I had the great pleasure of meeting William B. Davis on Sunday. The man who portrayed CGB Spender (aka Cancer Man, aka Cigarette Smoking Man) so brilliantly for 9 years was a charming, soft-spoken gentleman who looked much more youthful and vigorous in person than on the show (obviously). He also reminded me a lot of my dad (and resembles him), who was once a heavy smoker too. Mr. Davis told me that the actors did come to be aware that they were acting out a mythological drama that drew on much earlier antecedents. He's a former drama professor, so I'm sure he picked it up pretty quickly.
