Entertainment
The Best X-Files Writer Pulled Cruel Pranks On David Duchovny
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Most X-Files fans know Darin Morgan as one of the show’s best writers: after all, he’s responsible for such bangers as “Humbug,” “War of the Coprophages,” and my personal favorite, the Emmy-winning “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose.” He even came back to write a couple of episodes for the otherwise awful X-Files revival. As if that’s not cool enough, he also played one of the series’ most memorable villains: Flukeman, the giant flukeworm from the episode “The Host.”
Morgan didn’t have a great time filming this episode because he found the monster suit too tight and generally uncomfortable. In fact, his hatred of the costume is the primary reason that Flukeman never returned, despite the end of “The Host” teasing that he is still alive. However, the writer has a weird sense of humor, and he managed to make his own fun while shooting the episode. Specifically, he peed on David Duchovny without him knowing!
When The Water’s A Little Too Warm
First, some context: in “The Host,” the Flukeman moves around in the sewers, and Mulder has to get down and dirty in the sewer water to catch the him. At one point, he and Morgan (who was completely ensconced in the Flukeman costume) appeared together, partially submerged in the water. On the X-Files Season 2 DVD special feature “”The Truth About Season Two”, Darin Morgan revealed the hilarious truth: he peed in the water the two men shared, later stating that “I figured Duchovny would never find out.”
Until those DVDs came out, it was fairly easy for Morgan to keep this secret. David Duchovny was unable to detect that he had been urinated on (the truth isn’t the only thing out there, Mulder!), but even if he had, there was no way of knowing who to blame. You see, even though they had brief, verbal interactions, Duchovny never knew who was in the Flukeman suit!
Pranking The Show’s Biggest Star (Again)
Not content with simply peeing on one of the biggest stars of the ‘90s, Morgan ended up pulling one more epic prank on Duchovny. The two were both flying back to Vancouver for filming, and by sheer coincidence, they both ended up sitting next to each other. After about 30 minutes, Morgan hit Duchovny up with a strange request: to sign a book and make the autograph out to his “nemesis.”
David Duchovny went ahead and signed the book, but he was confused about the whole “nemesis” thing. At this point, Darin Morgan admitted that he played the Flukeman, the iconic X-Files villain who nearly got Mulder killed. Fortunately, the Mulder actor found the whole thing funny, and he was impressed that Morgan actually waited half an hour before pulling his prank.
While Duchovny got a kick out of the autograph prank, nobody knows if he ever watched those DVD special features and learned that he spends some of the X-Files’ best monster of the week episode walking through another man’s urine. Of course, rather than being turned off, some of the freakier fans out there might get turned on by this wacky tale. Secretly peeing on Fox Mulder without him knowing? That’s just another day for your average fanfiction writer.