The X-Files: How Old Mulder & Scully Are At The Beginning & End

It’s been a long, strange trip for FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, and here’s how old they were at the beginning and end of The X-Files. When Scully first walked into Mulder’s office in the pilot episode, it’s unlikely either character would’ve imagined all the startling life events they would go through together. That’s probably also true for creator Chris Carter and the rest of his crew as well, as it took a few seasons for The X-Files to become the huge crossover hit it became.

Now, The X-Files stands as one of the most long-lived franchises in the history of sci-fi and horror TV, producing eleven seasons, well over 200 episodes, two theatrical films, video games, comic books, novels, audio stories, and just about every other possible tie-in expansion of its universe. The X-Files is a sprawling pop culture mammoth, and it seems unlikely the franchise will ever really go away fully, even if a season 12 never ends up happening.

There’s no doubt that spending over a decade chasing down the paranormal and battling alien conspiracies is probably hard on the body, and Mulder and Scully aren’t immune to the aging process. Here’s a look at their ages at the start of season 1 and at the end of season 11.

X-Files: How Old Mulder Was at the Beginning & End

FBI special agent Fox Mulder’s official birth date is October 13, 1961. This actually makes him ever so slightly younger than actor David Duchovny, who was born on August 7, 1960. While The X-Files‘ pilot episode aired in September 1993, it was shot in March 1993, and that’s where the accepted series timeline places it. That means Mulder was a fresh-faced 31 when he first met Scully and they worked their first case together. The season 11 finale, “My Struggle IV,” is generally accepted to take place around when it aired on March 21, 2018. That would put Mulder at 56-years-old.

X-Files: How Old Scully Was at the Beginning & End

FBI special agent Dana Scully’s official birth date is February 23, 1964. That actually makes her considerably older than actress Gillian Anderson, who was born on August 9, 1968. While that might seem weird, it’s well-known that Anderson exaggerated her age to get the part, which is the opposite route most actresses take. As for Scully though, that puts her at a mere 29-years-old when she walked into the office of the FBI’s most unwanted and began a journey that would define her entire life. By the end of season 11, Scully would then be 54-years-old. While both Duchovny and Anderson are aging well, if The X-Filesseason 12 ever happens, they’re probably going to be rapidly nearing retirement age.

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