David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson Reunite for ‘X-Files’ Reunion

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are making us want to believe all over again! The former X-Files co-stars posed together for an internet-breaking reunion snap Sunday after more than a decade playing Special Agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, partners and love interests in the iconic sci-fi series, which ran from 1993 to 2002 before returning for a two-season revival in 2016 on Fox.

Smiling together for a series of selfies with Anderson’s dog, The Crown star simply captioned the shots, “Stella made a new friend today.” Her followers were quick to react excitedly, with one person commenting, “Am i alive? Is this real!?” and another adding, “the way you knew this would break the internet.”

The roles of Scully and Mulder launched both Duchovny and Anderson into stardom, but Duchovny recently told Rob Lowe on his podcast Literally! With Rob Lowe that he almost turned down the role. “X-Files, this is about extraterrestrials. How long can it go? It’s a good pilot but you’re either going to see the aliens or [not],” he said of his first impression of the show. “I wasn’t interested in conspiracy theories, and I was perfectly willing to just say, ‘I’m going to have to pass on that pilot, because I said I’d do this other project.’ It’s scary to think back on, if you didn’t open this door, or you took that left instead of that right. It’s like, none of it had to happen. You talk about actors being dumb… well, that was me.”

Anderson was game to return to her iconic role for the revival, but following an unpleasant twist for her character in the second season told reporters she was ready to step back from the character for good. “It’s time for me to hang up Scully’s hat. It just is,” she told reporters in 2018, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m finished and that’s the end of that. I arrived at the decision before we did the previous six, but I was really curious. I felt that the previous six was going to be it. It was dipping our toe back in again … and getting to play these wonderful characters again. I think as [series creator] Chris [Carter] has said himself that short stack of episodes felt like we were learning how to walk again and that this season of 10 feels like the pace is up and we’re running.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily have been happy if those six were how we said goodbye,” she added. “There’s lots of things that I want to do in my life and in my career and it’s been an extraordinary opportunity and extraordinary character and I am hugely grateful.”