THE X-FILES Official Magazine #5

[cover of XFOM]

This issue features a short interview with Nick Lea:

Sex and the Single Arm

Within all the conspiratorial twists and dynamic special effects found in "Patient X," it takes only three words to for actor Nicholas Lea to sum up the episode's most memorable moment: "Krycek gets some."

Ah, yes. The return of the one-armed menace Alex Krycek would have sent X-philes into a tizzy in and of itself, but his passionate embrace with Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden) surely assures that Ratboy's reappearance becomes one of the most-discussed scenes in THE X-FILES canon. But Lea sounds relatively controlled about the situation.

"[Laurie Holden] and I talked about it for a couple of hours," Lea says. "When I first read the script I was like, 'Oh, my goodness'." [But] I love the idea of the contradiction of the heated sex scene and the [artificial] hand."

In fact, it was Krycek's prosthetic hand (as a result of an "accident" in "Terma") and the characer's Russian dialogue that gave the actor more trouble than the love scene. "These are tough episodes for me," he says. "I'm speaking a fair bit of Russian, I can't move the hand - it's like a golf swing. I have to remember about 12 different things at the same time."

The actor had a week to practice the difficult Russian lines, which he learned phonetically. "Speaking a language you don't know and trying to act at the same time is brutally hard," he explains. "It's a classic example of left-brain, right-brain. If you get three or four lines into the scene and you're still speaking Russian, it's very hard to remember what you're actually saying."

Language aside, Lea affirms that he still like Krycek's dubious moral character, even in an episode where he beats up a young teenager and then orders the boy's orifices to be sewn shut.

"[We] don't know whether to hate him or feel sorry for him," he says. "I wanted to keep that going, although it's hard when you're doing such outwardly evil things. But I've never seen this character as being evil. At this point he's pretty much doing what he has to do to survive and also get some revenge and get back some power."

In fact, the actor likes thinking of Krycek as an anti-Mulder. "He's still trying to get to the truth, but he's not on the bright side of things. There is a certain heroism to the guy in terms of that he's a complete and utter survivor."

While Krycek's exploits keep the character up in arms(s), Lea's only richly benefited from the part and was thrilled to return to THE X-FILES set while on hiatus from his Canadian series, ONCE A THIEF.

"It's great to see everyone again," he says. "Working here is an absolute treat. This show has done so much for me personally and professionally that I'll be utterly loyal to it until they don't want me any more."

Of course, more love scenes wouldn't hurt either.

"[That was] a good day in the life of Alex Krycek," he laughs.


[photo from XFOM]

This issue is now available. Remember, the Krycek cover is only available at comic stores, to X-FILES Official Fan Club members, or via mail order. If you live in the U.S. or Canada, you can order it here. (Be sure to ask for the Krycek cover!)


Liked this issue? E-mail the publisher, Steve Harris, and tell him so! Maybe we'll get more Krycek in future issues!



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