David Duchovny Auditioned for Every Male Lead Role on Full House

David Duchovny has recently shared that he auditioned for and did not secure all three male lead roles in the 1987 sitcom “Full House.” During an episode of his Lemonada podcast “Fail Better,” the Emmy-nominated actor revealed that he tried out for the characters Danny Tanner, Jesse Katsopolis, and Joey Gladstone. These roles were ultimately portrayed by Bob Saget, John Stamos, and Dave Coulier respectively on the series that continued until 1995.

“I auditioned for all three parts on ‘Full House,’” Duchovny recounted. Initially considered for the role of the father, he was later auditioned for Stamos’ character and then for Coulier’s part. “I was thinking, ‘I’ve got to get one of these, and it’s going to change my life,'” he added.

Despite not securing any of the roles, Duchovny pointed out that he was just beginning his career in Hollywood and admitted that he didn’t quite have the knack for sitcom acting at the time. He reminisced about the numerous pilots he auditioned for when he first arrived in Los Angeles, believing each one could be his big break. “I just needed to be able to pay my rent too. That was an important thing ’cause I just wanted a job,” he shared.

“I was really bad at that kind of stuff. 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,” he admitted.

Interestingly, it was his role in “The X-Files” that catapulted Duchovny to fame. He played Agent Fox Mulder alongside Gillian Anderson’s Agent Dana Scully. The show premiered in 1993 and ran for nine seasons until 2002. The storyline revolved around two special agents involved in investigating unsolved cases, often involving paranormal activities.

Duchovny reprised his role in a reboot of “The X-Files” that aired from 2016 to 2018 and also appeared in two feature films based on the series. Reflecting on his experience with the show in a 2004 interview with “The Independent,” Duchovny recalled the intense workload.

“Every year had its own hurdle. The first year it was just survival. I’d never worked that hard before. Fifteen hours a day. It was enervating. How do I work to memorise these lines? In ‘The X-Files’ there was always something new to memorise, but once you’d got the character there wasn’t really anything new to act,” he noted.

“The second year it was a matter of working out how to have fun while I did it. The third year was, ‘Well, OK, I’ve survived – so how can I start to be creative again?’ It was only at that point that I had any energy left to do anything other than go home and prepare for the next day’s work,” he further explained.

Although Duchovny didn’t make it onto “Full House,” his journey towards success was undoubtedly a unique one, ultimately leading him to roles that defined his career.

Source: Independent, Lemonada