“I will always feel like an inadequate parent.” David Duchovny regrets missing out on his children growing up due to his career
David Duchovny regrets that he missed his children growing up and preferred them to a successful film career. The 63-year-old actor spoke in an interview with People about how his relationship with his 25-year-old daughter West and 21-year-old son Kid from his ex-wife, actress Tea Leoni, has changed. 
The star of "The X-Files" and "Californication" admitted that he will always feel like a "flawed parent" due to the fact that he was constantly on set while the children were growing up. "Maybe I was a good parent because my children are wonderful people and they probably want to think of me as a good parent too. They don't want to think of me as a failure. I'm sure I did bad things, I'm sure that I've made mistakes, but we all make them. So I try to give myself more breathing room."
When West and Kidd were little, David was at the peak of his career. He constantly “disappeared” on the set: he played the main role in the TV series “Californication”, for which he received a second Golden Globe, worked on his directorial debut “House of D”, where he also starred with his ex-wife Tea Leoni, and took part in the continuation of The X-Files. The actor also found time to release three studio albums and write five books, one of which he adapted into the film Break the Curse.
“Of course, I worked a lot when my children were little. This is something that I could change, but on the other hand, it’s also great to be an example for them of a person who takes care of his life,” says the actor. "I don't have access to another path to go down. I only have the path I've taken, so of course I'm not a perfect parent, but I love my children. I love them very, very much." their children."
David admits that his relationship with his son and daughter lived through different times. While many parents rightfully want the best for their children, Duchovny has her own opinion when it comes to their future.
“I realized that before I only wanted peace for both of them, and then I thought: “Well, this is a boring life,” says the actor. "I have to want them to have great difficulties, obstacles, overcoming, successes and failures. So I try - as everything I do has shown - [to show] that the best things come from the most difficult experiences."
David Duchovny and Tea Leoni got married nine weeks after they met in 1997. This was the second marriage for both actors. In 1999, the couple had a daughter, Madeleine West, and three years later, a son, Kid Miller. The couple separated for the first time in 2008; from August to October of that year, Duchovny underwent treatment for sex addiction. They got together in 2009, but officially divorced in 2014.
West Duchovny followed in the footsteps of her parents and became an actress: she starred in the TV series “The X-Files,” “Side Effect: Death,” “The Magicians,” the films “Torture Report,” “A Breathe of Air,” and others.
