Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson (born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. Her film work includes The House of Mirth (2000), The Mighty Celt (2005), The Last King of Scotland (2006), and two X-Files films, The X-Files (1998) and The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008). Anderson was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Rosemary Anderson (née Lane), a computer analyst, and Edward Anderson, who owned a film post-production company.Her father was of English descent, while her mother was of Irish and German ancestry. Soon after her birth, her family moved to Puerto Rico for 15 months; her family then moved to the United Kingdom where she lived until she was 11 years old. She lived for five years in Rosebery Gardens, Crouch End, London, and for 15 months in Albany Road, Stroud Green, London, so that her father could attend the London Film School. She was a pupil of Coleridge Primary School. When Anderson was 11 years old, her family moved again, this time to Grand Rapids, Michigan. She attended Fountain Elementary and then City High-Middle School, a program for gifted students with a strong emphasis on the humanities; she graduated in 1986. Along with other actors (notably Linda Thorson and John Barrowman) Anderson is bidialectal. With her English accent and background, Anderson was mocked and felt out of place in the American Midwest and soon adopted a Midwest accent. To this day, her accent depends on her location — for instance, in an interview with Jay Leno she spoke in an American accent, but shifted it for an interview with Michael Parkinson. Anderson was interested in marine biology, but began acting her freshman year in high school productions, and later in community theater, and served as a student intern at the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre & School of Theatre Arts. She attended The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago (formerly the Goodman School of Drama), where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1990. She also participated in the National Theatre of Great Britain's summer program at Cornell University. Anderson's brother died in 2011 of a brain tumor, at the age of 30. Anderson married her first husband, Clyde Klotz, The X-Files series assistant art director, on New Year's Day, 1994, in Hawaii in a Buddhist ceremony. They had a daughter, Piper Maru (born September 1994), for whom Chris Carter named the X-Files episode of the same name, and divorced in 1997.] In December 2004, Anderson married Julian Ozanne, a documentary filmmaker, on Lamu Island, off the coast of Kenya. Anderson announced their separation on April 21, 2006. Anderson and former boyfriend, Mark Griffiths, have two sons: Oscar, born November 2006 and Felix, born October 2008. She ended their relationship in 2012. In March 2012, Anderson told Out magazine about her past relationship with a girl while in high school. In 1997, she was chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. Askmen listed her at No. 6 on their Top 7: '90s Sex Symbols. In 2008, she was listed 21st in FHM's All Time 100 Sexiest Hall of Fame.
Known For
Credits
- 2025 · TRON: Ares as
- 2024 · The Salt Path as Raynor Winn
- 2024 · Woolf Works as
- 2024 · Scoop as Emily Maitlis
- 2023 · White Bird as Vivienne Beaumier
- 2022 · The Pale Blue Eye as Julia Marquis
- 2022 · The First Lady as Eleanor Roosevelt
- 2021 · Robin Robin as Cat (voice)
- 2021 · Letters Live from the Archive: International Women’s Day as Self
- 2020 · The Savoy as Self
- 2020 · The Sunlit Night as Olyana
- 2019 · This Changes Everything as Self
- 2019 · National Theatre Live: All About Eve as Margo Channing
- 2019 · Sex Education as Jean Milburn
- 2018 · UFO as Dr. Hendricks
- 2018 · The Spy Who Dumped Me as Wendy
- 2017 · Crooked House as Magda Leonides
- 2017 · American Gods as Media
- 2017 · American Gods as Goddess Media
- 2017 · The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism as Narrator
- 2017 · Heroes Manufactured as Self (archive footage)
- 2017 · Viceroy's House as Edwina Mountbatten
- 2017 · Woolf Works as Voiceover from a letter by Virginia Woolf (voice)
- 2016 · The Crown as Margaret Thatcher
- 2016 · Sold as Sophia
- 2016 · War and Peace as Anna Pavlovna Scherer
- 2015 · Getting the Old Scent Again: Reimagining Red Dragon as Self
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- 2015 · The Widowmaker as Narrator
- 2014 · Robot Overlords as Kate
- 2014 · Ronja the Robber's Daughter as Narrator
- 2014 · The Departure as Blanche DuBois
- 2014 · National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire as Blanche DuBois
- 2014 · Crisis as Meg Fitch
- 2014 · Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- 2013 · Mr. Morgan's Last Love as Karen Morgan
- 2013 · I'll Follow You Down as Marika Whyte
- 2013 · The Fall as Stella Gibson
- 2013 · Hannibal as Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier
- 2012 · Room on the Broom as Witch (voice)
- 2012 · FOX 25th Anniversary Special as Self
- 2012 · Sister as Kristin Jansen
- 2012 · Shadow Dancer as Kate Fletcher
- 2011 · Great Expectations as Miss Havisham
- 2011 · Johnny English Reborn as Pamela Thornton ("Pegasus")
- 2011 · Moby Dick as Elizabeth
- 2011 · The Crimson Petal and the White as Mrs. Castaway
- 2010 · Any Human Heart as Duchess Of Windsor
- 2010 · No Pressure as Herself
- 2009 · Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen as Self - Guest
- 2009 · Boogie Woogie as Jean Maclestone
- 2008 · How to Lose Friends & Alienate People as Eleanor Johnson
- 2008 · The X Files: I Want to Believe as Dana Scully
- 2007 · Robbie the Reindeer in Close Encounters of the Herd Kind as Queen Vorkana (voice)
- 2007 · Straightheads as Alice
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2006 · The Last King of Scotland as Sarah Merrit
- 2005 · Bleak House as Lady Dedlock
- 2005 · A Cock and Bull Story as Widow Wadman / Gillian Anderson
- 2005 · The Mighty Celt as Kate
- 2004 · Parkinson as
- 2003 · Celebrities Uncensored as Self
- 2003 · Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self - Guest
- 2002 · American Idol as Self
- 2002 · V Graham Norton as Self
- 2002 · Richard Rodgers: Some Enchanted Evening as Performer
- 2001 · Richard & Judy as Self
- 2000 · The House of Mirth as Lily Bart
- 1999 · Harsh Realm as
- 1998 · Playing by Heart as Meredith
- 1998 · Chicago Cab as Southside Girl
- 1998 · The X Files as Agent Dana Scully
- 1998 · The Magic Hour as Self
- 1998 · The Mighty as Loretta Lee
- 1998 · Akte X Intern - Was Sie schon immer wissen wollten as Dana Scully / Self
- 1998 · Inside The X-Files as Herself
- 1996 · Future Fantastic as Host
- 1996 · The Rosie O'Donnell Show as Self - Guest
- 1994 · ReBoot as
- 1993 · Frasier as Jenny (voice)
- 1993 · The X-Files as Dana Scully
- 1993 · Class of '96 as Rachel
- 1992 · Eek! The Cat as Dana Scully (voice)
- 1992 · The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as
- 1992 · The Turning as April Cavanaugh
- 1989 · The Simpsons as Dana Scully (voice)
- 1988 · A Matter of Choice as Woman
- 1986 · Three at Once as Woman 1
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Winner
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Presenter
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee/Presenter
- 2024 · The Abandons as Constance Van Ness
- 2024 · Trespasses as Gina