David Duchovny explained the part he played in getting Angelina Jolie cast in one of her early lead roles.
David Duchovny feels he helped spark Angelina Jolie's Oscar-winning career after their work together on the 1997 neo-noir crime caper Playing God.
Duchovny, 63, recently sat down for an episode of SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, and played a game of word association with several of his former co-stars -- including Julia Louis Dreyfus, whom he called "fantastic" and "smart," Eddie Murphy (a "legend"), Demi Moore ("sweet"), and Halle Berry ("great"), among many others.
When host Andy Cohen brought up Jolie, 49, however, Duchovny couldn't think of just a word or two, exclaiming, "I feel like I discovered Angelina Jolie."
"Because I was casting -- I was part of the casting of [Playing God]. I didn't discover her, but you know, she came in and I just knew she was a movie star," Duchovny said. "I told everybody, 'We've gotta cast her!'"
In the film, Duchovny stars as Eugene Sands, a disgraced surgeon who gets his license to practice medicine revoked due to his drug abuse. He ends up saving a man's life after a shooting at a night club, which impresses local mobster Raymond Blossom (Timothy Hutton). Richard hires Eugene to be his personal physician, and Eugene gets romantically involved with the mobster's girlfriend, Claire (Jolie).
While the film was largely overlooked and critically panned at the time, it was an early leading role for Jolie, and her performance was a point of praise for many reviewers. That being said, she had already starred in the 1995 cult classic Hackers, which is widely considered to be her breakthrough role.
Since her performance in Playing God, Jolie has gone on to become one of the most famous celebrities in the world. In 2000, she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Girl, Interrupted, she was nominated for Best Actress in 2009 for her role in Changeling, and she was honored with the Oscars' Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2014.
Earlier this month, Jolie won her first-ever Tony Award -- alongside her daughter and producer's assistant, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt -- when the Broadway musical they produced, The Outsiders, took home the Tony Award for Best Musical.
Jolie is mom to six kids -- Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 17, Vivienne and her twin brother, Knox, 15 -- whom she shares with her ex-husband, Brad Pitt.
Check out the video below for a look at the magical moment Jolie and her daughter took the stage for their big Tonys moment of glory.
SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live airs Monday through Friday at 10am ET on Radio Andy (Ch. 102), and anytime on the SiriusXM app.
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