Anderson has supported numerous charities and humanitarian organizations, being an honorary spokesperson for the Neurofibromatosis Network and a co-founder of South African Youth Education for Sustainability (SAYes). She has lived in London since 2002 and was appointed an honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2016 for her services to drama.
Early life
Gillian Leigh Anderson was born in Chicago on August 9, 1968,[1] the daughter of computer analyst and neurofibromatosis support group leader Rosemary "Posie" Alyce (née Lane)[2][3][4] and film editing company owner Homer Edward "Ed" Anderson III.[5][6] Soon after her birth, her parents moved to Puerto Rico for 15 months before relocating to London so her father could attend the London Film School.[7] She lived in Crouch End and Harringay,[8] and attended Coleridge Primary School.[9] When she was 11 years old, her family returned to the US and settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan,[10] maintaining an apartment in London and spending their summers there.[11] Having always intended to return to London, she later moved there in 2002.[12] In Grand Rapids, she attended Fountain Elementary and City High-Middle School.[13] She later said of her time there, "We were in a small Republican town. There were only six punks there. We were weird. It's not like London."[14]
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. He was a DJ, mentor, and practicing Buddhist, and was in his second year of a PhD program in developmental psychology at Stanford University when he was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2008.[15][16] Her sister Zoe is a ceramicist, whom she has called "an exceptional artist".[17] Anderson went through a rebellious stage as a young girl in Grand Rapids, taking drugs, dating a much older boyfriend, and cultivating a punk appearance (dying her hair various colors, shaving the sides of her head, sporting a nose piercing and an all-black wardrobe).[11][13][18] She was put in therapy at the age of 14.[14] She listened to bands like Dead Kennedys and Skinny Puppy. She was voted by her classmates as "class clown", "most bizarre girl", and "most likely to be arrested". She was indeed arrested on graduation night for breaking into her high school in an attempt to glue the locks of the doors shut.[19] She later managed to reduce the charges from breaking and entering to trespassing.[20]
Anderson moved to Los Angeles in 1992 and spent 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.[23]
Although she had once vowed she would never do television work, being out of work for a year changed her mindset. 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 [to auditions] on some stuff that I would pray that I wouldn't get because I didn't want to be involved in it."[23] She broke into mainstream television in 1993 with a guest appearance on the collegiate drama, Class of '96, on the fledgling Fox Network.[7]
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!'
Anderson was the first woman to write and direct an episode of The X-Files ("all things"). During its run – between the fifth and sixth seasons – Anderson co-starred in The X-Files: Fight the Future, a 1998 film that continued 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 television series The Simpsons. While filming The X-Files, she met assistant art director Clyde Klotz, who became her first husband.[13] Anderson's character on The 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. It contributed to the increase in the number of women in those fields.[31][32] "The Scully Effect" remains a subject of academic inquiry.[33]
In 1996, Anderson narrated the television documentariesSpies Above and Why Planes Go Down. While hosting the BBC documentary series Future Fantastic, she became impressed by the 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 praise from European music critics.[34][35]
When The X-Files ended in 2002, she moved back to London for a change of pace and the opportunity to return to the stage.[39][40] In 2002, Anderson made her West End debut in Michael Weller's play What The Night Is For at the Comedy Theatre.[41] 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.[42][43]
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.[72] 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.[73] In the first collaboration between the Young Vic Theatre and National Theatre Live, the show was broadcast live to over 1100 venues on September 16, 2014.[74] Thus far, it has been screened in more than 2000 venues.[8] In February 2015, Anderson directed and starred in a short film prequel to A Streetcar Named Desire, titled The Departure, written by novelist Andrew O'Hagan. This is part of the Young Vic's short film series, which is produced in collaboration with The Guardian.[75]
In October 2014, Anderson published her first book, A Vision of Fire, co-authored with Jeff Rovin. The book is the first novel of what has developed as The Earthend Saga trilogy. The publisher describes it as "a science fiction thriller of epic proportions".[76][77] In December 2015, Anderson and Rovin published their second novel of the trilogy, A Dream of Ice.[78] In January 2016, Anderson portrayed Anna Pavlovna Scherer in BBC One's television adaptation War & Peace.[79] The same month, she returned to portray FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the six-episode tenth season of The X-Files.[80] Anderson has fought and succeeded in securing equal pay with her male co-star on The X-Files in the '90s and again in 2015, when negotiating her salary with the network. She has always been outspoken about her struggle for equal pay in the role.[81]
From April 23, 2016, through June 4, 2016, Anderson reprised her role of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire on stage at the new St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York City.[82] On September 13, 2016, Anderson and Rovin published The Sound of Seas; their third and final novel of The EarthEnd Saga trilogy.[83] The same month, she returned to portraying DSU Stella Gibson in the third series of The Fall.[84] Anderson is the narrator of the English dub of Ronja the Robber's Daughter – Studio Ghibli's anime, which began streaming on Amazon Prime in January 2017.[85] In February 2017, Anderson portrayed Edwina Mountbatten in Gurinder Chadha's Partition drama film Viceroy's House (2017).[86]
On March 7, 2017, Anderson and the journalist-activist Jennifer Nadel published their self-help guide book for women, titled WE: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere.[87] 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."[88] In April 2017, she played goddess Media in the first season of American Gods – a television series adaptation of Neil Gaiman's science fiction novel of the same name.[89] Following the departure as showrunners of the show's creators, Bryan Fuller and Michael Green, Anderson stated she would not return to the show.[90] In October 2017, Anderson appeared alongside Glenn Close and Christina Hendricks in Crooked House – a film adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel of the same name.[91] In January 2018, she was back playing FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the eleventh season of The X-Files.[92] In January 2018, she confirmed that she would be leaving The X-Files after the end of the season.[93] Anderson is set to portray the role of Captain MacLaren in Star Citizen's single-player component Squadron 42.[94] In January 2019, she began playing Jean Milburn in the NetflixdramedySex Education.[95]
In February 2021, Anderson started filming White Bird.[102] It was initially scheduled to be released on September 16, 2022,[103] but after several delays was rescheduled for October 2024.[104][103][105] In November 2021 Anderson voiced the cat in Robin Robin, a stop-motion short Christmas film about a bird raised by mice who is questioning where she belongs.[106]Robin Robin was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.[107] In December 2021, she played Joanna, mother to Catherine the Great in season two of Hulu's The Great.[108]
In February 2022, Anderson launched her first audio show titled What Do I Know?! on Curio.[109] The fortnightly podcast explores "deeply human stories of social challenges, sexual liberation, phenomenal women".[110] In March 2022, it was announced that Anderson had signed a first look deal with Netflix.[111][112] It is a two-year deal with her company, Fiddlehead Productions.[111][112] In April of the same year, she portrayed Eleanor Roosevelt in the TV series The First Lady on Showtime.[113] The series was cancelled after the one season.[113][114] Released in theatres in December 2022 and on Netflix in 2023, Anderson starred in director Scott Cooper'sThe Pale Blue Eye alongside Christian Bale.[115][116]
In February 2023, Anderson announced her "Dear Gillian" project with Bloomsbury, where she asked for women to write letters to her personally about sexual fantasies and stories that she will turn into a book. [117]The book, "Want" was released in September of 2024. [118] On February 7, 2023, Netflix announced that Anderson had been cast as Emily Maitlis in Scoop, a film about Prince Andrew's 2019 Newsnight interview.[119][120] The film was released in April of 2024. [121] In April 2023, Anderson launched G Spot Beverages.[122] The beverages are soft drinks with "life-enhancing adaptogens and nootropics".[122] On May 16, it was announced that Anderson would star in the film adaptation of Raynor Winn’s bestselling memoir The Salt Path alongside Jason Isaacs which would be directed by Marianne Elliott. [123] In June of 2023, Anderson signed on to Netflix's ‘The Abandons’.[124] Filming was due to take place in late 2023 but was pushed back till 2024 due to the sag writers strike and is set for release in 2025.[124]
In January 2024, Anderson joined the cast of Disney's Tron: Ares. [125] In August 2024, Anderson signed on to the adaptation of Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses.[126] In an interview with Bustle in October of 2024, Anderson announced she would be co-producing the adaptation of The Coast Road by Alan Murrin. [127]
Anderson met Canadian art director Clyde Klotz when they worked together on The X-Files, and they were married in a Buddhist ceremony in Hawaii on January 1, 1994. Their daughter was born on September 25, 1994.[7][13]The X-Files creator and showrunner Chris Carter named the episode "Piper Maru" after the couple's daughter. The two divorced in 1997.[13] On December 29, 2004, Anderson married Kenyan-born documentary filmmaker Julian Ozanne on Lamu Island. They separated in 2006 and divorced in 2007.[128][129] Anderson began dating British businessman Mark Griffiths in 2006, and they had two sons born in 2006 and 2008 together before splitting up in 2012.[130][131][132]
In March 2012, Anderson revealed to Out magazine that she had a long-term relationship with a girl while in high school.[18] She also told CBS News that she had dated other women, though most of her relationships had been with men.[133] In December 2014, she described herself to the London Evening Standard as "an actively heterosexual woman who celebrates however people want to express their sexuality".[8] She reiterated this in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter the following month.[134][135] In an interview with The Daily Telegraph in March 2015, she said she was open to the idea of entering another same-sex relationship: "To me a relationship is about loving another human being; their gender is irrelevant."[136] She told The Times in February 2018, "I could be with a woman next year [...] It's just who I am. I have absolutely no issue with it whatsoever, and I don't really care if other people have an issue with it."[137] On Watch What Happens with Andy Cohen, she said that the last time she had been with a woman was when she moved to New York City right after college.[138]
Anderson resides with her three children in London, where she has lived since 2002.[40] She has been in a relationship with English screenwriter Peter Morgan since 2016 apart from a short break in 2020.[139][140][141][142]
Hobbies and interests
Due to her upbringing in both the United States and United Kingdom, Anderson is bidialectal and can easily switch between an American or English accent depending on the situation.[143] Her American accent is Midwestern as she adopted it after being teased by schoolmates for her British accent as a teenager in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while her English accent is a Received Pronunciation one due to her childhood in London.[144][145] During an interview with BlogTalkRadio in May 2013, she discussed 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."[146] In a September 2024 interview with the BBC, Anderson elaborated further stating: "My cells are American, but my soul is British".[147]
Anderson is a feminist.[153][154] She told Glamour magazine in August 2014, "I have feminist bones and when I hear things or see people react to women in certain ways I have very little tolerance."[155] She has several tattoos, all of them, as she described, are in some way about "peace of mind, right mind, right action".[19] She practices meditation daily.[156] She owned an estate in Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2012 that formerly belonged to painter Justin Deraniyagala.[157][158] She is teetotal and launched the soft drink company G-Spot in 2023.[159][160]
Anderson has been active in supporting numerous charity organizations and social causes, as well as running her own humanitarian ventures. 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.[161][162] 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.[163] In June 2016 she became a patron of the Temple Legal Centre, a London-based organization that assists people through the legal process by providing them free family law advice and support.[164]
In June 2016, Anderson expressed her opposition to Brexit in the lead-up to the referendum on that issue.[165][166] In January 2018, she was given a City Lit Lifetime Fellowship Award by the adult education college City Literary Institute.[167] In 2020, she narrated a Marks & Spencer Christmas commercial in the UK which also served as a charity initiative, highlighting the work of and offering donations to charities chosen by Anderson and other acting talents.[168] The Felix Project, Southall Black Sisters, and Blueprint for All were her chosen charities. [169]
Neurofibromatosis
Anderson is an honorary spokesperson for the Neurofibromatosis Network. She often holds auctions with the profits benefiting the Neurofibromatosis Network.[170] Her brother Aaron died from Neurofibromatosis type I in 2011.[6][171][15] In May 1996, Anderson addressed the United States Congress urging for more education and funding for neurofibromatosis research projects.[172] She partners with Doodle 4 NF – an annual fundraiser for the Neurofibromatosis Network.[173] She also supported the Children with Tumours organization and the Global Genes movement, which is devoted to helping children with neurofibromatosis.[174]
Africa and SAYes
Anderson during Buskaid charity event at St Mary's in London, July 2004
In 2008, Anderson co-founded South African Youth Education for Sustainability (SAYes), which helps in empowering marginalised young people in South Africa through youth mentoring. The nonprofit organization 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.[175]
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.[176] Anderson is a member of the board of directors for Artists for a New South Africa[177][178] and a campaigner for ACTSA: Action for Southern Africa.[179][180] 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.[181] Anderson also supported Buskaid – a charitable trust aiming to help young black musicians in South Africa.[182][183]
Women's rights
Anderson is a supporter of various women's organizations and social movements. She has been a long-time supporter of the Feminist Majority Foundation. In 1996, Anderson became the Feminist Majority Foundation's spokesperson and participated as a team leader in the Feminist Majority Foundation's Million4Roe campaign. In March 1999, she attended a Feminist Majority Foundation event to stop gender apartheid in Afghanistan and in April 2002, she appeared on Hollywood Squares to benefit the Feminist Majority Foundation's campaign to aid Afghan women and girls.[184] Anderson participated in Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues, including a stage performance on February 14, 1999.[37] Anderson is a supporter of Ensler's V-Day movement aiming to end violence against women and girls.[185]
Anderson is a patron of 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.[192][193] In 2015, Anderson became a patron of the International Literacy Centre (ILC) – European home of Reading Recovery.[194] In January 2016 she helped launch ILC's Reading Recovery Read Aloud campaign.[195] During February and March 2016, Anderson held an internet charity auction benefiting Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) children's hospital in the Bloomsbury area of London.[196] In March 2016, it was reported that Anderson is one of the artists sponsoring an unaccompanied refugee minor in the "Jungle" camp in Calais.[197] In July 2017, Anderson was awarded a UCL Honorary Fellowship for her support of the International Literacy Centre's Reading Recovery program.[198]
Indigenous rights
In late 2010, Anderson and other artists joined a campaign to boycott Botswana diamonds over the government's treatment of the Kalahari San.[199] 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.[200] 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."[201] In June 2011, Anderson became an ambassador for Survival International.[202] 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.[203]
Animals rights and environmental advocacy
In 2012, Anderson joined Greenpeace in standing with the people of Brazil for a zero-deforestation law to save the Amazon.[204] In 2013, she 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.[205] In 2013, she joined the Fishlove campaign, supporting the fight against unsustainable fishing practices that harm the marine ecosystem.[206] In November 2015, Anderson was named a friend and supporter of Positive Luxury, a company that informs consumers on brands' commitment to quality, craftsmanship, service and sustainability.[207][208]
Narrated the audiobooks of her novel trilogy The Earthend Saga: A Vision of Fire (2014),[225]A Dream of Ice (2015)[226] and The Sound of Seas (2016).[227]
One of the narrators of BBC Radio 4's ongoing series A History of Ideas (2015).[228]
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.[239] In 2010, Anderson was named Honorary Associate of The London Film School (LFS).[240]
In 2013, Anderson received a City Lit Lifetime Fellowship Award[241] as recognition for the support and inspiration she provided to adult education provider City Lit and its students.
^"Explorer Program Helps"(PDF). Boy Scouts of America. September–October 1966. p. 13. Archived(PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Explorer Post 29, American Cyanamid Company. Stamford, Conn. Leslie C. Lane, Jr., Institutional Representative. 19 Explorers.
^Nisbet, Matthew C.; Dudo, Anthony (September 3, 2013). "Entertainment Media Portrayals and Their Effects on the Public Understanding of Science". Hollywood Chemistry. ACS Symposium Series. Vol. 1139. ACS Publications. pp. 241–249. doi:10.1021/bk-2013-1139.ch020. ISBN978-0-8412-2824-5. (subscription required)
^Pyun, Jeanie (2003). "Out of This World". The Official Gillian Anderson Website. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
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