Brandon Judell
David Duchovny Moves into the House of D
By Brandon Judell
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| David Duchovny as Tom Warshaw in "House of D." Photo by Larry Watson. |
New York-raised, Yale graduate David Duchovny has long left The X-Files behind. He's gone onto guest spots on other TV series (Sex and the City), leads in films (Connie and Carla), and now he has directed House of D. That's short for the Women's House of Dentention, a now long-gone landmark of the West Village.
Starring his wife Téa Leoni, plus Robin Williams, Zelda Williams (Robin's daughter), and the major new talent Anton Yelchin, House of D is the at times moving story of a young boy (Yelchin) whose life is falling apart as quickly as he's falling in love for the very first time.
NYTW sat down at the Regency Hotel with Mr. Duchovny to find out what lay behind his latest venture.
NYTW: Your spouse, Ms. Leoni, has noted that your mother regularly fed you
Brussels sprouts exactly as the lead character's mom does in House of D.
DD: (Laughs) Yes, I forgot about that.
NYTW: Are there other autobiographical elements in this picture?
DD: Well, it sounds like a cliché thing to say, but in anything I do, I'm going to try to put myself into it. Even if I'm acting, I got to find the things that I can relate to. So when I'm writing, I'm going to find the things that I relate to as well. But like in terms of straight autobiography, yeah, I forgot about the Brussels sprouts. And, yeah, I urinated on my mom's cigarette butts [in the toilet]. And I had a delivery boy job, and Simone (Olga Sosnovska) was the owner of that store. She wasn't as cute as she is in the movie. And I was on a scholarship to a private school, and I played stickball at school. And there was he House of D, which was like the original inspiration for the entire film.
Usually when you write, if you're writing about a city that you don't know, you go there and you do research. You walk the streets, and you look around, and you get inspired by real events and real places, but I didn't have to do that because I was writing about a time and a place that I researched because I grew up in it. I think my research is basically autobiographical. But what happens in the movie, my life is not as dramatic as that. Those things didn't happen to me.
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| "House of D" director David Duchovny. Photo credit: Larry Watson. |
And I wanted to make a film that was universal, which resonated with people.
I don't think my own story does. I think I did a story about what it is to
grow up. Not what it is for me to grow up.
NYTW: You've said, "I am frightened by the possibilities of my own lack of talent." Are you over that?
DD: I'm nervous.
NYTW: Do you throw up before you go on the stage?
DD: No, but I'll throw up before this premiere. I won't sit through it.
I don't know. It's a struggle for me, to be honest with you. I seem to have that kind of a soul. It's not good. It's not like that drives me. "That's what makes me work!" No, I hate it. I wish that it were different. But something happened at some point.
NYTW: Another time you said that having a child has helped you deal with your limitations. Children often look at their father as the man with no fear. Since your offspring looks at you that way, has that helped you direct?
DD: No, but I hope they don't read that when they're too young. (Chuckles) Then they'll know their dad has fear. No, I think the only way that kids help you with any kind of professional endeavor is that you stop thinking that that's everything. You can always go, (He let's out a deep breath)"I was awful, but now I have kids. They're more important." Whereas before it was like: "It was awful. I'm awful. Everything's awful. My career was awful. My work was awful." Now there's like a little something else. So I think that's what it is more. I don't want to say I have less fear of failure, but failing just doesn't seem as horrific as it used to. [Judell]
Copyright © Brandon Judell 2005
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