Gillian Anderson interview

Earlier this year we were able to go on set for the filming of the new X-Files sequel in Vancouver. Some of the interview material is available to read in the latest edition of SFX magazine (SFX 171 featured quotes from Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter; SFX 172 is on sale from Wednesday 2 July 2008 with profiles of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson) but we thought you might like to read bonus answers from Gillian "Scully" Anderson here on the SFX website...

Has Scully changed a lot in this film?
Gillian Anderson:
"I think what's important is to not have her change a lot. It's been finding who she is again; it's important to show somebody who's recognisable to the audience that's used to her. Obviously there's a maturity that's taken place naturally, and I use that fact to inform how she might be in the present day."

Do you think the character was always a role-model for people?
Gillian Anderson:
"We all grew up together. I think her resilience, strength, intelligence and determination were fortunately appealing for lots of young women. There's a whole new group of people discovering the show for the first time through the re-runs - and that's awesome! When fan letters come through to me it's from everyone from grandmothers to four year olds."

How did you feel about presenting Masterpiece Theater ?
Gillian Anderson:
"Working and living in Britain - there's such a vast access to quality, and to the classics, and to a genre and intensity of film-making for television. With people like Judy Dench - it's just so part of their world. Actors in England go from theatre to television to movies seamlessly. They go back and forth - you see Charles Dance and Helen Mirren, and they're in your living room on TV, then they're on the stage: that's just part of life. And to help in some small way to bring that world to the American public, and try and make it more a part of their daily lives, felt like a good thing to do."

When you're living in London do you start talking with a British accent?
Gillian Anderson:
"I grew up in London so when I'm there I can't help myself; my partner's British and the majority of my friends over there are British. It was the first language that was in my ear and I can't help it! But once in a while an American will be at the table with me and they'll say something and I'll answer in an American accent... but I've just been talking in a British accent! It's actually a bit embarrassing to be honest. When I'm doing an interview and I'm supposed to be talking American but the interviewer is British, I might have to find somebody who's American so I can hear it so I can answer the question [laughs]!"

Having survived The X-Files, would you ever do another TV series?
Gillian Anderson:
"I'll never say never because things change so much over time - but it would have to be something pretty extraordinary to take that kind of time (and to move me back to LA which is where it's likely to be shot). I hope to still be working when I'm 60, so maybe as a 60-year-old I'll come and do a comedy for NBC or something!"

Do you hope you're not just confined to the role of "Scully"?
Gillian Anderson:
"In some ways I still am. I think when producers see my work, sometimes they go, 'Oh! She can act!' There's nothing much I can do about that, except continue to challenge myself and continue to try to challenge the minds of people who want to put me in a box."

Would you like to do more TV mini-series like BBC's Bleak House?
Gillian Anderson:
"I'm up for anything really. If something else were to come up like Bleak House, I would completely be up for that. For me it's about diversity, but it's also about the quality of the work and the writing. And also about scheduling too - I just don't want to be stressed out; I stress myself out enough with all the things I put on my plate. My main objective is to try and lighten up - hopefully I'll be able to continue a decent balance."

So what are you doing next?
Gillian Anderson:
"I'm in a film in South Africa called The Smell of Apples. It takes place in the 1970s during apartheid - it's a lovely film based on a novel."

SFX: Thank you Gillian Anderson!

The X-Files: I Want To Believe opens at cinemas in the UK on Friday 1 August 2008. Find out more about Gillian Anderson at her official website . Remember, you can read more from this interview (as well as an interview with co-star David "Mulder" Duchovny) in issue 172 of SFX magazine, on sale from Wednesday 2 July. Click here to subscribe to SFX and receive future editions at a bargain price - and get a free gift while stocks last too!

SFX Magazine is the world's number one sci-fi, fantasy, and horror magazine published by Future PLC. Established in 1995, SFX Magazine prides itself on writing for its fans, welcoming geeks, collectors, and aficionados into its readership for over 25 years. Covering films, TV shows, books, comics, games, merch, and more, SFX Magazine is published every month. If you love it, chances are we do too and you'll find it in SFX.

Latest in TV
Poker Face season 2
First Poker Face season 2 trailer sees Natasha Lyonne team up with Yellowjackets, Wicked, and Orange is the New Black stars, sets a May release date
Walton Goggins in The Righteous Gemstones
The final season of Fallout star's HBO comedy has debuted to a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score
Daredevil: Born Again
Marvel fans think that Daredevil: Born Again episode 3 just referenced Spider-Man's Miles Morales – but a key detail might have already debunked the theory
Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil: Born Again fans are reeling at episode 3's "brutal" ending: "It made me gasp in shock"
Daredevil's mask in Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil: Born Again's end credits just paid a perfect tribute to episode 3's slain character
George R.R. Martin
Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin has a new update on The Winds of Winter: "I wish it would come faster"
Latest in Features
Key art for Assassin's Creed Rogue Remastered showing Shay Patrick Cormac in a black and red outfit that's a cross between Assassin and Templar armor, with his ship The Morrigan behind him
Assassin's Creed Shadows can wait – I spent 40 hours mopping up the map in the one game in the series everyone skipped
Avowed screenshot showing a corpse-like figure's face with glowing purple mushroom/spore growths
I thought I was going evil in Avowed, but one quest changed everything I thought I knew about morality in this RPG
Yakuza 0
10 years on, Yakuza 0 is still one of the strongest entry points to a franchise ever made
The Witcher 3 screenshot of Geralt
Avowed and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 tap into the same thing that makes The Witcher 3 so compelling – and it's something I'm always looking for in RPGs
Marvel Rivals Spider-Man
Spider-Man has become every Marvel Rivals player's worst nightmare
The Iron Mask
The 32 greatest swashbuckler movies ever made