David Duchovny failed ‘Full House’ audition before landing ‘X-Files’ role: ‘I was really bad’

Though he found major success with hit shows such as “The X Files” and “Californication,” David Duchovny faced plenty of failed auditions early on in his career.

During an episode of his new podcast, “Fail Better,” the actor recalled the time he lost out on all three leads of the beloved ’90s sitcom “Full House.”

“At first, they had me for, I think, the dad,” Duchovny said, referencing Bob Saget‘s character, Danny Tanner. “And then, they had me for the [John] Stamos character. And then, they had me for the other guy (Dave Couiler’s character, Joey Gladstone). I was thinking, ‘I’ve got to get one of these, and it’s going to change my life.'”

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“I had plenty of those pilots that I went up for when I was first out in L.A. and I thought each one was going to be the break,” he continued. “I just needed to be able to pay my rent, too. That was an important thing because I just wanted a job.”

Duchovny admitted that he didn’t end up landing a handful of shows. 

“I can’t tell you how many shows I didn’t get,” he said. Ultimately, Duchovny said he just wasn’t right for the roles he had been auditioning for. 

Duchovny said he was “really bad” at auditioning for sitcoms. (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

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“I was really bad at that kind of stuff,” Duchovny explained. “I did not know how to do that sitcom stuff. I don’t know what they were thinking, that they thought I was going to exist in that world. I mean, I guess I could have learned, but I wasn’t ready, I wasn’t ready for that kind of energetic performance that they need.”

The longtime actor, who recently launched a podcast, is gearing up to talk about some real-life experiences, including his “high-profile divorce” from Tea Leoni and his stint in rehab.  

“Why am I making a podcast? The best answer I can come up with is that I feel like I’ve been failing my entire life, so I can speak from plenty of experience,” the synopsis for his podcast reads. “Sure, I was on ‘The X Files’ and ‘Californication,’ I wrote some books and made some music. But I also got a literal F in ‘The New York Times.’” 

David Duchovny found success with shows like “The X-Files.” (Getty Images)

“I had a high-profile divorce and a magical mystery tour through rehab. So now I want to get into the way that failure looms over all of us and really shapes who we are. What’s good about that, what’s bad about that, what’s holding us back in shame? Lots to unpack here.”

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