'I am so proud of that franchise,' he tells MTV News.

BEVERLY HILLS — In his new movie "The Joneses," David Duchovny plays a salesman given a cushy (if somewhat unethical) job: He and his phony "family" move into a posh neighborhood and make everyone jealous of their toys, causing them to buy products that line the pockets of his employers. Several scenes talk about the so-called "ripple effect," something with which Duchovny is intimately familiar.

Nearly a decade after the show that made him famous went off the air, Duchovny's work on "The X-Files" is still sending ripples all over the world. And with that in mind, the veteran actor said he wants to return again as FBI agent Fox Mulder.

"Of course," he said immediately when asked if he'd return to the sci-fi franchise that launched 201 episodes and two feature films. "I love that show."

These days, Duchovny is busy with his hit show "Californication" and "Joneses," a film that casts him as Steve Jones — a man who has no problem selling an unattainable lifestyle to his neighbors, until an epiphany makes him realize there's more at stake than flat-screen TVs and riding lawnmowers. In real life, Duchovny told us that he had a similar realization while working on "X-Files."

"When I was doing 'The X-Files,' I went through it," he said of selling "Hollywood" fantasy. "I'm not necessarily a strictly pro-government guy; I've got a little bit of an anarchist in me. I realized that these kids were signing up to go into the FBI, partly because of 'The X-Files.'

"It's great to be inspired to do something; law enforcement is a terrific service," Duchovny added, saying he felt conflicted about encouraging folks to join the government ranks thinking they'd be assigned to cool, alien-investigating cases. "What am I inspiring people to do?

"[FBI applicants would think] that they would have these things called 'X-Files,' which is not really the case," Duchovny remembered of the ripple effect his series created, insisting that — like Steve Jones — actors need to be careful about what sort of unrealistic lifestyle they might be peddling. "Yeah, we do think about that."

Now he's thinking about something else: Returning to the Fox Mulder role one more time, for a third "X-Files" movie. Series creator Chris Carter said in mid-2008 that he'd like to make at least one more film, but the underperforming box office of "X-Files: I Want to Believe" seemed to make the case that it was time for the supernatural franchise to go missing, permanently.

According to Duchovny, however, he's still holding out hope and has not heard anything to discourage such a mind-set. "I love the characters on it; yes [I'd do another one]," the actor said of a possible "X-Files 3," sending a tiny message of hope to those who still believe. "I am so proud of that franchise that, [if we can't make it] until I have to wear a girdle and a toupee, that's fine."