'The X-Files' revival: Mitch Pileggi talks about the perfect time for the return of Mulder and ScullyJan 28(AZINS) A pop culture phenomenon since its inception in 1992, The X-Files is all set to stir up deep-rooted nostalgia with the spectacular return of its revival show The X-Files: Event Series after 13 years. Mitch Pileggi who plays Walter Skinner — who was Mulder and Scully's FBI boss for most of the drama’s nine seasons — has been a key fixture in the X-Files universe. And for Pileggi, he also has the distinction of being the only person (outside of Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny) who appeared all nine seasons of the series and both feature films.

Pileggi talks about the return and revival

Q: Having done the all new X-Files series, what was it like to see it?

MITCH: It was awesome. I was so pleased because David and I had not seen it before so, we were nervous. We were hopeful that it’s gonna be as good as we want it to be and it was. I was very happy with it. So, I’m smiling. I mean, Chris is great and David and Gillian just killed it. I was thrilled the whole time I was sitting there watching it.

Q: You had earlier once mentioned that one line was improvised. When you have Chris Carter writing your episodes, is that something you can do often or is that a trust that you, sort of, built up over

MITCH: It’s a trust thing. And I think, Chris has always been great at taking suggestions and I think it fit very well with Skinner. The way he talks, his chemistry with Mulder is very much—it was a line that one of my bosses had said to me at one point and I thought, “I’m gonna use that one of these days.” And man, was that the perfect time to do it. As soon as I said it—I think I may have even said it in rehearsal before I even talked to Chris about it—and I said, “Is that okay?” And he goes, “It’s great, works great.” So, I was happy.

Q: What was it like to do the scene when you walk into the office? The pencils are up, the posters on the floor. That must have been the real déjà vu, all over again.

MITCH: It really was. It was weird seeing the poster on the floor and then when he kicked it and tore it I was like going, “Whoa! Wait a minute, you can’t do that.” But, it was very cool. The fact that the office was empty, it was kind of strange, but you still had the pencils on the ceiling so that was very cool. But, it felt really good walking through that door and interacting, standing across from David and playing these two characters again.

Q: What do you imagine his life was like during the past fifteen years?

MITCH: Well, he’s obviously still in the FBI. He’s not progressed very far because he is still Assistant Director, and I think a lot of that is probably due to the fact of his relationship with Mulder and Scully over all those years and the way things ended with them when they left the FBI. So, he’s probably been ostracised to a certain extent and maybe punished? But, he obviously has—and I’ve been meaning to talk to Chris about this because I don’t know—but who else on the FBI would open up the X-Files? And does he have the power to? So, he obviously has a very, very powerful ally someplace that is helping him do what he needs to do. Because he has opened up the X-Files before.

Q: You think it’s been the same person the entire time?

MITCH: It very possibly could. As an actor, I should know that in my mind, that should be very well-cemented. But, that thought is there, that he has some connection to somebody very, very powerful who’s helping him to bring about the things that he feels needs to be done. And, directing them to Tad O’Malley was a big part. I don’t know if it’s O’Malley and the people that had the spaceship in that hangar, if there’s somebody behind them that he has some connections to.

Q: You get recognised more from X-Files or Sons of Anarchy?

MITCH: I have to tell you, maybe because it’s more recent, but Sons of Anarchy. I get a lot of that, yeah. But, after this--

Q: Supernatural as well.

MITCH: And Supernatural.

Q: Did you find it necessary at all to go back and revisit some of the old X-Files or did you prefer to sort of--

MITCH: I didn’t.

Q: Really? Why was that?

MITCH: Because in my mind I know this character. I know who he is and what he’s about and his relationship with Mulder and Scully. I think it’s just ingrained in me after playing him for so many years. I mean, I do go back and watch. The other day, I watched Zero Sum because I was tweeting the next day with folks about it. And my daughter, I didn’t let my daughter watch it for a long time. And then when she became old enough because I thought it was appropriate for her to watch, I would sit down and watch shows with her. Going back and watching the show, for me, is so fulfilling because it was really good. At least, I thought it was really good.

Q: Do you separate yourself from him? Can you watch it as you watching Skinner or are you still watching yourself?

MITCH: A little bit of both. I still see— it depends. Sometimes I can see that I really lost myself in Skinner. Sometimes, I can see that I was acting. As an actor, that’s what really bothers me. There are certain characters—I did a character on Criminal Minds that that’s probably my favourite performance of anything I’ve done on screen because I lost myself in that character so much. And sometimes, I don’t think I allowed myself to do that with Skinner. I think I could have done a better job with Skinner in a lot of episodes. But that’s just me being very critical of myself.

Q: Is there anything that surprised you coming back? I don’t know, maybe something that felt different?

MITCH: No, not really. Gillian and I see each other at these things on occasion, so I’ve seen her couple of times over the years. I haven’t seen David for a long time. So, as far as seeing them, it felt normal. As far as the character or the show, no, not really; other than the fact that Skinner no longer has hair on the top of his head and he has hair on his face.

Q: Would you say there are a lot of timeless qualities to the show? That it’s not just coming back because it’s a nostalgia wave, with all the movies that get rebooted?

MITCH: I think it’s very valid right now, with the way our world is and the way our government is —the interaction of people is just so, excuse me, but it’s so f---ed up. I think that there are a lot of stories to be told through this show with that stuff. We’re a mess. This world’s in a mess. If I was an alien, I wouldn’t be coming anywhere near this neighbourhood.

Q: Being an FBI, so an officer of the law and government, how do you say Skinner has reacted with all the hacking, and the surveillance, and Snowden and stuff?

MITCH: Well, I mean the fact that he’s directing Mulder and Scully to Tad O’Malley pretty much answers that question. He sees shit going down and he’s going, “Dude, I can’t do this. You need to come back and do it. And I will be here to facilitate whatever you need to do.”

The all new ‘The X-Files Miniseries’ premieres on Star World Premiere HD on Saturday, January 30th at 9 PM and will air every Saturday at the same time.