Gillian Anderson Film and Career

Home Page | Biography | Trivia | Film and Career | Filmography | Photos Gallery | Desktop Wallpapers | Quotes

When actress Gillian Anderson landed the role of Agent Scully for the Fox television series X-Files (1993- ) she could not have foreseen that within two years she would become an internationally known cult phenomenon. 

She was born in Chicago, but moved to London at age two and remained there until she was in her early teens. She and her family then moved to Grand Rapids, MI, where she rebelliously got heavily into the punk rock scene complete with spiky, brilliantly colored hair and body piercings with safety pins. 

When she was 14, she became romantically involved with a 20-year-old punk singer and occasionally sang in his band. Her punk period lasted through high school. Following graduation, she got involved in local theater and from there studied fine arts at the Goodman Theater School of Drama at Chicago’s DePaul University. 

Following graduation, she moved to New York where she waited tables and appeared in off-Broadway plays, most notably in Absent Friends, in which she had a starring role that won her a Theater World Award.

Anderson made her film debut in 1992 with the low-budget drama The Turning. She then appeared in a theatrical production of The Philanthropist and after that moved to Los Angeles. Though she was frequently courted for television roles, Anderson disdained the medium until the X-Files audition came along. 

Though the producers were looking for a brainy version of a Baywatch girl, the beautiful but more natural looking (having long passed her outrageous days) Anderson got the role thanks to the insistence of the show’s creator Chris Carter. 

The show became a smash hit within two seasons and Anderson found herself an international star, as did her co-star David Duchovny, the subject of numerous pages on the Internet, and the recipient of such awards as a Golden Globe, an Emmy, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. 

In addition to continuing work on the X-Files, Anderson hosted a couple of television specials, including More Secrets of the X-Files and the BBC documentary series Future Fantastic. She also lent her voice as a documentary narrator on Spies Above and as a guest character on the television series The Simpsons and Reboot. Anderson has a sister, Zoe, who appeared uncredited as 14-year-old Dana Scully on The X-Files episode “Christmas Carol”.

Anderson has been married twice. She married her first husband, Clyde Klotz, The X-Files series assistant art director, on New Years Day, 1994, on the 17th hole of a golf course in Hawaii in a Buddhist ceremony. They divorced in 1997. In December 2004, Anderson married Julian Ozanne, a documentary filmmaker, in the village of Shella on Lamu, an island off the coast of Kenya. Anderson and Ozanne announced their separation on April 21, 2006, after 16 months of marriage. After separating from Ozanne in 2006, Gillian became involved with her current partner, Mark Griffiths.

Anderson has three children. She has a daughter with ex-husband Klotz, Piper Maru (for whom The X-Files episode, “Piper Maru”, was named), born on September 25, 1994, in Vancouver, Canada. During Anderson’s pregnancy, The X-Files creator, Chris Carter, created an alien abduction storyline that kept Anderson off-camera long enough for labor, delivery and a 10-day maternity leave. Carter was named Piper’s godfather. In 2000, Piper had a small (and uncredited) appearance in her mother’s movie The House of Mirth. Anderson also has two sons, Oscar (born November 1, 2006) and Felix (born October 15, 2008).

In 1996, Anderson was voted the “Sexiest Woman in the World” for FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women poll. In 2008 she also placed 21st in FHM’s All Time 100 Sexiest Hall of Fame.

Anderson provides philanthropic and charitable assistance in the support of finding a cure for neurofibromatosis. She serves as NF, Inc.’s Honorary Spokesperson and is a Patron of the Neurofibromatosis Association (based in the UK). Her support stems from her brother being diagnosed with NF-1.

She is also a member of the board of directors for Artists for a New South Africa and a campaigner for ACTSA: Action for Southern Africa. Furthermore, Anderson is an active member of PETA, and supports animal rights. Anderson has also stayed good friends with The X-Files co-star David Duchovny, and has remarked that he is “hysterically funny.”