Happy solstice! Here is something out of the ordinary: an interview with Robert Mandel, the director of The X-Files pilot episode in 1993, by the people at the “Hey, That’s Me!” podcast. This is I think the only interview he has ever given on TXF, he is somebody who goes from project to project and doesn’t look back. The pilot is of course full of iconic moments and it is still very well-remembered. He only did the pilot but he sounds like somebody who could have been a good fit for the show long-term.

The episode runs like a live commentary on the episode itself. Some highlights:

• Before, he did a lot of theatre, then AFI, short films, then features. This was his first TV experience, he wanted to do more movies.
• A great experience overall. He and Carter were in complete agreement.
• He had seen “Prime Suspect” [1991 TV movie with Helen Mirren, police investigation on serial killer with the lead dealing with workplace sexism], he discussed it with Carter and they wanted the same approach for TXF, low-key mystery, play it straight.
• He came in when Mulder had been cast, they were still looking for a Scully.
• Carter was more familiar with TV production than him. As writer and producer, Carter was on set every day, but the cooperation with Mandel went fine, there was trust.
• He specifically remembers shooting a lot of dialogue under the cold and the rain, and Mulder talking about his sister, working with director of photography Tom Del Ruth [also only worked on the pilot].
• Tight shooting schedule, hardly any time for rehearsals. Now pilots get more time.
• They did 5-7 takes, tops; anything more than 3 takes was a lot already.
• Carter liked people sticking to the script.
• Carter found a lot of the set dressing himself, like Mulder’s wall. He worked a lot on the Pentagon set, for him it was key.
• He and Carter showed the pilot to two executives. They expected or wanted more humor, they were looking at each other, trying to anticipate the audience reaction.
• They really didn’t expect success, even after it came out.
• He thinks Carter was genius keeping Mulder and Scully apart.
• He has bumped into Duchovny since.

https://linktr.ee/heythatsmepod