David Duchovny Calls X-Files’ Mulder ‘Worst FBI Agent of All Time’ (VIDEO)

David Duchovny is back for more television mystery as Sam Hodiak, a Los Angeles detective hot on the trail of a missing girl and an early Charles Manson, on NBC’s Aquarius (which premieres Thursday.) But who would win in a fight: Duchovny’s ’60s-era cop, or his X-Files paranormal obsessive Fox Mulder?

“Oh, Hodiak would kick his ass. Hodiak’s just a lot tougher,” Duchovny laughs. Is that still true with The X-Files getting ready to return for a six-episode revival? “Maybe Mulder’s tougher now, I don’t know. It was always the joke, Mulder always lost his gun. Mulder couldn’t actually solve any cases, because then the show would end. Whenever he pulled his gun it got taken from him. He’s just the worst FBI agent of all time.”

In our video interview above, Duchovny tells us more about what audiences will get from Aquarius, what it’s like to track a famed killer, and the appeal of researching the 1960s.

PLUS: Read more about the behind-the-scenes action on the set of Aquarius.

Aquarius, Series premiere Thursday, May 28, 9/8c, NBC