Gillian Anderson owes much of her widespread fame to portraying Dana Scully, an FBI agent and the lead in X-Files. Yet, in the beginning, the actress was not happy about the attention she attracted. In a recent interview, looking back on her past, she admitted that she had “hated” all that fame generated by X-Files, because she was constantly photographed by paparazzi.
X-Files: Gillian Anderson remembers the hard-to-manage fame and the liberating Vancouver experience
It’s almost impossible to forget Gillian Anderson’s presence in X-Files, a science fiction TV series created by Chris Carter, featuring two FBI agents grappling with the paranormal. Aired from 1993 to 2002 and later revived from 2016 to 2018, X-Files has left an impression on more than one generation of television and continues to be among the genre’s most cherished titles among audiences today.
Therefore, it isn’t surprising that the immense visibility of X-Files also influenced its stars. Yet, years later, Gillian Anderson has discussed the difficulties that arose from such fame, including the relentless paparazzi attention. A guest on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, the The Crown actress confronted the fame of X-Files and confessed: “I hated it.” The fact that the show was shot in Vancouver, however, helped the cast preserve their privacy. “I mean, I think we were very lucky to shoot in Vancouver for the first five years because, you know, when we were in Los Angeles, we experienced what many celebrities at the time experienced: being followed everywhere, chased down the streets, photographed with children in playgrounds, and all those things that I found unsettling and that really angered me.” For this reason she recalled that spending time in Vancouver “was very liberating, because there wasn’t any of that there. And it also felt like something separate from work. And I think that helped us maintain our mental clarity.”
Over the years, Gillian Anderson has taken on other successful TV projects as well, such as The Crown, where she portrayed Margaret Thatcher, and Sex Education, where she played Jean Milburn. She has also appeared in American Gods, The Great, and The First Lady.
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