Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American-British film, television and theatre actress, activist and writer. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the long-running and widely popular series The X-Files, ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies' film The House of Mirth, and Lady Dedlock in the successful BBC production of Charles Dickens' Bleak House. Among other honours, Anderson has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Actress
Date of Birth9 August 1968
CityChicago, IL
CountryUnited States of America
Sometimes I read a script and it's obvious from early on that it's one where the suspension of disbelief has to develop strongly from page one. Some are more reality-based.
Directing was a transformative experience for me, one that I really enjoyed.
I always felt I wasn't completely American and I wasn't completely British: there was a feeling of having my feet in both places.
What happens in our lives is not really anybody's fault but our own... When I was in high school, I was in an atheist crowd, and it was the consensus that religion was a crutch.
When I finished the series, I wasn't going to do television again. I never wanted to do television to begin with, and I was so exhausted by the process that I was wary of being in front of the camera again.
There is a difference between being listened to and being heard.
I became an actor because it was the only thing I could do. I didn't have any friends, I didn't fit in. But when I started acting everything in my life shifted and I felt happy.
I'm sure with a production that's not particularly well received or mediocrely received, it must be incredibly challenging to get up and keep doing it.
I would never point a finger at anyone and say, 'They lived their life badly.' I take it as it comes and deal with each situation as it arrives.
Self-esteem should have nothing to do with what you look like – if you exude genuine confidence, people will be swept into it. You have to be able to hold yourself.
When the show's not around any more, it's going to be hard not to have her in my life.
I'm actually very scared of sharks. I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was young, which may not have been compatible with that fear.
I was a good liar as a child.
So much of this world is based on illusion, temporaries, and disposability that I think it's essential that our closest relationships reflect what is real.