Age: 56
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
![](/components/bar.png)
Gillian Leigh Anderson (born August 9, 1968) 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 (2000), 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.
After beginning her career on stage, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully on the American sci-fi drama series The X-Files for all ten seasons (1993-2002, 2016). Her film work includes the dramas The Mighty Celt (2005), The Last King of Scotland (2006), Shadow Dancer (2012) and two X-Files films: The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998) and The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008). Her other notable television credits are Any Human Heart, The Crimson Petal and the White, portraying Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (2011) and Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier on Hannibal. In 2013, Anderson began starring as DSI Stella Gibson on the critically acclaimed BBC crime drama television series The Fall. She has been serving as an executive producer from its second series.
Aside from film and TV, Anderson has taken on the stage and received both awards and critical acclaim. Her stage work includes Absent Friends (1991) - for which she won a Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer, A Doll's House (2009) - that earned her a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, and a portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (2014, 2016) - for which she won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress and received her second Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress.
Anderson has been active in supporting numerous charities and humanitarian organizations. She is an honorary spokesperson for the Neurofibromatosis (NF) Network and the co-founder of South African Youth Education for Sustainability (SAYes).
Anderson was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Rosemary Anderson (née Lane), a computer analyst, and Homer Edward "Ed" Anderson III, who owned a film post-production company. She is of English, German, and Irish ancestry. Soon after her birth, her parents moved to Puerto Rico for 15 months, then to London, England. The family made the relocation so that her father could attend the London Film School. Anderson spent her childhood growing up in north London's Crouch End and Harringay. She was a pupil of Coleridge Primary School. When Anderson was 11 years old, her family moved again, this time to Grand Rapids, Michigan. They continued to have a flat in London, where Anderson spent her summers. In Grand Rapids, she attended Fountain Elementary and then City High-Middle School, a program for gifted students with an emphasis on the humanities.
Following the move to Grand Rapids, Anderson went through a rebellious stage; experimenting with drugs, dating a much older boyfriend and having a punk appearance (dyeing her hair various colours, shaving the sides of her head, sporting a nose piercing and an all-black wardrobe). Anderson recalled: "We were in a small Republican town. There were only six punks there. We were weird. It’s not like London". She listened to bands such as Dead Kennedys and Skinny Puppy. Anderson was voted by her classmates: "class clown", "most bizarre girl" and "most likely to be arrested". She was, in fact, arrested on graduation night for breaking and entering into her high school in an attempt to glue the locks of the doors. She later managed to reduce the charges to trespassing.
At a young age Anderson was interested in marine biology, but after becoming interested in theatre during her teenage years, she began acting in high school productions during her freshman year and later in community theatre. She also served as a student intern at the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre & School of Theatre Arts. After graduating high school in 1986, she attended The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1990. Anderson also participated in the National Theatre of Great Britain's summer program at Cornell University. To support herself financially during her student years, she worked at the Goose Island Brewpub in Chicago; after Anderson became famous, the brewery named one of their beers after her - a Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale, simply called "Gillian".
Anderson is the eldest of three siblings. Her brother Aaron - who was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis - died in 2011 of a brain tumor, at the age of 30. Aaron was a DJ, a mentor and a practicing Buddhist. He was in his second year of a PhD program in Developmental Psychology at Stanford University when he was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2008. Her sister Zoe is a ceramicist, who Anderson calls "an exceptional artist". Zoe is openly gay and is married to her partner.
Anderson is bidialectal. With her English accent and background, she was mocked and felt out of place in the American Midwest and soon adopted a Midwestern accent. To this day, her accent depends on her location, as she easily shifts between her American and English accents. In May 2013, during an interview with BlogTalkRadio, Anderson addressed the matter of her national identity: "I've been asked whether I feel more like a Brit than an American and I don't know what the answer to that question is. I know that I feel that London is home and I'm very happy with that as my home. I love London as a city and I feel very comfortable there. In terms of identity, I'm still a bit baffled."
Anderson moved to New York when she was 22 years old. To support herself when she started her career, Anderson worked as a waitress. She began her career in Alan Ayckbourn's play Absent Friends at the Manhattan Theatre Club alongside Brenda Blethyn; for her role she won the 1990-91 Theatre World Award for "Best Newcomer". Her next theatrical role was in Christopher Hampton's The Philanthropist at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut. Anderson moved to Los Angeles in 1992, spending a year auditioning. The same year, she appeared in her first feature-length film The Turning, starring Karen Allen and Tess Harper - the film drama is an adaptation of the play Home Fires Burning. She also did the narration for the audiobook of Anne Rice’s novel Exit to Eden. Although she had once vowed she would never do TV, being out of work for a year changed her mind. Anderson recalled: "First of all, I swore I'd never move to Los Angeles, and once I did, I swore I'd never do television. It was only after being out of work for almost a year that I began going in on some stuff that I would pray that I wouldn't get because I didn't want to be involved in it." She broke into mainstream television in 1993, with a guest appearance on the collegiate drama, Class of '96, on the fledgling Fox Network.
As a result of her guest appearance in Class of '96, Anderson was sent the script for The X-Files at the age of 24. She decided to audition because, "for the first time in a long time, the script involved a strong, independent, intelligent woman as a lead character." Producer Chris Carter wanted to hire her, but Fox wanted someone with previous TV exposure and greater sex appeal. Fox sent in more actresses, but Carter stood by Anderson, and she was eventually cast as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully. Anderson got the part assuming it would run for 13 episodes, the standard minimum order for American TV networks. Filmed for the first five seasons in Vancouver before moving to Los Angeles, the series would run for nine seasons, and included two films, released in 1998 and 2008. During her time on The X-Files, Anderson won numerous awards for her portrayal of Special Agent Scully, including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama, two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series and a Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television. Anderson is the first actress to win an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a SAG Award in the same year. For the role, she received a total of four Emmy nominations, four Golden Globe nominations and nine SAG nominations. Anderson was the first woman to write and direct an episode of the X-Files ("all things"). During The X-Files run - in between the fifth and sixth seasons - Anderson co-starred in The X-Files: Fight the Future, a 1998 motion picture that continued the The X-Files storyline. Anderson also provided the voice for a parody of her Scully character in "The Springfield Files", an episode of the animated comedy TV series The Simpsons. While filming the X-Files, Anderson met assistant art director Clyde Klotz, who became her first husband.
Anderson's character on X-Files initiated a phenomenon referred to as "The Scully Effect"; as the medical doctor and the FBI Special Agent inspired many young women to pursue careers in science, medicine and law enforcement, and as a result brought a perceptible increase in the number of women in those fields. At the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, Anderson noted that she has long been aware of "The Scully Effect" and stated: "We got a lot of letters all the time, and I was told quite frequently by girls who were going into the medical world or the science world or the FBI world or other worlds that I reigned, that they were pursuing those pursuits because of the character of Scully. And I said, 'Yay!'" "The Scully Effect" remains a subject of academic inquiry.
In 1996, Anderson narrated the television documentaries Spies Above and Why Planes Go Down. While hosting the BBC documentary series Future Fantastic, she became impressed by the featuring theme music of the show, by the electronic duo Hal and initiated a collaboration with them. In 1997, Anderson provided spoken word vocals and starred in the music video for their single “Extremis”, which was frequently aired on MTV. She also helped to assemble an album of electronic music, Future: A Journey Through The Electronic Underground, for Virgin Records, which won praises from European music critics.
In 1997, Anderson appeared in the independent film Chicago Cab. In 1998, she starred in the film Playing by Heart with Sean Connery, Angelina Jolie, Ellen Burstyn and Jon Stewart. Anderson also had a supporting role in the film The Mighty with Gena Rowlands, Harry Dean Stanton, James Gandolfini and Sharon Stone. In 1999, Anderson had a supporting role in the English-language release of Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, where she voiced the character of Moro. Anderson is a fan of Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki's work. She also took part in Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues.
In 2000, Anderson starred in the film The House of Mirth with Eric Stoltz (Terence Davies' adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel of the same name), for which she won critical acclaim and awards such as the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress, Village Voice Film Poll Best Lead Performance and a nomination for the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress. When The X-Files ended in 2002, she moved back to London for a complete change of pace and the opportunity to return to the stage. In 2002, Anderson made her West End debut in Michael Weller's play What The Night Is For at the Comedy Theatre. In 2004, Anderson starred in the Royal Court Theatre's production of Rebecca Gilman's play The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, as artist Dana Fielding who assumes the personality of the troubled baseball player Darryl Strawberry - a role for which she earned rave reviews.
In 2005, she appeared as Lady Dedlock in the BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House, and had a starring role in the Irish film The Mighty Celt, for which she won an IFTA award for Best International Actress. The same year she also appeared in A Cock and Bull Story with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon - a film version of the novel Tristram Shandy. In 2006, Anderson won the Broadcasting Press Guild Television and Radio Award for Best Actress for her role in Bleak House. She was nominated for a British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) for Best Actress, she also received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie, a nomination for a Golden Globe, a Satellite Award nomination, and came in second place in the Best Actress category of the 2005 BBC Drama website poll for her portrayal of Lady Dedlock in the adaptation.
During 2006 and 2007, Anderson appeared in two British films: The Last King of Scotland with James McAvoy (2006) and Straightheads with Danny Dyer (2007). In 2008, Anderson hosted Masterpiece Theatre during the Jane Austen series; she was the first woman to host the series since it began in 1971. The same year, Anderson starred in the second X-Files film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe and appeared alongside Simon Pegg in the British comedy film How to Lose Friends & Alienate People. In 2009, she starred in the British comedy film Boogie Woogie with Alan Cumming, Danny Huston and Stellan Skarsgård. Anderson portrayed Nora in Ibsen's A Doll's House at the Donmar Warehouse in London's West End during a limited engagement which ran from May 14, 2009, until July 18, 2009. Anderson has received a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress, for productions which opened in the 2009 calendar year for her portrayal of Nora.
In November 2010, Anderson portrayed Wallis, Duchess of Windsor in Any Human Heart - a TV adaptation of William Boyd’s novel of the same name, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress on Television. In April 2011, she starred in the BBC adaptation The Crimson Petal and the White as Mrs. Castaway, for which she was nominated for the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress. In August 2011, she appeared in the television miniseries Moby Dick based on Herman Melville's 1851 novel, as Elisabeth, Ahab’s wife. The same year, Anderson appeared as the head of MI7, Pamela Thornton, in the British comedy Johnny English Reborn. She starred as Miss Havisham in a three-part BBC adaptation of Great Expectations that aired in late December 2011. For her portrayal in the adaptation she won the Artistic Excellence Award, was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries and for the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress.
In 2012, Anderson appeared in a Swiss drama film, Sister, and in Shadow Dancer - a British-Irish drama film based on the novel of the same name, about the Irish republican movement. Anderson voiced the character of Dr. Miki Hokuto in the English-language version of Studio Ghibli's From Up On Poppy Hill, which was released In March 2013. The same year, she starred in the Canadian techno-thriller I'll Follow You Down and appeared in Mr. Morgan's Last Love with Michael Caine. In May 2013, Anderson began starring as the lead DSI Stella Gibson in The Fall, a critically acclaimed crime drama series for BBC Two and RTÉ ONE. Anderson was praised for her portrayal of the cool, self-assured Gibson, and was nominated for several awards. She also became an executive producer for the programme from its second series. From 2013 until 2015, she played Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier, Hannibal Lecter's psychiatrist, in the NBC series Hannibal. In 2014, Anderson was promoted from a recurring character during the first two seasons, to a series regular for the third season. In 2014, Anderson starred in the British independent science fiction film Robot Overlords alongside Ben Kingsley. That year, she also appeared in Jeffrey D. Brown's drama Sold, portraying Sophia, a character based on the humanitarian photographer Lisa Kristine. The film presents the issues of child trafficking and sexual slavery in India, and is based on Patricia McCormick's novel of the same name.
In July 2014, Anderson gained critical acclaim for her stage performance as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams at the Young Vic Theatre in London, for which she won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress and received her second Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress. The production became the fastest-selling show in the theatre's history and the run was extended by two weeks due to the demand for tickets. In the first collaboration between the Young Vic Theatre and National Theatre Live, the show was broadcast live to over 1100 venues on 16 September 2014. Thus far, it has been screened in over 2000 venues. In February 2015, Anderson directed and starred in a short film prequel to A Streetcar Named Desire, titled The Departure. The prequel was written by novelist Andrew O'Hagan and is part of the Young Vic's short film series, which is produced in collaboration with The Guardian.
In October 2014, Anderson published her first book, A Vision of Fire, co-authored by Jeff Rovin - the first book of The EarthEnd Saga series. The novel is described as "a science fiction thriller of epic proportions". In February 2015, Anderson narrated the medical documentary The Widowmaker. In December 2015, Anderson and Rovin published their second novel of the The EarthEnd Saga series, A Dream of Ice. In January 2016, Anderson portrayed Anna Pavlovna Scherer in BBC One's television adaptation War & Peace. The same month, Anderson was back portraying FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in a six-episode miniseries revival of The X-Files. From April 23, 2016 through June 4, 2016, Anderson is reprising her role of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire on stage at the new St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, NYC.
Anderson will portray Edwina Mountbatten in Gurinder Chadha's upcoming partition drama film Viceroy's House. The British-Indian historical drama was filmed in Jodhpur in autumn 2015. In 2016, Anderson will be back portraying DSI Stella Gibson in the third series of The Fall. In October 2015, it was revealed that Anderson will portray the role of Captain MacLaren in Star Citizen's single-player component Squadron 42.
On September 13, 2016, Anderson and Rovin will publish their third and final novel of The EarthEnd Saga series - The Sound of Seas. In February 2016, it was confirmed that Anderson will appear in Justin Chadwick's upcoming political thriller Official Secrets with Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins and Paul Bettany. On February 28, 2017, Anderson and the journalist-activist Jennifer Nadel will publish their self-help guide book for women, titled WE: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere. The book is described as an "urgent and timely book for women, which offers a dramatically new path to fulfillment". Anderson stated that the book is a "call-out to all women around the world - and by women I include girls, transgender, anyone who identifies themselves as being intrinsically female."
Anderson is an avid art collector. She spent her first paycheck from the X-Files to purchase an art piece, a David Blackburn lithograph. Her collection includes work from artists such as Diane Arbus, Helen Levitt, Cindy Sherman, Francesco Clemente, Alexis Rockman and Kiki Smith. Anderson enjoys architecture and interior design; she periodically works on floor and house planning projects. She has also expressed a desire to pursue mixed media ventures in the future.
Anderson married her first husband, Clyde Klotz, an X-Files assistant art director, on New Year's Day 1994, in Hawaii in a Buddhist ceremony. Their daughter, Piper Maru, was born on September 25, 1994. Showrunner Chris Carter, Piper's godfather, named the X-Files episode of the same name after her. Anderson and Klotz divorced in 1997. On December 29, 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, businessman Mark Griffiths, have two sons: Oscar, born on November 1, 2006 and Felix, born on October 15, 2008. She ended their relationship in 2012. In March 2012, Anderson told Out magazine about her past relationships with women. Anderson identifies as heterosexual and in an interview with the Evening Standard in December 2014, she stated: "I am an actively heterosexual woman who celebrates however people want to express their sexuality." In an interview with the Telegraph in March 2015, Anderson said that she was not closed to the idea of entering another same-sex relationship, adding: "To me a relationship is about loving another human being; their gender is irrelevant."
Anderson self-identifies as a feminist. In an August 2014 interview with Glamour magazine, Anderson said: "I have feminist bones and when I hear things or see people react to women in certain ways I have very little tolerance." In May 2015, when asked at Dallas Comic Con if she considered herself to be a feminist icon - given the many strong female characters she portrayed - Anderson replied: "I don't necessarily consider myself to be an icon, but I do consider myself to be a feminist." Anderson has several tattoos; all of them, as she described, are in some way about "peace of mind, right mind, right action".
Anderson has been active in supporting numerous charity organizations, global and social causes, as well as running her own humanitarian ventures. Anderson is known to support the LGBT community, particularly youth. She supports The Trevor Project organization, focused on suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth and attended three of the Trevor Project's "Cracked X-Mas" events to benefit the organization. In 2013, Anderson was made a patron of the Charles Dickens Statue Fund, and was instrumental in securing the funding for UK's first Dickens statue, located in Portsmouth, Hampshire. Anderson supports Childreach International, a London-based charity that works in partnership with local communities in the developing world to secure children's basic rights; she addressed the problem of child trafficking during the press for the Sold film that presents the issue. Anderson also supports their Taught Not Trafficked campaign that was launched in July 2014. In 2015, Anderson became a patron of the International Literacy Centre (ILC) - European home of Reading Recovery. In January 2016 she helped launch ILC's Reading Recovery Read Aloud campaign. During February and March of 2016, Anderson held an internet charity auction benefiting Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) children's hospital in the Bloomsbury area of London. In March 2016, it was reported that Anderson is one of the artists sponsoring an unaccompanied refugee minor in the "Jungle" camp in Calais.
Anderson is an honorary spokesperson for the Neurofibromatosis (NF) Network. She often holds auctions with the profits benefiting the NF Network. Her brother Aaron died from the disease and was diagnosed when Gillian was just a teenager. In May 1996, Anderson addressed the United States Congress urging for more education and funding for NF research projects. Anderson partners with Doodle 4 NF - an annual fundraiser for the NF Network. She also supported the Children with Tumours organisation and the Global Genes movement, which is also devoted to helping children with NF.
Anderson is the co-founder of South African Youth Education for Sustainability (SAYes), which aids in empowering marginalised young people in South Africa through youth mentoring. The organisation provides youth leaving children's homes with guidance that enables them to develop their skills, further their education, and source suitable housing in order to participate in society as independent adults.
While filming The Last King of Scotland in 2005, Anderson started a crowdfunding venture that benefited the Alinyiikira Junior School in Kampala, Uganda. She ran the philanthropic project until 2011. Anderson is a member of the board of directors for Artists for a New South Africa and a campaigner for ACTSA: Action for Southern Africa. She was a patron of the Friends of Treatment Action Campaign (FoTAC) which worked with the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa to ensure greater access to treatment to reduce the effects of HIV and prevent new infections. Anderson also supported Buskaid - a charitable trust aiming to help young black musicians in South Africa.
Anderson is a supporter of various women's organizations and social movements. She has been a long-time supporter of the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF). In 1996, Anderson became FMF's spokesperson and participated as a team leader in the FMF's Million4Roe campaign. In March 1999, she attended an FMF event to stop gender apartheid in Afghanistan and in April 2002, she appeared on Hollywood Squares to benefit the FMF's campaign to aid Afghan women and girls. Anderson participated in Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues, including a stage performance on February 14, 1999. Anderson is a supporter of Ensler's V-Day movement aiming to end violence against women and girls.
Anderson is an advocate for reproductive rights. In 2001, she emceed the Rock for Choice concert fundraiser, featuring musicians Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole, and Melissa Etheridge as well as actresses Helen Hunt, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, and Kathy Najimy. The concert supported reproductive options for unplanned pregnancies, including the morning-after pill. For International Women's Day 2014, Anderson was one of the artist signatories of Amnesty International's letter to UK Prime Minister David Cameron campaigning for women's rights in Afghanistan. In March 2015, Anderson backed the Women at the Well drop-in centre for vulnerable women in London, which is supported financially by Comic Relief. Anderson supports the Refuge, a United Kingdom charity providing specialist support for women and children experiencing domestic violence. For International Women's Day 2016, Anderson was one of the high-profile women that signed Burma Campaign UK's pledge to end and investigate crimes of sexual violence against girls and women in Myanmar.
In late 2010, Anderson and other artists joined a campaign to boycott Botswana diamonds over the government's treatment of the Kalahari San. Anderson supports tribal rights charity Survival International, an organization that champions tribal peoples around the world and in early 2010 she participated in a performance in a London stage fundraiser for its cause. In February 2011, Anderson narrated a short film about recent footage of an uncontacted tribe, in which the Amazon Indians were spotted from the air on the Brazil-Peru border. Anderson has said: "What comes across powerfully from this amazing footage is how healthy and confident these people appear. I hope they can be left alone - but that will only happen if the loggers are stopped." In June 2011, Anderson became an ambassador for Survival International. In September 2015, Anderson was among the artists who signed a letter calling for a new approach to conservation that would respect tribal peoples' rights.
Anderson is an active member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and supports animal rights. In 2006, Anderson was honoured with PETA's Humanitarian Award for her consistent work for the organization. In October 2008, Anderson narrated for PETA a video of undercover footage from rabbit fur farms in China and France. In April 2009, Anderson sent a letter - on behalf of PETA - to every Member of the European Parliament (MEP) urging to vote in favor of the proposed directive on the protection of animals used in scientific procedures. In October 2010, Anderson participated in 10:10’s controversial short film, No Pressure, as part of the global warming mitigation campaign’s aim to encourage the reduction of CO2 emissions.
In 2012, she joined Greenpeace in standing with the people of Brazil for a zero deforestation law to save the Amazon. In 2013, Anderson backed the Cheetah Conservation Fund by creating a short film together with the fund, advocating CCF's action to prevent the extinction of the cheetah. In 2013, Anderson joined the Fishlove campaign, supporting the fight against unsustainable fishing practices that harm the marine ecosystem. In October 2015, Anderson wrote a letter to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare requesting a ban on repeat experiments on animals in toxicity tests.
Indicates a film that has not yet released | |
Indicates a documentary |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1986 | Three at Once | Woman 1 | Short film |
1988 | Matter of Choice, AA Matter of Choice | Young pregnant woman | Short film |
1992 | Turning, TheThe Turning | April Cavanaugh | |
1997 | Chicago Cab | Southside Girl or Brenda | aka Hellcab |
1998 | The X-Files | FBI Special Agent Dana Scully | |
1998 | Mighty, TheThe Mighty | Loretta Lee | |
1998 | Playing by Heart | Meredith | |
1999 | Princess Mononoke | Moro (voice) | English Dub |
2000 | House of Mirth, TheThe House of Mirth | Lily Bart | |
2005 | Mighty Celt, TheThe Mighty Celt | Kate Morrison | |
2005 | Cock and Bull Story, AA Cock and Bull Story | Herself/Widow Wadman | |
2006 | Last King of Scotland, TheThe Last King of Scotland | Sarah Merrit | |
2007 | Straightheads | Alice Comfort | aka Closure |
2008 | X-Files: I Want to Believe, TheThe X-Files: I Want to Believe | Dana Scully | |
2008 | How to Lose Friends & Alienate People | Eleanor Johnson | |
2009 | Boogie Woogie | Jean Maclestone | |
2010 | No Pressure | Herself | Short film |
2011 | Johnny English Reborn | Pamela "Pegasus" Thornton | |
2012 | Sister | Kristin Jansen | |
2012 | Shadow Dancer | Kate Fletcher | |
2012 | Room on the Broom | Witch (voice) | |
2013 | Mr. Morgan's Last Love | Karen Morgan | |
2013 | From Up On Poppy Hill | Dr. Miki Hokuto (voice) | English Dub |
2013 | I'll Follow You Down | Marika | |
2014 | Sold | Sophia | |
2014 | Robot Overlords | Kate | |
2015 | The Departure | Blanche Dubois | Short film, also director |
2015 | The Widowmaker | Narrator | |
2016 | Viceroy's House | Edwina Mountbatten | Post-production |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | Class of '96 | Rachel | Episode: "The Accused" |
1993-2016 | X-Files, TheThe X-Files | FBI Special Agent Dana Scully | 208 episodes Also writer and director of "all things" |
1995 | Eek! the Cat | Agent Scully (voice) | Episode: "Eek Space 9" |
1996 | ReBoot | Data Nully (voice) | Episode: "Trust No One" |
1996 | Why Planes Go Down | Narrator | Documentary |
1996 | Spies Above | Narrator | Documentary |
1996 | Future Fantastic | Narrator | 9 episodes |
1996-2002 | Hollywood Squares | Herself | 5 episodes |
1997 | The Simpsons | Agent Scully (voice) | Episode: "The Springfield Files" |
1999 | Frasier | Jenny (voice) | Episode: "Dr. Nora" |
1999 | Harsh Realm | Narrator | Uncredited |
2005 | Bleak House | Lady Dedlock | 14 episodes |
2007 | Robbie the Reindeer | Queen Vorkana (voice) | Episode: "Close Encounters of the Herd Kind" |
2008 | Masterpiece | Herself | Episode: "Sense and Sensibility" |
2010 | Any Human Heart | Duchess of Windsor | 3 episodes |
2011 | The Crimson Petal and the White | Mrs. Castaway | 2 episodes |
2011 | Moby Dick | Elizabeth | 2 episodes |
2011 | Great Expectations | Miss Havisham | 3 episodes |
2013-present | The Fall | DSI Stella Gibson | 11 episodes Also executive producer |
2013-15 | Hannibal | Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier | 22 episodes |
2014 | Crisis | Meg Fitch | 13 episodes |
2014 | Robot Chicken | Fairy Godmother/Fiona (voice) | Episode: "Up, Up, and Buffet" |
2014 | National Theatre Live | Blanche DuBois | Episode: "A Streetcar Named Desire" |
2015 | Top Gear | Herself | Episode: "#22.6" |
2016 | War & Peace | Anna Pavlovna Scherer | 4 episodes |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | Hellbender | E.V.E. (Enhanced Virtual Entity) | |
1998 | The X-Files Game | Dana Scully | |
2004 | The X-Files: Resist or Serve | Dana Scully | |
2016 | Squadron 42 | Captain MacLaren |
Year | Artist | Song | Director | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Hal featuring Gillian Anderson | "Extremis" | David McNabb |
Year | Title | Role | Director | Playwright | Venue | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | Arsenic and Old Lace | Officer Brophy | Joseph Kesselring | City High School, Grand Rapids, Michigan | ||
1990 | A Flea in Her Ear | Eugenie | Georges Feydeau | The Theatre School, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois | ||
1991 | Absent Friends | Evelyn | Lynne Meadow | Alan Ayckbourn | Manhattan Theatre Club, New York | |
1992 | The Philanthropist | Celia | Gordon Edelstein | Christopher Hampton | Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut | |
1999-2000 | The Vagina Monologues | Eve Ensler | Eve Ensler | Los Angeles & London | ||
2002-03 | What The Night Is For | Melinda Metz | John Caird | Michael Weller | Comedy Theatre, London | |
2004 | The Sweetest Swing in Baseball | Dana Fielding | Ian Rickson | Rebecca Gilman | Royal Court Theatre, London | |
2009 | A Doll's House | Nora Helmer | Zinnie Harris | Henrik Ibsen | Donmar Warehouse, London | |
2010 | We Are One: A celebration of tribal peoples | Mark Rylance | Joanna Eede | Apollo Theatre, London | ||
2013 | Letters Live | The Tabernacle, Notting Hill, London | ||||
2014 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Blanche DuBois | Benedict Andrews | Tennessee Williams | Young Vic, London | |
2016 | Letters Live | Freemasons' Hall, London | ||||
2016 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Blanche DuBois | Benedict Andrews | Tennessee Williams | St. Ann's Warehouse, New York City |
Year | Title | Role | Channel | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | 84, Charing Cross Road | Helene Hanff | BBC Radio 4 |
In 1996, Anderson was voted the "Sexiest Woman in the World" for FHM's 100 Sexiest Women poll. 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. In 2016, Anderson was named one of World's Most Beautiful Faces of the Year by People magazine.
In 2009, Anderson was named as one of 20 most powerful women in British theatre and was dubbed "The Honorary Brit" by Harper's Bazaar and Tiffany & Co's list. In 2010, Anderson was named Honorary Associate of The London Film School (LFS).
[ Source: Wikipedia ]