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Sometimes you get lucky. We’d arranged to meet with the actor David Duchovny this week in Santa Monica, Calif., to discuss his new series “Aquarius,” a period crime drama coming to NBC on May 28, for a coming article. Then something else came up.

On Tuesday Fox announced that it was bringing back “The X-Files,” which starred Mr. Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as F.B.I. agents investigating alien-related conspiracies and bizarre, often paranormal, crimes. (The Internet noticed.)

The series began as an oddity in 1993 but became a phenomenon, running until 2002 and proving that the audience was out there for smart science fiction, horror and other genre fare. (There were movies in 1998 and 2008.) “The X-Files” became, for a time, Fox’s highest rated show, topping out as the 11th most watched series on television in its 1997-98 season. It also won 16 Emmy Awards, five Golden Globes and a Peabody Award.

“They call it a cult show but it wasn’t really a cult show. It was actually a big hit,” Mr. Duchovny said. “People call it a cult show because of the subject matter.”

The show’s metaphysical themes and (admittedly muddled) mythology would influence later densely metatextual, serialized narratives in shows like “Lost” and “Fringe.” Created by Chris Carter, “The X-Files” also served as a training ground for writers like Vince Gilligan (“Breaking Bad”) and Howard Gordon (“24,” “Homeland”) who would go on to run their own acclaimed shows.

Mr. Duchovny discussed the legacy of “The X-Files” and why Fox Mulder was the worst F.B.I. agent in history. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Q.

Have you been in hiding since Fox made the announcement?

A.

[Laughs] No I haven’t been hiding. All the good things are good. The good things are working with Chris and Gillian again, and getting to do this show again and see what we’ve got. I’m as curious as anybody else. I’m amazed that there’s still an appetite for it and I’m touched. I think the frame of the show is so expansive and so unique and so influential, that it should feel present.

Q.

Why do you think the show continues to resonate?

A.

I don’t know. You look around at these cultural juggernauts, the ones that came after us.

Q.

There were certainly pieces of it in shows like “Lost.”

A.

That’s what I mean. Like “The Twilight Zone,” it ushered in a paranormal theme, and a scary theme and a horror-movie feel that was lacking, for whatever reason, not only on television but in movies as well. Now movies and television are dominated by this genre.

Q.

And practically speaking, it demonstrated an appetite for it.

A.

And a global one.

Q.

Part of the “X-Files” legacy surrounds genre, but another part was the way it combined serial storytelling with the Monster of the Week episodes. And this whole notion of—

A.

A mythology. It kind of introduced specialized knowledge, though you didn’t have to do homework to watch the show. They were always kind of juggling about what people needed to know, especially when we made the movies. Can we get somebody in who’s never seen this? And I’m sure we’ll have to juggle that again with this iteration of it.

Q.

When you were on “The X-Files,” did you have any sense that what you were doing was groundbreaking?

A.

No. I was just trying to pay the rent. I’m really bad with that stuff – I’ve never been interested in paranormal stuff. I liked horror movies when I was a kid, but only when I was a kid. When “The X-Files” came around, it was a well-written pilot and kind of a cool character, this irreverent F.B.I. agent. But who’s gonna wanna watch a show about aliens? Honestly, I was the wrong guy to ask that question. I had no idea.

Q.

What do you know about the new ones?

A.

I don’t know much at all. We’re gonna do six episodes.

Q.

Is it going to be serialized or just like a collection of movies of the week?

A.

We’re gonna do both. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna begin and end with the mythology. But I really don’t know.

Q.

Are you at all nervous about it?

A.

I think I’ll be nervous on the day. When I’m in a scene with Gillian, I think we’ll both be like, this is so weird. And I think we’ve both gotten better as we’ve gotten older, so how do we bring that to bear on these characters? If I were to look back at the first or second year of the show, I wouldn’t try to act like that guy. I’m capable of doing more. She’s capable of doing more. It’ll be interesting to see how we keep the characters the same but also the actors are better.

Q.

Are you shooting the new ones in Vancouver?

A.

Yeah.

Q.

Really? Because I remember that being an issue back in the day.

A.

I love Vancouver. The issue back in the day was I’d just gotten married and Tea [Leoni, Mr. Duchovny’s ex-wife] lived in L.A., and I wanted to start a family. I couldn’t be in Canada 10 months out of the year.

Q.

Have you and the other principals on the show stayed in touch over the years?

A.

Yeah I live next to Chris when I’m out here. We’re neighbors. Gillian and I have an email relationship. I maybe see her once or twice a year. Maybe if we do a convention — well, I’ve done one.

Q.

When was that?

A.

About a year and half ago in New York.

Q.

Were you talking about a new version even back then?

A.

We always talk about it. It’s always like, yeah let’s do that. But then everybody has their own things that they’re doing and it’s so hard to get everybody in the same place at the same time. We managed to that this time around, just barely.

Q.

Is that why you’re doing it now? Or does the time feel especially ripe for it for some reason?

A.

The time is right because we got our [act] together to do it. In terms of culturally or what people want to see, I don’t know. I imagine if we waited too much longer people would eventually lose interest. It’s different from something like “Star Trek,” which started out campy and then, especially with the J.J. Abrams stuff, became legit somehow. You might argue with me, but I always felt like we were legit. We’re still trying to do the same show. It’s not like were trying to make it 2.0, or whatever the .0 is now. 3.0. We’re gonna make the same show. But it’ll be interesting because Gillian and I are older. I don’t want to act like it’s 20 years ago.

Q.

But even 20 years ago your character had a kind of world-weariness that was perhaps advanced for the age you were then.

A.

Yes, maybe it will be more now. It will just be very weary.

Q.

So is the Smoking Man going to smoke e-cigarettes now?

A.

That’s a good question. Maybe he’ll have Nicorette gum. He’ll be the Gum-Chewing Man.

Q.

In “Aquarius” you’ll be playing a detective in the 1960s. Is that your first law enforcement role since Mulder on “The X-Files”?

A.

I think so. The interesting thing about Mulder is nominally he is law enforcement but he never solved one case in nine years. So he’s the worst F.B.I. agent of all time. As F.B.I. agents, I would say we were not by the book. Especially Mulder.

Q.

Are you going to solve a case this time?

A.

I don’t know. I hope not. That would really change the show.