7 ‘X-Files’ Stars’ Not-So-Spooky Returns to TV (PHOTOS)
Gillian Anderson (Dana Scully)
Between The X-Files’ first and second runs, Anderson played businesswoman Meg Fitch on NBC’s Crisis, psychiatrist Bedelia Du Maurier on NBC’s Hannibal, Metropolitan Police Superintendent Stella Gibson on BBC Two’s The Fall, and goddess Media on Starz’ American Gods. And come January 11, you’ll see her on Netflix’s Sex Education as Jean Thompson, a sex therapist whose teen son follows in her footsteps.
David Duchovny (Fox Mulder)
Duchovny avoided TV for several years before returning as womanizing writer Hank Moody in the Showtime comedy Californication, a role that earned him a Golden Globe. Following that role, he starred in NBC’s Aquarius as Sam Hodiak, an LAPD detective investigating Charles Manson in 1960s-era Los Angeles.
Mitch Pileggi (Walter Skinner)
Among Pileggi’s many TV credits are the recurring roles of Colonel Steven Caldwell on Sci Fi’s Stargate Atlantis, white supremacist gang leader Ernest Darby on FX’s Sons of Anarchy, the Winchesters’ grandfather Samuel Campbell on The CW’s Supernatural, and board chairman Larry Jennings on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. Now he’s guest-starring as U.S. Secretary of Defense Wynn Crawford on CBS’s NCIS.
William B. Davis (Cigarette Smoking Man)
If there’s a TV show filmed in Vancouver, there’s a good chance this veteran theater actor has at least guest-starred on it. Cases in point: Davis‘s roles in The CW’s Smallville and Supernatural and Syfy’s Stargate SG-1, Caprica, and Continuum.
Annabeth Gish (Monica Reyes)
Gish is a perennial favorite of FX, with weighty roles on the drama series The Bridge, Sons of Anarchy, and Halt and Catch Fire. Along the way, she has also guest-starred on CBS’s CSI, ABC’s Once Upon a Time, and Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars. Most recently, you’ve seen her in Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House.
Robert Patrick (John Doggett)
Patrick has gotten a ton of gainful employment after The X-Files, with starring roles as Colonel Tom Ryan in four seasons of CBS’s The Unit, as Jackson Herveaux in one season of HBO’s True Blood, and as Agent Cabe Gallo in four seasons of CBS’s Scorpion. He also just reprised his Sons of Anarchy role as Les Packer on FX’s Mayans M.C.
James Pickens Jr. (Alvin Kersh)
Surely you know this fella! Pickens is one of four Grey’s Anatomy cast members to star in all 15 seasons of the ABC drama so far, playing Dr. Richard Webber and earning eight NAACP Image Award nominations in the process. Last year, he also reprised his Roseanne role of Chuck Mitchell in two episodes of the revived sitcom and two of reboot The Conners.
The roles are out there. The stars of The X-Files have stayed busy since the paranormal FOX drama ended its (original) run in 2002, and we’re not just talking about the show’s two-season revival.
Mitch Pileggi just made his NCIS debut on January 8, for instance, and Gillian Anderson is returning to the small screen in Sex Education on January 11. So it’s about time we checked in with all the onscreen FBI agents — and with one of their biggest onscreen adversaries!
Keep reading for the declassified intel…
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