Lucy Lawless and Carl Elwes join The X-Files

ena: Warrior Princess actress Lucy Lawless (right) has joined Fox's supernatural drama series The X-Files. Recently concluding a six year run on her own fantasy adventure series, Lawless will appear in at least the first two episodes of The X-Files' ninth season.

"We're thrilled to have an opportunity to work with Lucy, whose work we've admired for a long time," says The X-Files' executive producer Frank Spotnitz. Revealing how Lawless came to join the production, Spotnitz divulges, "She and [series creator Chris Carter] met in the past year, and she said she was a fan of the show. Since that time, it's been something in the back of Chris' mind as to how we could use Lucy, and when we began mapping out the X-Files mythology we found the perfect place for her." Reluctant to reveal details, Spotnitz says, "We think we've found an interesting and unexpected way to have her join the family."

Though further appearances during the course of The X-Files' ninth season are possible, Lawless is currently contracted to appear in the opening two-part storyline, titled Nothing Important Happened Today which is understood to feature a naked female assessin able to breathe underwater.

Addressing Lawless'as yet unspecified role, Spotnitz states that, "In typical X-Files fashion, she's going to be one of those characters where you're not sure whether she's good or bad," adding, "She'll have a lot of levels to her."


CARTER STAYS

Lawless' casting follows news that Chris Carter will return as executive producer on The X-Files next season. With the departure of actor David Duchevny from his role as FBI agent Fox Mulder, sources had reported that Carter might step down into a consulting post.

"The decision to return was a difficult one," Carter admits. "I felt we ended last season just right. With David Duchovny's announcement that he wouidn't be returning, it created the opportunity for a natural exit."


ELWES ARRIVES

Following David Duchovny's departure from the series, remaining co-star Gillian Anderson is contracted for only one more season as Dana Scully, recently claiming she'd be unlikely to return for a tenth year of the show.

Monica Reyes' romantic past is set to be explored in The X-Flles' new season. Producers will introduce a new charming, attractive male FBI agent, A. D. Brad Folimer, who shares a past relationship with Reyes. Politically minded and arrogant, the new character will challenge Reyes'associate on the X-Files, John Doggett, played by Robert Patrick.

Star of The Princess Bride, British born actor Cary Elwes will play the part of Folimer, having seemingly fought off competition from Alive's Vincent Spano and Die Hards Hart Bochner, who previously auditioned for the role of Doggett.

"It's not just adding a terrific actor, it's adding somebody of a certain stature to the show," says Carter of Elwes' casting, following an audition reading opposite Annabeth Gish. Carter reports, "All of us saw at the same time how he wouid be the best choice for the dynamic we were trying to create; we liked the energy between the two of them."

Stating that the producers had sought to create a character very different from Doggett, Carter says that Folimer "is a guy who is a little more buttoned up, a little more polished; he represents a different kind of FBI."


MULDER IS DAD

Meanwhile, Scully's new baby, William, seems certain to play an important part in the ninth season's storyline. Lifting any doubts over the identity of the baby's father, Frank Spotnitz points to the season eight finale's closing kiss between Mulder and Scully. "The final scene was meant to say that [they] had consummated their relationship and this child was a result of that," says Spotnitz, while Fox chief Gail Berman reports that Carter told her flatly, "Look, Mulder's the father."

Fox chief Sandy Grushow has backed reports that the baby will be the focus of the show's new season. "I'm not going to be too specific with you, but I will tell you to pay attention to Scully's baby," he says, adding that the child will be a "very important part of what's to come." As a result of the baby's prominence, Fox has launched a casting call for two young twins to share the role of William.

Addressing Gillian Anderson's future role on the show, Grushow says, "She will be with us for this year. Whether she continues on into the future, we don't know."

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