Fans of =The X-Files=, well aware that appearances almost always are
deceiving, should have known something was up with Agent Alex
Krycek the moment he oiled his way into Mulder's confidence. Since his
first appearance, in the second season's "Sleepless," this perfidious mole
has left the Bureau, murdered Mulder's father and become a dangerous
wild card: Vowing revenge on his former mentor, Cancer Man, for a
near-fatal double cross, Krycek disappeared underground to become a
greater threat than ever. Actor Nicholas Lea, who plays Krycek, by
comparison is a decent, square-dealing guy. Jeanne Wolf sat down with
him recently, and lived to tell the tale. -- John Walsh

Being a part of =The X-Files= is not like being a part of any other
series, is it?

I just got back from doing publicity in Europe for the show, and it was
akin to being a rock star almost. It was really unbelievable. In Dublin,
for example, we couldn't leave where we were because people crowded
the exits. We had to run up three flights of stairs, across two buildings,
down the stairs and out the back door to a Mercedes. The crowd saw us.
And they chased after us and were rocking the car and trying to stuff
things through the windows. It was very bizarre. But you have to
realize, it's not about me, it's about the show. Or it's about something
bigger than the show. Who knows what that is.

What is it about this moment of television every week that drives people
to such lengths?

Well, it's only conjecture, really, but I think it comes down to the fact
that the people who do the show are really talented. Gillian [Anderson]
and David [Duchovny] and Mitch [Pileggi] and [creator/coexecutive
producer] Chris Carter and [coexecutive producer] Howard Gordon and
everyone else associated with the show are all very talented people with
a huge amount of integrity, which tends to be a little unusual in
television, in my experience, at least. And then you've got subject matter
that's fascinated people for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. You put
those two together and it equals a good show.

Are you, =ah=, a believer in any of this stuff?

I think I am. I =say= that I am, although when I'm approached by
somebody I trust and believe in -- somebody who's sober -- who says
that they've had an encounter with aliens, a part of me still goes, "Yeah,
OK." So I still don't fully believe it. I think it's the romantic side of me
that believes there's something bigger and brighter and better out there,
or more intelligent, more learned than we are. I don't know.

David and Gillian are as big as the show itself. How do you feel you fit
in?

Well, first of all I feel very fortunate to be on the show. It's taught me
a lot. Most specifically, it's taught me about the kind of people I want to
connect myself to in the business in the future -- people who care about
what they do, people who care about the people who work for them.
And it's also allowed me to do other projects. I just finished doing a
two-hour TV movie with John Woo. So, on =The X-Files,= I come in
and I do my work the best I can, and I try to help promote the show
whenever I can because I believe in the people that are doing it.

Tell us more about this John Woo movie.

It's a two-hour pilot. And we're waiting to find out if, in the fall, it will
get picked up as a series. I play a good guy, which is sort of a change,
'cause on =The X-Files,= I play a bad guy. In the movie, I play a guy
who's so good that he just can't see outside of his job and his
responsibilities. So it's a switch.

Lots of action?

Oh, yeah. A lot of two-fisted gun work and a lot of diving and throwing
and fighting and motorcycles going through the air and landing on the
top of trucks, big explosions, on and on. A fun show to do.

What's it like to work with John Woo?

He's a wonderful man. He's amazing. He and his partner never cease to
amaze me. They really blow me away, because even when everybody
else was pulling their hair out, they were always so calm. Once I saw
him kick a flowerpot, and that was all he ever did. But, =um,= he was
so professional and so kind always and warm always. When you do
something that he likes, he lets you know it, boy. He comes over and he
says, "You're so good, you're so good!" The first time I met him I was
waiting to go in and read, which is never a pleasant experience. He
waited for me to walk up and [he] put his arm around me and he said,
"Oh, you good actor, you good actor."  He said, "Good show, it's gonna
be good show!" I'd never met the man, really, and he put his arm around
me and took 75 percent of the pressure off my shoulders. So I had
respect for him instantly. Yeah.

Are you in the middle of the action in this picture?

Oh, yeah. And, you know, it comes most easily to me -- it's the type of
acting that's the easiest for me to approach, physical acting. That's why
dramatic acting to me still holds the allure, because it's the hardest for
me. It's the most work. It's like, if you play tennis and you're good at it,
it's easy. So golf might be a very good game for you because you have
to keep on trying at it and working at it for the rest of your life.

You're a musician as well. Is that career on hold for now?

I would like to think not. However, acting is a handful in itself. This
business is a lot of hard work, so I would like to do a film about a
singer. I just bought a really nice guitar, so I'm learning how to really
play the guitar and sing properly. I'm never far away from it, and I'm
listening to it all the time. But I miss it a great deal. It makes me sad
when I think that I don't do it anymore. It's a part of myself I've
neglected, like my artwork. I was going to be an illustrator; I was in art
school for three years and it's now a part of myself that I've just pushed
aside.

Do you ever sneak off to play somewhere, just for fun?

What I do now is I, =ah,= I write and record songs for people and make
gifts of them. It's very much a personal thing. It just goes from me to
that person.

Maybe a new theme for =The X-Files= ?

You think so?

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