Gillian Anderson

<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Gillian Leigh Anderson (b. August 9, 1968) is an award-winning American actress born in Chicago, Illinois to Edward and Rosemary Anderson. She is best known for her role as Dana Scully on the TV series The X-Files and her appearance on the BBC drama The House of Mirth. Her family moved several times in her youth first to Puerto Rico and then to England at age two. The family moved back to the United States to Grand Rapids, Michigan when Anderson was eleven years old. She spent the remainder of her rebellious teen years in the Midwest. After being mocked for her English accent, Anderson learned to speak like an American. As a teen, Anderson indulged in the punk rock scene, dying her hair pink and piercing her nose.

She was soon bitten by the acting bug and began performing in community theater. Following her high school graduation in 1986, she planned on studying marine biology but decided to focus on theater after successful auditions at Grand Rapids Community Theater. She studied at DePaul University's Goodman Theater in Chicago and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1990.

1 Career
2 Personal Life
3 Quotes
4 External Links

Career

Anderson moved to New York City at age twenty-two and began her career on stage in off Broadway plays like The Philanthropist. She won a Theatre World Award for her role in Absent Friends, which ran at the Manhattan Theatre Club. Anderson made her film debut in The Turning.

She moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film. Though initially opposed to working in television, a year without work persuaded her to change her mind. She appeared in the short-lived series class of 96. In 1993, Anderson was drawn to the script of the pilot of The X-Files. She auditioned for the role of Dana Scully. Though the producers wanted someone with more sex appeal, Chris Carter was determined to give the role to Anderson.

Anderson was unprepared for the success of the series, which ran for nine seasons and included a feature film, The X-Files (Movie). Her performance on the series was awarded with an Emmy Award a Golden Globe, and two SAG Awards.

Anderson also lent her voice to Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke and made guest appearances on The Simpsons, Frasier, and Harsh Realm. Following The X-Files, she returned to the stage. She appeared in the films The Mighty Celt, A Cock and Bull Story and the BBC Drama based on the work of Charles Dickens, Bleak House. She was nominated for a BAFTA and an Emmy for her work in Bleak House.

Around 1997, Anderson hosted a limited television series entitled "Future Fantastic*" which was produced for the BBC. The series explored aspects of the future through medicine, high technology, spirituality, and space exploration. It re-aired on the Discovery Channel within a year after its initial run on the BBC. The band HAL produced music for the series and they reached out to Anderson about providing vocal talent to a single entitled "Extremis" which was released on a limited scale back in 1997. It was a electronica song that had a brief life in dance clubs throughout Europe.

Recent and upcoming projects include The Last King of Scotland with Forrest Whitaker, Straightheads and 'No One Gets Off in This Town.

Personal Life

On January 1, 1994, Anderson married Clyde Klotz, an assistant art director on The X-Files. Anderson gave birth to their daughter Piper Maru on September 25, 1994, Vancouver, Canada. The marriage eventually fell apart and they divorced in 1997. She remarried to Julian Ozanne on December 29, 2004. They separated after 16 months. In November 2006, Anderson gave birth to son Oscar with boyfriend Mark Griffiths.

Quotes

"Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears."

"I do not really have that much to say except that perhaps everyone who reads this could spare a few more minutes of their time and visit an AIDS related website to fill themselves in a bit more about what's going on with AIDS in Africa at the moment cause it's a real real problem right now and everyone and their cat should know the seriousness of the catastrophe. Oh my God, no pun intended."

"I truly believe that we can overcome any hurdle that lies before us and create the life we want to live. I have seen it happen time and time again."

"People generally treat me like I'm very intelligent and really, I'm much less intelligent than she is. Scully is insanely intelligent."

"My whole belief system is that our paths are drawn for us. I believe in reincarnation. I believe we're here to learn and grow. We choose how we come into this life based on what it is we have to learn. Some people have harder lessons than others."

"In England, it's much easier to flip between doing television and film. It doesn't ruin one's career the way it sometimes does in America. I had to take that on faith, but from the moment I started working on it, it was the best fun I'd had in a really long time."

"David Duchovny and I and creator Chris Carter are determined to do another. Hopefully, by the time we actually do it, whenever that is, people will still give a damn."

"I love it when women come up to me and tell me I'm a positive influence on their lives and the lives of their young daughters. That's a great feeling."