David Duchovny had worked in Los Angeles three years prior to "The X-Files". At first he wanted to base his acting career around films, but in 1993 his manager Melanie Green gave him a script of the pilot episode of "The X-Files". Green and Duchovny were both convinced it was a good script, so Duchovny auditioned for the lead. When Duchovny was auditioning for the part of Fox Mulder, he made a terrific audition, but talked rather slowly. Chris Carter thought that he was a good judge of character, and thought that Duchovny wasn't too bright. So he talked to Duchovny and asked him if he could please imagine himself as an FBI agent for the future weeks. The casting director of the show was very positive about him, while according to Carter, Duchovny turned out to be one of the best-read people he knew. After getting the role, Duchovny thought the show wouldn't last for long or that it wouldn't make as much impact as it did.