillian Anderson. She was under contract for a ninth season, but made it clear in interviews that she’d prefer to move on with her career and spend more time with her daughter. Patrick, meanwhile, stood on the sidelines and awaited word of the show’s fate, though he figured it would all work out.

“I’m going to be presumptuous and say I don’t think there’s ever been a show like The X-Files,,” he says. “It’s an expensive show. It’s a fantastic-looking show. They tell stories no other show tells. They try to do things on The X-Files in 8 days of shooting an episode that are incredibly difficult. The hours are grueling. We hear from other people on other one-hour dramas about their 12-hour days, and we’ll be in our 18th hour. The schedule is grueling. There’s not a lot of free time. There were some times last year when I was really treading water, going, ‘My God, I hope I make it.’ It can be a little overwhelming, not just for me, but also the whole crew because the show is so ambitious and there’s so much money behind it. We sometimes do 80 hours a week. Chris takes two weeks off a year, but otherwise he’s got to eat, drink and sleep The X-Files. The whole thing is on his shoulders. I’m sure he probably gives it some thought. ‘Do I want to continue?’ I know how hard Gillian works. And she’s been there from the beginning. I know how hard David worked. I know how hard I work. That’s why I’m excited that the show is now more of an ensemble show. If it’s an ensemble, there are more people and that senses everyone’s workload. It’s certainly easier than having just two people who are in every scene together. We can spread the workload around. So if Chris and Gillian are tired, it has nothing to do with the show, the subject matter or the enthusiasm we all have for the creative part of the show. I think it’s just the arduous schedule that gets to you.

“As I said last year, when I started on the show, I focused on the work, did the best I could and figured ‘Whatever happens, happens.’ And I kind of feel I stuck to the game plan and it worked, thank God. The fans stayed tuned and they seemed to accept Doggett as a new character. I don’t think his being there threatened anybody. I think people, even the Mulder fans, felt that Doggett was there to support all the good work that Mulder had done. And that worked dually, as characters and actors. I think the fans also realized that I was there support David and all the good work that he’d done.”

Season Nine got underway in November with the “Nothing Important Happened Today” two-parter and the show had indeed morphed into an ensemble series. Doggett is partnered with Special Agent Monica Reyes, a relationship that’s complicated on several fronts. On the professional end of the equation, they work well together. She believes in Doggett and does her best to support him, both on the usual investigations into the unusual and also in Doggett’s pursuit of Deputy Director Kersh. Kersh is emerging as a major nemesis, a shadowy figure not unlike Assistant Director Skinner in the early days of The X-Files.

On the personal front, Reyes seems well aware of Doggett’s suppressed psychic abilities and might just be in love with the guy. That last point’s a sticky wicket, for Doggett seems to be interested in Scully, Scully still feels affection for Mulder (even though he’s on the run from the aliens and had to leave baby William behind) and Reyes is fending off the unwanted affections of her snide and oily former beau, Assistant Director Brad Follmer, who looks to be as out to get Doggett as Doggett is out to get Kersh.

“I like what’s going on,” Patrick enthuses. “I want to continue on with this theme of Doggett having virtue, being morally sound and patriotic. He believes in his country and yet he’s willing to question authority and question everything, really. There’s a find line in that. I keep talking about the fine line that John Doggett walks, and I want that to be defined more. I also think Doggett’s going to have to deal better with the situation involving his son and the premonitions. I didn’t realize, going into the show last year, that Doggett had some sort of questionable paranormal experience relating to his son. That happened about midway through the season and it was a good thing. Maintaining your knee-jerk skepticism when you’re taken a shotgun blast, been spit out by a shaman and come back to life… how can you got [sp] through that and maintain your skepticism? That’s been one of the challenges on my job. Doggett has to stay somewhat skeptical, but hopefully that will help him be able to be a little more open to some of the things he comes into contact with as a result of being the ‘X’-Files.

“I also think he’s going to have to resolve some things with Scully and Reyes. There’s a lot going on there. I’ve gone to Scully for some help and she doesn’t want to help me. Doggett find himself alienated. Nobody wants to help him out. The only person on his side is Reyes. So, in effect, Doggett and Reyes are the new Mulder and Scully. I want to see what happens with his relationships with them.”

Might that entail Doggett engaging in a romance with either of the ladies? “I would really like it,” Patrick replies playfully as the conversation comes to an end for now. “Doggett would really like it, I should say. You know what I mean? It would be great for the character.”

Tags: date undefined, robert patrick, x-files

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