‘The X-Files’: First Look At Haley Joel Osment’s Character

Along with the new season of The X-Files come original stars Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny andMitch Pileggi. Season 11 also brings along with it some special guests, including Haley Joel Osment. Check out your first look at the episode in which Osment will be appearing below.

Audiences don’t yet know any details about Osment’s character, but we do know that he’ll appear in an episode that focuses on Pileggi’s Skinner character.

“We’ve really never explored the character of Walter Skinner,” creator Chris Carter told Entertainment Weekly. “We learn more about Skinner and more about his connections to Mulder and Scully and how he’s been a loyal advocate of theirs at his own expense. We learn about his young life and the X-Files moment he experienced as a much younger man.”

Season 10 featured a one-off episode in which Silicon Valley star Kumail Nanjiani and Flight of the Conchords star Rhys Darby dropped by, making us wonder if Osment’s appearance will be of a similar capacity. That episode, “Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster,” came from fan-favorite writer Darin Morgan, who regularly interjects humor into his stories.

“What I personally love in [Darin’s episodes] is that he hates Mulder,” Duchovny joked to TV Line. “He’s always trying to make Mulder an imbecile and the butt of every joke.”

Morgan has been involved with The X-Files in various capacities since 1994, with the first episode he wrote, “Humbug,” being a defining entry in the series. Focusing on a group of murders related to a traveling circus, the episode deviated slightly from the more intense tone of most of the series’ episodes, incorporating plenty of humor alongside the horror.

Duchovny went on to explain how Morgan’s episodes are exciting but also that they pose interesting challenges for the actor.

“It’s very difficult to figure out how to play Mulder in those episodes because he’s such an ass, and I feel pressure to find that place where I can service how funny it is and still keep Mulder Mulder,” the actor confessed. “It’s a bit of a pressure cooker for me because I love Darin and I want his episodes to have integrity. I don’t want it to just be this goofy thing like, ‘Oh, we’re not The X-Files this week. We’re winking. It’s not really Mulder.’ I want it to be more than that.”

Season 11 kicked off last week and effectively erased Season 10’s finale, in addition to revealing a variety of other secrets about the series’ narrative.

Osment’s episode will be the sixth episode of the current season.

The X-Files airs at 8:00 PM ET on Fox on Wednesday nights.

[H/T Entertainment Weekly]