LOS ANGELES — David Duchovny is still fighting aliens in his new movie "Evolution," but he's a far cry from the droll, subdued Fox Mulder on "The X-Files."
Would the alien-obsessed Mulder grab his crotch to mock government agents studying visitors from outer space? Would Mulder drop his drawers and moon the feds through the windshield of a Jeep?
While Duchovny initially was not thrilled at the prospect of a flick about extraterrestrials, he decided the outrageous tone of "Evolution" was a good departure from "The X-Files," the series he recently left after eight seasons.
The fact that "Evolution" was directed by "Ghostbusters" creator Ivan Reitman didn't hurt, either.
"When I read the script and realized it was about aliens, my first response was, you know, a sinking feeling," Duchovny said in an interview at a health-food restaurant where he is a regular. "I thought, I want to work with Ivan, I want to do a comedy, but does it have to be about aliens?
"After reading it, I realized it really didn't have anything to do with the kind of work I'd been doing the last eight years. It's a coincidence that it's aliens. If I could draw it up on the blackboard how I want the first movie after 'The X-Files' to be, I wouldn't particularly say aliens. But that's the way it happened."
In "Evolution," Duchovny plays biology teacher Ira Kane, who battles alien spores that develop at lightning pace, quickly evolving into lifeforms that threaten humanity. Julianne Moore, Orlando Jones and Seann William Scott co-star as members of Ira's brilliantly bumbling band of alien fighters.
Though "The X-Files" often strayed into comedy, it was dark and creepy humor that's nothing like the zaniness of Duchovny's new movie. "Evolution" features goofy creatures, slapstick and some gross-out humor.
The crotch-grabbing and mooning were unscripted additions Duchovny tossed in as Ira storms away from Army brass that takes over the alien landing site.
"About the second or third take of his doing his exit, I suddenly looked up as I was watching the monitor, and I was saying, 'Gee, did he just drop his pants?"' Reitman said. "I went up to him and said, 'Are you serious, or is this for the outtake reel?"'
Duchovny was serious, and Reitman encouraged him to moon the Army leaders with a little more gusto on subsequent takes.
Reitman — who produced "Beethoven," in which Duchovny co-starred — said he felt the actor had comedic talent beyond Mulder's dry sense of humor.
"Here's this really witty, funny guy who also happens to be very handsome," Reitman said. "I thought he had the chops to be a movie comedy star, but he'd never had the opportunity to present much of that."
Duchovny's evolution from stoic FBI man to madcap alien hunter mirrors the development of "Evolution" itself. The script first came to Reitman as a straight science fiction thriller.
Working with original screenwriter Don Jakoby and two other writers, Reitman retooled "Evolution" into a comedy.
Had the film remained a drama, Duchovny might have been a liability, because "with him associated with that kind of role, it could have been easy for it to slip over into just a giant version of 'The X-Files,"' Jakoby said.
"Now, the problem in selling it is for audiences to make the disconnect. Yes, it is David Duchovny, but it's not Duchovny as you normally have seen him," Jakoby said. "You have to get across that what we're doing is Duchovny-plus."
Duchovny, 40, got a late start in acting, taking it up when he was pursuing a doctorate in literature at Yale. He scrapped plans to become a teacher and writer and came to Hollywood in the late 1980s.
Bit parts in films such as "Working Girl" led to bigger roles in "Chaplin" and "Beethoven." On TV, Duchovny had a recurring role as a cross-dressing FBI agent in "Twin Peaks," was narrator for Showtime's "Red Shoe Diaries" and played himself in several episodes of his friend Garry Shandling's "The Larry Sanders Show."
In 1993, Duchovny signed on for "The X-Files" figuring it easily could be a short-lived gig. Instead, the series grew from cult show to critically acclaimed hit, expanding to a film franchise in 1998.
"You never really think that something is going to last more than a season," Duchovny said. "You never think something's going to become a cultural phenomenon. Then the next thing you know, people are asking if you're worried about being typecast for a show you never thought would be around so long. Everything just snowballs. I saw it as just a job back in the spring of 1993, and from there it kind of took control of me."
"The X-Files" movie has been Duchovny's one big film hit, though he had a modest success with last year's romantic comedy "Return to Me."
Duchovny considered departing "The X-Files" a year ago. He came back for about half the past season's episodes after settling a lawsuit with the Fox network over the show's profits.
The lighter workload allowed him to take on other projects and have more time with wife Tea Leoni and their daughter, who just turned 2.
Next up for Duchovny is a cameo role in Ben Stiller's comedy "Zoolander." Duchovny, who has written and directed "X-Files" episodes, is writing a movie script and said he eventually would like to direct films from his own screenplays.
With Duchovny around part-time this past season, Fox was able to make a gradual transition to a post-Mulder "X-Files," introducing Robert Patrick as Gillian Anderson's new co-star.
Mulder's open-ended departure also would allow Duchovny to return for a second "X-Files" movie, a project he said he would consider.
"I love 'The X-Files,"' said Duchovny, who found the show's weekly grind a great training ground.
"When I see an episode from eight years ago, I think that it was my great luck to have been able to act every day for all those years so I could really become a competent professional," Duchovny said. "In terms of just being an actor and having a career, it gave me the opportunity to work so hard."