Feb. 27, 1998

by Frank Garcia

s you read these words, is the traitorous killer Alex Krycek still alive? At the time of this chat, actor Nicholas Lea was in the midst of filming THE X-FILES two-part episodes "Patient X" and "The Red and The Black" which is set to air on Fox tonight and conclude March 8. In this two-parter, we return to the so-called "mythology" story arcs. Mulder reapproaches the possibility of obtaining evidence proving the existence of extraterrestrial life, while Scully faces a new, unexpected threat to her life. Any attempt at prying out of Lea interesting tidbits regarding the pivotal events taking place in these episodes were naturally futile. As Krycek, the man who killed Mulder's father, Lea is in the odd position of openly conspiring with his fellow filmmakers in keeping the latest secrets of THE X-FILES under wraps.

"I just never leak that stuff. It's sort of expected of me but I don't!" remarks Lea. "I was at my agent's office, she had the first copy of the script and you sort of see a new side to Alex Krycek - a couple of different sides actually - so it was funny. I laughed! You get to see new aspects of the character that you haven't seen before. There's all the best things that you see in all the great X-FILES episodes. It's going to be two excellent episodes.

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Alex Krycek's Greatest Hits

"It's the best of all possibilities for me to return to the show, to return to my home [in Vancouver], working with David [Duchovny], [producer/director] Kim Manners and the crew again. It's a wonderful thing. It's something I value very much."

Okay. Let's take this from a different angle. How would Lea feel should the series producers decide to kill Krycek? Would he accept Krycek's fate or does he feel strongly that this is a character that can still make significant contributions to the series?

"I think that for purely selfish reasons I would have a problem with it only because I want to continue to be on the show as long as I can," admits Lea. "But I understand that people die on the show. It's all for the greater good of the story. Obviously, I'd accept that. I just hope it continues as long as it can. It's some of the best things definitely in my career to being able to work on the show."

If rumors are true, Krycek actually appears in not just two but five episodes this season. Whether the character dies or lives on in future episodes, Nicholas Lea is a lucky man. He was a fledgling Canadian actor who entered a hit TV series under rare, unusual circumstances.

Before THE X-FILES, Nicholas Lea was a working man's actor, appearing in a variety of films and television roles, notably a recurring role as Ricky Caruso in Stephen J. Cannell's THE COMMISH series in 1991. Other appearances includes THE HAT SQUAD (1992) and HIGHLANDER (1992).

In 1994, nearing the end of the second season of the series, when actress Gillian Anderson was pregnant with her daughter Piper, series creator Chris Carter and his staff were stymied as how to deal with Anderson's condition without affecting Dana Scully's life. The problem was resolved with a creative solution: Scully was kidnapped by ex-FBI agent Duane Barry (actor Steve Railsback) and was whisked away into the sky by aliens (or so it seemed) and disappeared. This left Agent Fox Mulder alone. As a result, FBI agent Alex Krycek entered the picture to fill the gap and he was assigned and "partnered" with Mulder on The X-Files.


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