page_title: The Unnatural (The X-Files)
section_title: Casting
hierarchical_section_title: The Unnatural (The X-Files) / Production / Casting
caption_attribution_description: English: M. Emmet Walsh at the 2009 w:Tribeca Film Festival.
context_page_description: "The Unnatural" is the 19th episode of the sixth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, which first aired on April 25, 1999, on the Fox network. Written and directed by lead actor David Duchovny, the episode is unconnected to the wider mythology of The X-Files, and functions as a "Monster-of-the-Week" story. "The Unnatural" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.1, and its first broadcast was watched by 16.88 million people. The episode received positive reviews from critics, and was well-liked by members of the cast and crew, including series creator Chris Carter and co-star Gillian Anderson.
  The series centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called "X-Files". Mulder is a believer; although the skeptical Scully was initially assigned to debunk his work, the two have developed a deep friendship. In this episode, Arthur Dales, the brother of a previously recurring retired FBI agent with the same name, tells Mulder the story of a black baseball player who played for the Roswell Grays in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947 under the pseudonym "Josh Exley".
context_section_description: Jesse L. Martin was the first actor considered for the part of Exley. Duchovny had first noticed Martin in a production of the musical Rent, and noticed him again during a guest appearance on the Fox legal comedy-drama Ally McBeal. Watching the latter performance, Duchovny decided that Martin had the "right feel" for the lead role. Duchovny later noted that he had little involvement with the casting process since a majority of the characters in the episode were recurring.
  Originally, Darren McGavin was set to reprise his role as Arthur Dales; the character had previously appeared in the fifth-season episode "Travelers" and the sixth-season episode "Agua Mala". Unfortunately, two days into filming, McGavin suffered a stroke, forcing Duchovny and the producers to scrap the few scenes he had shot, rewrite the script to explain his absence, and replace his character with M. Emmet Walsh. Because many of the scenes featuring a younger Dales had already been shot, Duchovny was forced to give Walsh's character the same name as McGavin's character; this was justified in the episode as a quirk on behalf of the two brothers' parents. The two scenes that were filmed with McGavin included the sequence in which Mulder asks Dales whether all great baseball players are aliens, and a scene in which Mulder asks Dales why he joined the FBI. McGavin eventually recovered and allowed his scenes to be included on the sixth season DVD as bonus features. Executive producer Frank Spotnitz later called it a "great sorrow that" the show had to replace Darren McGavin because the series' producers were "huge fans" of his role in the 1972 film The Night Stalker and television series of the same name.
  Actor Frederic Lane had previously appeared in "Travelers," playing the younger version of McGavin's character. Since McGavin was written out of the episode, Lane played the younger version of Walsh's character. Los Angeles Dodgers radio announcer Vin Scully (whose name served as the inspiration for Dana Scully's name) played the baseball announcer in this episode. The announcer was initially unable to appear owing to budgetary issues, but later agreed to record his part for free. Daniel Duchovny, David's brother, appeared in this episode in a minor role as a bench jockey.
caption: M. Emmet Walsh played the role of Arthur Dales after original actor Darren McGavin had a stroke.
exif: {"Image Make": "OLYMPUS", "Image Model": "E-500", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2017:05:17 23:27:02", "Image ExifOffset": "200", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "570", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5188", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:01:01 04:00:00", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "55", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2056", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2685", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "440", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "a7bc53eecbfb8eb8db362e2af80bfc5f"}