David Duchovny Recalls Losing Out On All 3 Male Lead Roles On ‘Full House’ Following Audition

David Duchovny could’ve been Danny Tanner, Joey Gladstone, or Jesse Katsopolis on Full House.

The actor recalled that back in the 1980s, he auditioned for all three male roles that would end up going to Bob Saget, Dave Coulier, and John Stamos, respectively.

“I auditioned for all three parts on Full House,” Duchovny said on the latest episode of his podcast Fail Better. “At first, they had me for, I think, the dad. And then they had me for the Stamos character. And then they had me for the other guy. I was thinking, ‘I’ve got to get one of these, and it’s going to change my life.’”

Duchovny continued, “I had plenty of those pilots that I went up for when I was first out in LA, and I thought each one was going to be the break. I just needed to be able to pay my rent too.”

The actor would catch his big break in The X-Files in the role of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder. Duchovny also noted that the style of sitcoms at the time he auditioned for Full House was not his strong suit.

“I was really bad at that kind of stuff,” he said. “I did not know how to do that sitcom stuff. I don’t know what they were thinking, that they thought I was going to exist in that world. I mean, I guess I could have learned, but I wasn’t ready for that kind of, energetic performance that they need.”

Duchovny would later star in the dramedy series Californication in 2007 and most recently in the 2023 rom-com What Happens Later, opposite Meg Ryan.