By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Part of why X files it became so popular that it had the coolest characters on television. Obviously, Mulder and Scully were amazing, and their captivating chemistry made this one of the most popular shows of the ’90s. However, the show had a small army of equally compelling supporting characters, including everyone from the quirky Lone Gunmen to the terrifying Cigarette Smoking Man. Arguably, however, no one had a more compelling role than Mulder’s informants. In Season 1, Deep Throat provided important information about aliens and a government conspiracy, but even after his murder, it was unclear whose side he was really on.
After Deep Throat’s death, fans shared Mulder’s concern that he wouldn’t have another whistleblower with insider information. Eventually, however, Deep Throat was replaced by an actor known as X (sometimes referred to as “Mr. X”). He quickly became a fan-favorite character thanks to actor Steven Williams, who gave Mulder’s inner self a dynamic and sometimes violent energy. In retrospect, it’s understandably hard to imagine anyone else playing such an important role. However, the role of this hypermasculine character almost went to a woman named Natalia Nogulich, and you can watch her play as X in a deleted scene!
You’re Mean One, Mr. X
By design, we only know so much about experienced characters X files. After all, they had to rise to insignificant government positions and know how to hide their secrets from the most powerful men in the world. What exactly do we know about X? He was one of the men in black (no, really!) and he worked for the Smoking Man. However, he was disloyal to the evil Syndicate and gave their secret information to Mulder. They finally found out that he was helping the enemy, the Syndicate sent Mpunga to finish him off.
IX was technically introduced in the Season 2 episode “The Host,” but didn’t appear on screen until two episodes later. In “Sleepless,” he has the first of many secret meetings with Agent Mulder. The original script for that episode referred to X as a woman, and Natalia Nogulich played the role and filmed the episode with David Duchovny. However, former director Rob Bowman, expanded X-Files writer James Wong, and others sat down to watch the newspapers, decided that he was wrong about this role. Interestingly, the first scene with Nogulich was included as a bonus feature on the season 2 DVD set.
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UX also starred, and the role was given to veteran actor Steven Williams. Williams added a welcome intensity to the role, and had a strong motivation. He later said he modeled his performance after Avery Brooks’ role Spencer: For hire. While the actress ended up being a great character on the show (writer Glen Morgan thought she would be fine as a series regular), getting her into “Sleepless” proved difficult. Rather than reshooting the entire scene with David Duchovny, Bowman simply shot Williams’ scenes and edited them into existing footage. Because of the certain intimacy of the art, his addition to the scene was relatively seamless.
However, why was X originally written as a woman? X-Files creator Chris Carter thought he could play with fan expectations by introducing a new female character with whom Mulder might have a relationship. Although Nogulich did not work as X, Carter still liked the idea of Mulder having a female mentor. So, after X died in Season 3, he was replaced by Marita Covarrubias, the actress played by Laurie Holden. Unfortunately, his character was poorly written and often poorly acted, and is considered universal even worse to Mulder’s informants.
Personally, I always thought X was the greatest teacher ever X files. This is largely due to the performance of Steven Williams, a successful actor who can charge any scene just by walking into the room. Although Natalia Nogulich is a great actress (sci-fi fans will know her better as Admiral Nechayev from Star Trek: The Next Generation), it’s impossible to imagine anyone other than Williams playing Mulder’s second informant. However, the fact that Chris Carter wanted Nogulich to play the role of a potential liaison while looking like a different version of Scully. wild. Forget the truth, Mulder; What is Freud indeed out there!
