WBD: Well, I don't know. Maybe I should just kill you and go home now! That was a nice entrance; I certainly haven't had that one before. Not quite the same as two helicopters, but it was good. It's good. I liked it. So, I'm really glad to be here. I met some of you this afternoon, and we talked, and we'll get a chance to talk later. I'm going to talk a little bit because I have something that I really WANT to say about the show and about my character in particular, but then we'll open up for questions afterwards and you can ask me anything you want, about anything to do with the show, and if I know anything, I'll tell you, if I don't know, I'll make something up. But there's a more serious aspect in a way, to what I want to talk about because it seems to me that most of the viewers misunderstand the show. And I don't know why that is, and we'll address that question a little bit later and see if we can understand what the difficulty might be. But the essence of the trouble as far as I can see it, is that most people think that Mulder is the good guy, and REALLY there's another interpretation, which I am going to present to you tonight. And since we're on the University campus, and I think this was called a "symposium," whatever EXACTLY a symposium is, but it certainly SOUNDS intellectual, we're going to compare and contrast the characters of Mulder on one hand and Cigarette Smoking Man in the other. Just for clarification purposes - Cigarette Smoking Man has a lot of names: Smoking Man, Il Fumatore, Cancerman, Black-lunged son of a bitch - but, just for tonight, we'll call him CSM, which is short for Cigarette Smoking Man, of course, and that's what we call him on the show. So, we're going to compare Mulder and CSM. And first of all, let's do it under a number of different headings. The first of these headings is "Outcome." Let's suppose each of these two characters gets what they want: what would happen? OK. Let's suppose Mulder get's what he wants. Well, what does he want?

Audience: The truth!

WBD: The truth! Exactly. He wants the truth, right? Yeah , sure! We'll talk about that in a little bit. (Referring to rebels in audience) They didn't say that. They said he wanted Scully. Well, if that's wanting Scully, he surely has slowly ________. In the meantime, suppose he finds the truth, what is he gonna do with it? Does he strike you as a thoughtful, careful, considerate person? Is he gonna weigh all the possibilities and take a careful attitude as to what to do with this information that he's got? Well, I don't think so. I think he'll go on "Larry King Live" and blab it to the world! And then what? Panic! That's what'll happen; people will be terrified. They'll rush out of their homes, into their cars, like scenes from "Independence Day..." if Mulder gets what he wants.

Now, let's suppose CSM get s what he wants. We're not sure of everything that he wants, but he does seem to want to cover up the truth. Well, let's suppose he's successful, let's suppose he does c over up the truth. What will happen? NOTHING!!! And if it does, you won't know! Everything will go along just as it is. There will be a few crazy kooks talking about UFOs, but everything will be just as it is now! If the truth is covered. Yes, but you might say, "Ah yes, but what about the project?" We'll talk about that a little later.

Alright, let's take another heading. Let's take "Sacrifice." Now, which of these two characters has sacrificed the most in pursuit of his goals?

Audience: Mulder!

WBD: Wait! Wait! Wait! Mulder's doing exactly what he wants to do! He's an FBI agent, he gets the cases he wants, he's got the job he wants, he's doing it with a very attractive woman. That doesn't sound like much of a sacrifice to me! What has CSM sacrificed? His health! And it may well be, from certain cases we've had, that CSM has sacrificed his personal life. And it does also seem, from time to time, that he may be capable of a personal life, unlike, perhaps, Mulder. But we'll get to that i n a bit.

Here's another heading: "Love." Now, which of these two characters has shown, committed, performed greater acts of love? Well, let's see. It's true, when Scully was abducted three or four seasons ago, Mulder ran around trying to save her, and ran into my apartment, waved a gun in my face - as he often does. And it's true, in the movie he did try and get in a tractor in Antarctica, or wherever it was, but I mean surely it's in the FBI handbook, "If your partner's in trouble, you try to save them." I mean, what's the big deal, right? But what about, ah yes, what about, what ABOUT _____? Do you remember at one point Scully had cancer and it seems that CSM has some way of solving it, curing it, putting it in submission, dealing with it, something that was never very clear, but if someone would do CSM's bidding, Scully's life would be saved. So, who did it?

Audience: Skinner.

WBD: Skinner! Right? He scrubbed that bathroom over and over again! But, but, but when the going got rough, he started to back out. Anyway, Mulder saw Skinner was risking his career, risking everything to save Scully. Now, if you found out that a colleague of yours was risking everything to save the person you love, what would you do? Surely, you would say, "Let ME do that! Let ME take that risk! Let ME do that to save her!" Did Mulder DO that? Mulder helped Skinner hide the evidence. Mulder;s a chicken-livered pup! On the other hand, do you recall, I think it was season four, Mrs. Mulder, CSM's love, lay dying in the hospital? What did CSM do? CSM brought the bounty hunter into the hospital, the bounty hunter with power of curing. He risked his whole position in the Syndicate, and everything he stood for and lied to the bounty hunter so that the bounty hunter would save Mrs. Mulder's life. So, which of these two character performed the greater act of love?

Well, what about style?I don't think we need to say any more about that! I mean, how do they spend they're time when they're alone? I mean CSM, sometimes it's true, he's got a mindless television on in front of him, but one gets the idea that he's not really paying attention, that he's really thinking. And sometimes it appears to be that he really wanted to do was write. What does Mulder do? When he's not watching porn movies, he's throwing pencils at the ceiling!

Suppose...this is another way to compare and contrast these. Suppose you had to choose a leader and your two choices were CSM on the one hand and Mulder on the other. I mean, quite simply, Mulder is young, of course, and CSM is old. I don't know. Is Mulder young, or does he just act young? I'm never quite sure. But there's no doubt he's impetuous and _____and CSM is thoughtful, careful, a planner____, calm. Would you want your leader, I mean, would you like it if you leader was somebody at a moment's notice yanks his gun out and starts waving it around? Have you noticed CSM doesn't carry a gun? Now, this is a silly point to make maybe because it may not be important - it may not matter whether your leader has good eyesight or not - but has anyone noticed that whenever the light gets just a tiny bit dim, Mulder has to get out his flashlight? CSM lives in the dark!

But here's a matter which is a little more delicate and potentially more serious, and I hesitate to bring this one on you, but I think you have to hear it. I think Mulder's a virgin. I mean just imagine, suppose you worked closely, for five years and a bit, with Gillian Anderson...I mean, wouldn't you make a pass? I mean, I don't mean he has to (shut all the doors) and be presidential about it, but he can ask her to lunch!

Which brings us to the question of potency. Mulder, as far as we know, has no children. CSM, on the other hand, may be Mulder's father, is apparently Samantha's father, IS Jeffery Spender's father, for all I know, he's the Lone Gunmen's father! In fact, sometimes I think the reason he got involved with the aliens in the first place is because he's such a good breeder! He can help with the breeding program.

So, I admit one thing, I do admit one thing: I admit Mulder's lucky. I mean look at this, you know. Everybody knows where the bomb is, right? They've been told where the bomb is, so they're looking where they're told the bomb is. So, what does Mulder do? He looks in a different building, any old building that happen to be nearby! Well, after he looks for it for a while, not finding anything, he gets thirsty, so he goes for a soft drink, and there's the bomb!

Taking all these things into account, how is it that people still think Mulder's the good guy and CSM the bad guy? Well, we think it's the lighting in the music. So, Season Six will see some changes. In Season Six, every time I appear, I will be bathed in a warm light. Every time Scully appears, she'll be lit from the ground! When Mulder and Scully appear, there will be deep, foreboding music. When I appear - there will be harps! They asked me over the summer to work on my smoking, so that I can blow smoke rings, so that every time I appear, there will be a halo around my head.

[That was obviously] tongue in cheek. We could get into the project now, but I don't want to . Well, you may not agree with me, but, as an actor, that's what I have to do. I have to convince myself that I'm the good guy. And, as you can see, I've gotten quite good at it. So, I'm gonna take your questions about anything at all to do with the show, to do with anything I can answer. So, what we've got - we've got two microphones here, so if you have a question come and stand, and we'll l keep some order that way...and go from there. [To first person in line] Yeah, go for it.

Question: In 1989 I had the opportunity to talk at length with G. Gordon Liddy, and the spin he put on _______ was so identical to the spin you put on CSM, I'm wondering at all if you took any inspiration for your character from him. I also have a second question. Were you at all annoyed with the movie script that so much of the internal morality that CSM had developed through the season had kind of been dropped and in the movie he was kind of made to look like kind of a cardboard bad guy.