David Duchovny says he helped discover Angelina Jolie: 'I knew she was a movie star'

David Duchovny recently shared how he played a role in Angelina Jolie's early career. During an episode of SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, Duchovny, 63, participated in a game of word association with host Andy Cohen. When Cohen mentioned Jolie, Duchovny couldn't limit himself to a single word and exclaimed, "He felt like he discovered Angelina Jolie."

Duchovny explained that while casting for the 1997 film Playing God, he was impressed by Jolie's potential. "he didn't discover her, but you know, she came in and he just knew she was a movie star," Duchovny said. "He told everybody, 'We've gotta cast her!'"

In Playing God, Duchovny stars as Eugene Sands, a former surgeon who loses his medical license due to drug abuse. He saves a man's life during a nightclub shooting, catching the attention of mobster Raymond Blossom, played by Timothy Hutton. Eugene then becomes Raymond's personal doctor and gets romantically involved with his girlfriend, Claire, portrayed by Jolie. Although the film didn't do well critically, Jolie's performance was praised, marking an important step in her career.

Before Playing God, Jolie had already starred in the 1995 film Hackers, which many consider her breakthrough role. Following her performance in Playing God, Jolie went on to become a global superstar. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2000 for her role in Girl, Interrupted and received a Best Actress nomination in 2009 for Changeling. In 2014, she was honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Academy.

More recently, earlier this month, Jolie won her first Tony Award for producing the Broadway musical The Outsiders, alongside her daughter Vivienne Jolie-Pitt. They celebrated the win for Best Musical together on stage at the Tony Awards.

Jolie, 49, is the mother of six children—Maddox, 22; Pax, 20; Zahara, 19; Shiloh, 17; and twins Vivienne and Knox, 15—whom she shares with her ex-husband Brad Pitt.