Are Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny friends? X Files stars reunite at SAG awards 2025

Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny's bond has sparked renewed interest after the two former co-stars reunited at the SAG Awards 2025.

The two X-Files co-stars reunited this Sunday on stage when they presented the award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

"It's great to see you, Gillian," Duchovny told his former costar. "You look …”

Gillian Anderson snarkily finished his sentence:

“Younger than you last saw me when we shot 218 episodes?”

Since their show went off the air back in 2001, the two have reunited several times, such as in the 2008 film I Want to Believe. Anderson also sat down for an interview with Duchovny for his Fail Better podcast in 2024, where they reflected on their ups and downs as costars, and their friendship over the years.

According to People Magazine, the two have been friends for three decades, and early last year, Duchovny told the outlet that he thinks of Anderson as "family."

“When you share a seminal kind of experience in your life — this huge success with the show that we had — only we know what it's like to be in the center of that,” he said. “It's almost like being in the same family. We know what it was like to be raised in that time. There's a certain kind of shared experience, knowledge, and past that never goes away.”

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Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny's friendship through the years explored:

Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny starred together for a total of 11 seasons of The X-Files, from 1993 to 2002. They also reunited for two spin-off films in 2016 and 2018. In their 30-plus years of knowing each other, however, the two never once asked the other what their "childhood was like." Speaking on the latter's podcast last year, Anderson said:

"We didn’t. And why would we? We were busy. We have a closeness that we don’t have with probably many other people, and went through something that we didn’t go through with any other people. I mean, yes, there were crew and etcetera, but in terms of our experience as actors. And so, I thought it would be a curious investigation.”

The actor told People Magazine just last June that he and Gillian Anderson hit things off as quickly as during the audition process for The X-Files.

“I think immediately, when we were reading together on the stairs to go in to audition, we knew that we could work together,” he said. “There was an immediate connection through the work that we could do, and that lasted for a long, long time.”

However, he added that at some point after 2002, they lost touch:

“There was a long time, working on the show, where we were just not even dealing with one another off-camera,” Duchovny recalled. “And there was a lot of tension. Which didn’t matter, apparently, for the work cause we’re both f------ crazy, I guess. We could just go out there and do what we needed to do.”

Gillian Anderson agreed with him, noting,

"That is kinda crazy. I mean, it’s crazy that we were able to present on camera, you know, the various feelings and emotions and attraction and all that kind of stuff, but then not speak to each other for weeks at a time."

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The two actors nabbed several nominations and awards for their work during the series' original run.