Gillian Anderson has shared a candid take on the downside of playing FBI agent Dana Scully in The X-Files. The 58-year-old Emmy Award winner said the experience of being followed and photographed in Los Angeles “really” angered her.
Gillian Anderson recalls paparazzi attention and fame during her run as Dana Scully on The X-Files
During an appearance on Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Anderson was asked how she felt about the fame that came with the show’s success. She simply responded, “Hated it.” “I mean, I think we were very lucky that we were shooting up in Vancouver for the first five years ‘cause, you know, when we were in LA, we had the experience that a lot of celebrities did at that time — just followed everywhere and chased down the street and photographed with kids in playgrounds and all that kind of stuff which I found disturbing and it really angered me. I pointed my car at many paparazzi over the years.”
The Crown and Sex Education star said Vancouver’s lack of intense public attention gave her a sense of freedom. She added that staying away from the entertainment business helped keep them “a little saner.”
Anderson reunited with her The X-Files co-star David Duchovny at the 2025 SAG Awards. Duchovny played FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on the series from 1993 to 2002. Despite their undeniable on-screen chemistry, the two reportedly had a rocky relationship behind the scenes for years.
Anderson said there were times when they “hated each other,” while Duchovny discussed their relationship in a 2008 interview with Metro, saying, “Familiarity breeds contempt. It’s nothing to do with the other person. All that fades away, and you’re just left with the appreciation and love for the people you’ve worked with for so long,” reports Independent.
Chris Carter created The X-Files, which ran for nine seasons from 1993 to 2002. The franchise late made two films, 1998’s The X-Files: Fight the Future and 2008’s The X-Files: I Want to Believe. The series later returned to television from 2016 to 2018, with Anderson and Duchovny reprising their roles as Scully and Mulder.
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