Street roots., May 22, 2015, Page 8, Image 8

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Page 8
The aew X-Files la
the making?
Gillian
Anderson
"Everyone is hop­
ing It w ill become
a reality. At this
jaactnrer it's s till a
work la progress "
Gender
inequality
in Hollywood?
‘It is still
alive and
well.’
BY STEVEN MACKENZIE
GoXlTRIBUTING WRITER
he truth may be out there but Gillian
Anderson isn't interested. Best known
for her. role as skeptical (and
smoldering) FBI Special Agent Dana Scully
in The X-Files, a worldwide hit through most
of the 1990s and now confirmed for a six-
B
p a rt comeback, people still w ant to share
their supernatural experiences with her
today.
"It's the story of my life!" she says. "Just
the other day someone who had read a
science fiction book I have co-written
wanted to talk to me about how what
happened in the book had actually happened
to him. So yes, people want to bend my ear
every once in a while."
Ever had any close encounters of your
own? "I have been asked that thousands of
times," she, sighs.
"But any time I ever answer that question
it ends up being the headline and then it
gets Carried in a tabloid and there’s really no
point in engaging in a conversation about it.
Thafs not going to be your headline I’m
afraid."
Anderson, 46, was born in Chicago but
moved with her family to England when she
was 2. They stayed until she was 11 before
returning to Grand Rapids, Mich.,.but she
has always considered the U.K. home and
currently lives in London. "It feels more
familiar than the States," she says. "I'm still
moved by the city. It’s the smell of
hedgerows, the history and architecture, and
the sound of a British accen t".
Anderson herself speaks in cut-glass
English but is bidialectal, able to switch
between two accents, particularly useful for
someone whose career bridges both sides of
the Atlantic. Why did she want to become an
actress? 'It's the only thing I can do, that's
why I do.it," she replies, matter-of-factly..
The X-Files changed TV,setting a trend
for well-written, well-acted shows that led to.
the landscape we have today. Television also
offers a fertile ground for strong female
characters, of which Scully was apioneer. "I
have been extremelyjucky," Anderson says.
Street Roots • May 22-28,2015
"In television, the trend has been around for
a good decade. There is a lack of three-
dimensional female characters in film and
that continues to be difficult tdcrack. But in
TV there seems to be a plethora of
opportunities."
Perhaps, but most seem to be snapped up
by Anderson herself. She plays the canny
cannibal's psychotherapist Bedelia Du
Maurier in “Hannibal” and chases another
serial killer around Belfast as DSI Stella
Gibson in The Fall, opposite Jamie 'please
don't typecast me as Christian Grey'
Dornan.
She also performs in the West End, most
recently as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar
Named Desire and she hopes to take-the
production to Broadway soon. But when will
there be the time? Rumors about a reboot of
The X-Files were confirmed Just after our
interview, when Fox announced that filming
with Anderson, David Duchovny, who played
perennially spooked spook Agent Mulder,
and the show's creator Chris Carter will
begin in the summer.
But as we speak, Anderson is remaining
tight-lipped... "Umm we're still talking about
was a period of time, in the 2000s when
people still wanted to talk about it. Most of
my reaction was, Yes, that happened but
that was then, this is now.’” But the fact is
it’s not just then — it is also happening now."
Anderson's latest film sees her step back
toward sci-fi in Robot Overlords, a British
feature about a group of kids who turn out
to be our only salvation from global robot
domination. "As with most good science
fiction tales, th ere 's generally a sense of
impending doom," says Anderson, who plays
the mother of the lead character.
"I don't get the chance very often to play
a soft character," •she continues. "I'm often
cast as quite hard, intelligent bosses,
whether it's MI5 or MI7 or the Met. Or the
FBI."
Anderson has just finished work on
Andrew Davies' abridged adaptation of
Tolstoy's epic “War and Peace,” but her
most recent TV appearance was as a “Star
in a Reasonably Priced Car on Top Gear,” a
week before Jeremy Clarkson got suspended
’ P H O T O BY STEPHEN B U SKEN
for punching a producer, Anderson did not
escape the experience unharmed.
it," she claims. "Everyone is hoping it will
"I have not recovered from spending
become a reality. At this juncture it's still a
three hours in that car," she grimaces,
work in progress. I don't think anything has
adding that she had to treat her shoulder
been signed. Everybody who's interested is
with heat pads, ice and constant painkillers
100 percent interested. It's a very different
after she kept haying to turn awkwardly to
situation once you jump into a negotiation
change gears. "It's frozen, which means my
with a network, especially one like Fox.
arm will not bend a certain way so I am
Negotiations take months so at that point it
Constantly reminded about my three hours
is out of our hands."
on the tarmac at Top Gear. But it was totally
At the Oscars, Patricia Arquette used her
worth it. It was so much fun."
acceptance speech to demand wage equality
As a fan of the show, would you be sad if
in the industry. During The X-Files' original
Clarkson was no longer involved in the
nine-year run, Anderson was paid,
program? "He can't not be part of the show.
significantly less than Duchovny and only
He makes the show. It's an unfortunate
received equal pay for the second spin-off
situation but the show is as popular because
film “I Want to Believe.” Although she does
he is as inappropriate on camera as he is off
not refer to the new X-Files explicitly, you
camera."
don't need to be a conspiracy theorist to
Anderson's impressive lap time was the
imagine she is referring to current contract. fastest any celebrity has recorded in "mildly
negotiations when talking about Arquette's
moist" conditions. So besides acting,
speech.
something else she is good at is driving.
"Yes, it is still a problem. In a very, very
"Yeah," she laughs. "I could be an Uber
big way, including something recent and
driver."
unconscionable, which I really can't talk
Courtesy o f the IN S P News Service street-
about but yes, it is still alive and well. There
papers. org / The B ig Issue
was a period of time in the 1990s when it
was appropriate to talk about it, and there