“The X-Files” isn’t just the series that brought Gillian Anderson her first Emmy, it was also her first major job in show business. Since then Anderson has emerged as a major force on television and the stage in both the U.S. and U.K.
What do you remember about going to the Emmys for the first time?
I have the worst memory known to mankind, but for somebody coming from Grand Rapids, Mich., going to those events and being nominated amongst great people — back then it was Julianna Margulies, Christine Lahti — it was terrifying, and amazing and exciting. I think the Emmys was the first time I met Jodie Foster. She came up and said she was a fan, and that was a really big deal.
I have the worst memory known to mankind, but for somebody coming from Grand Rapids, Mich., going to those events and being nominated amongst great people — back then it was Julianna Margulies, Christine Lahti — it was terrifying, and amazing and exciting. I think the Emmys was the first time I met Jodie Foster. She came up and said she was a fan, and that was a really big deal.
Helen Mirren presented your award.
I do remember that, which is so ironic now with the connections drawn between “The Fall” and “Prime Suspect.” I was a huge fan, still am, and blown away, flattered, everything you can imagine that she was the one presenting it.
I do remember that, which is so ironic now with the connections drawn between “The Fall” and “Prime Suspect.” I was a huge fan, still am, and blown away, flattered, everything you can imagine that she was the one presenting it.
More on: Variety
The X Files‘ Dana Scully is officially back to work, but she almost slept through her alarm clock.
“It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve played her,” says
Gillian Anderson. “I can’t remember what year the movie
was, but it felt like [Scully] was further away from me than I’d thought
she would be. But I’ve also worked really hard at putting her entirely to sleep, so that was successful; she’s just taken longer to wake up.”
Anderson has only seen the first two revival scripts — the third is sitting in her inbox. “This is a lot of flashbacks, a lot of deja vu, a lot of remembering dynamics — and it’s… a thicker substance to wade through than I’d thought.”
As for Agent Scully herself, Anderson giggles
that “She’s older! She aged!” since we last saw her. Beyond that, though, it’s “tricky” to pinpoint how the iconic woman of science has evolved. “Anything I say is going to sound like something you’re not
going to want to watch. But that’s not the case,” the actress
promises. “It’s just… I don’t even know. That’s a hard one. I appreciate
the question, but I can’t answer it.”
Read more: TV Line
If you’re casting a dark, troubling television crime drama, you can’t do much better than signing Gillian Anderson.
You’ve always been, fairly or not, associated with the
Clarice Starling character. There was talk that they maybe wanted you
for the role in “Hannibal,” and then of course “The X-Files,” when it
came on, Scully reminded a lot of people of Clarice from the movie. Have
you read the book “Hannibal,” by any chance?
No.
In that, she goes off with Hannibal Lecter and he kind of
influences her, and she kind of becomes like him, in a way. Do you ever
feel that with Bedelia, you’re kind of bringing it full circle?
I haven’t had that thought, no. I think that certainly the trajectory
that Bryan is writing in there, one can see the potential for Hannibal
to be doing that, whether he’s doing that intentionally, creating a
protege or whether that she is adopting herself, I think we’ll always,
in every episode, question whether that is transpiring or not. But I
think it lingers. I haven’t really related her in any way to Clarice,
but I definitely can see what you mean and I will give that some
thought. It hasn’t crossed my mind.