Actor David Duchovny, who starred in one of the most successful science fiction shows of all time, “The X-Files,” doesn’t care for science fiction.

“I've never really been interested in science fiction,” he confesses. “It's not a genre that I really seek out to watch. I guess when I was growing up, a long, long time ago, I liked the first ‘Star Trek.’ I used to watch that with my mom — the one with [William] Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.

“So that's really the only science fiction I remember. I do remember being into this series of books called ‘Chariots of the Gods,’ and they did make a movie of it,” he recalls.

“This was Erich von Däniken, who was positing that alien civilizations had landed. And they were the kind of generators of our culture, way back when. So, as a kid, I was interested, but never as an adult — aside from working on that show.”

Duchovny is also a writer and has penned four novels. "I'm probably more confident in my writing than I am in either my acting or directing,” he says.

He studied English literature at both Princeton and Yale, earning a master’s degree from Yale and a bachelor’s from Princeton. “I started writing and started taking the life of the mind seriously. I was a good student, but more of a hard-working student than like one of those really bright guys,” he says. “I originally wanted to be a writer but started acting and got caught up in this business,” he says.

“When I write novels, they're not science fiction,” he insists, “that's not where my creative bent is.”

His creative bent now is serving as host for the History Channel’s “Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny,” airing Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET.

Definitely NOT science fiction, he says. “These are not fictional events, these are real events that have been classified for a long time, 50 years, so they are a fascinating bit of history to me,” he says.

“Something that was brought to my attention was the bare fact that secrets — that files do become declassified after a certain amount of time — have always been kind of interesting to me, in the sense of the truth will out. Eventually, the truth will out. And to me, that's a very interesting field of inquiry.”

These “declassified” topics range from clandestine government experiments to black op forays, to bizarre weapons, to underground secret sites.

Because of the subject matter, Duchovny says he was hesitant to take the job in the series — now into its second season. “I thought it was in the same sphere as ‘The X-Files,’ which was completely fictional. Our show was a work of fiction, or science fiction, whatever you want to call it. So, in that sense, I felt a little wary of treading into that area again. But then I made the distinction in my mind and in the show, actually, that this is more like a documentary, more like nonfiction reporting than it is fictionalization.”

While some of the revelations are laughable, they are important, says Duchovny. “These true stories are ridiculous but of world-shaking significance. So there's a weird kind of tonality that you have to be able to strike between the high stakes — the possible life-and-death issue for, let's say 10 people, let's say a million people, let's say millions of people — and then just the ridiculous things that are being done. And it's hard to figure out the tone, because some of it's laughable, but then you step back and you go, ‘Well, this could have really impacted a lot of people in a negative way.”

He thinks acting can be impactful in a way. “I think of acting as like being in the service industry, and I think I'm providing a service. I'm not complaining, but I think we get overpaid and overexposed for this service, but I do think that we take journeys and go through experiences up there on the screen or on the TV screen for people.

“People sit in theaters and at home and they go along with us. And something happens. We perform an emotional service for them. They're entertained or they learn or they feel better after they watch or listen. It’s like music, you feel better after hearing a song. And I think it's a very important service.”

Hill moves to directing

Jonah Hill has moved from the acting purview to writing and directing. Though he’s part of the cast of the Apple TV comedy, “Outcome,” he co-wrote it and directs. And he’s performing with a top cast including Keanu Reeves, Carmeron Diaz, Matt Bomer, Susan Lucci, David Spade and even Martin Scorsese.

While those luminaries lined up for Hill’s directing, it was Dustin Hoffman who first discovered him. “I was planning on being a writer for a living and then I got discovered by Dustin Hoffman in New York and he got me my first movie audition, and I got that part in ‘I Heart Huckabees,’ so Dustin’s the one who shined the light on me.

“I knew his kids, and I would make these prank phone calls, CDs for him and stuff, and he thought I was really talented, and he got me my first audition. I was very nervous. I trained once I started doing that in college I trained for a couple of years. And then it was about two years of training and then two more after that once I got my first part and moved back to L.A. I dropped out of college.”

National Geographic offers free trip

National Geographic is celebrating Earth Month in a unique way: it’s offering one lucky winner a trip-of-a-lifetime to either the Galapagos Islands or to Alaska. That winner (and up to three friends) will experience the unique landscapes of the trip of their choice. The prize features one eight-day National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions cruise to Alaska for four (two double occupancy cabins). Or one 10-day National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions cruise to the Galápagos for four (two double occupancy cabins). The coach airfares are covered, round-trip, as well as transfers on arrival and departure. To enter, trek on over to natgeo.com/earthmonthsweeps. Deadline is April 30.

Hallmark finds its 'Way Home'

The fourth and final season of Hallmark’s “The Way Home” hits tellies on April 19. The show stars, among others, Andie MacDowell, best known for shows and films like “Green Card,” “Maid” and “Groundhog Day.”

She says she joined Hallmark because she wanted to do something “comforting.”

“In general, the material is always something that is comforting and it’s wholesome,” she says. “You rarely see terrible things are happening that are really disturbing. It’s a safe place.

“But I love the idea of the character, the matriarch idea. I had it in my head that that’s really something that I wanted to experience and also show other women, mature women, that they can be this strong, dynamic woman.”

Evidently these mature women have gotten the message. Michelle Pfeiffer is back in “The Madison,” which has been picked up for a second season on Paramount+. Cameron Diaz, who said she was retiring, is back in “Outcome,” streaming on Apple TV, Rachel Weisz is ogling a younger man on “Vladimir,” via Netflix, Jean Smart is triumphing in HBO Max’s “Hacks,” Geena Davis shows up in “The Boroughs” on Netflix May 21, Valerie Bertinelli is starring in “Love, Again,” on Lifetime May 8, Brooke Shields is the starrer in Acorn TV’s “You’re Killing Me,” arriving May 15. And Lisa Kudrow is killing it as “a woman of a certain age” in the HBO hit “The Comeback.”

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