Gillian Anderson
7.1Acting

Gillian Anderson

Aug 9, 1968 - Chicago, Illinois, USA

Gillian Leigh Anderson OBE is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series The X-Files (1993–2002; 2016–2018), Lily Bart in the drama film The House of Mirth (2000), DSI Stella Gibson in the BBC/RTÉ crime drama series The Fall (2013–2016), Jean Milburn in the Netflix comedy-drama series Sex Education (2019–2023), and Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of the Netflix drama series The Crown (2020). She has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Born in Chicago, Anderson was raised first in London and then in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She later started her career onstage in New York City before achieving international recognition for her work on The X-Files. Her film work includes the dramas The Mighty Celt (2005), The Last King of Scotland (2006), Shadow Dancer (2012), and Viceroy's House (2017), as well as the X-Filesfilms Fight the Future (1998) and I Want to Believe (2008). Her television credits include Lady Dedlock in Bleak House (2005), Wallis Simpson in Any Human Heart (2010), Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (2011), Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier on Hannibal (2013–2015), Media in the first season of American Gods (2017), and Eleanor Roosevelt on The First Lady (2022).

Anderson has also received awards and acclaim for her stage work, which includes Absent Friends (1991), for which she won a Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer; A Doll's House (2009), for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress; Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (2014 and 2016), for which she won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress and received a second Laurence Olivier Award nomination; and All About Eve (2019), for which she received a third Laurence Olivier Award nomination.

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.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Gillian Anderson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Credits

Cast

Media
Movie2006The Last King of ScotlandSarah Merrit
Movie1998Playing by HeartMeredith
Movie1998The X-FilesAgent Dana Scully
Movie2005The Mighty CeltKate
Movie2024ScoopEmily Maitlis
Movie1992The TurningApril Cavanaugh
Movie2005A Cock and Bull StoryWidow Wadman / Gillian Anderson
Movie2008The X Files: I Want to BelieveDana Scully
Movie2000The House of MirthLily Bart
Movie1998The MightyLoretta Lee
Movie2008How to Lose Friends & Alienate PeopleEleanor Johnson
Movie2007StraightheadsAlice
Movie2022The Pale Blue EyeJulia Marquis
Movie2009Boogie WoogieJean Maclestone
Movie2012FOX 25th Anniversary SpecialSelf
Movie2025The Salt PathRaynor Winn
Movie2012Shadow DancerKate Fletcher
Movie2011Johnny English RebornPamela
Movie2002Richard Rodgers: Some Enchanted EveningSelf - Performer
Movie2012SisterKristin Jansen
Movie2017Heroes ManufacturedSelf (archive footage)
Movie2012Room on the BroomWitch (voice)
Movie1998Chicago CabSouthside Girl
Movie2023White BirdVivienne Beaumier
Movie2013Mr. Morgan's Last LoveKaren Morgan
Movie2014Robot OverlordsKate
Movie2016SoldSophia
Movie2013I'll Follow You DownMarika Whyte
Movie1986Three at OnceWoman 1
Movie1988A Matter of ChoiceWoman
Movie2014National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named DesireBlanche DuBois
Movie2010No PressureSelf
Movie1998Akte X Intern - Was Sie schon immer wissen wolltenDana Scully / Self
Movie2014The DepartureBlanche DuBois
Movie2025TRON: AresElisabeth Dillinger
Movie2015The WidowmakerNarrator
Movie1998Inside The X-FilesSelf
Movie2015Getting the Old Scent Again: Reimagining Red DragonSelf
Movie2024Woolf Works
Movie2017Crooked HouseMagda Leonides
Movie2018UFODr. Hendricks
Movie2017Viceroy's HouseEdwina Mountbatten
Movie2007Robbie the Reindeer in Close Encounters of the Herd KindQueen Vorkana (voice)
Movie2017Woolf WorksVoiceover from a letter by Virginia Woolf (voice)
Movie2017The Artist’s Garden: American ImpressionismNarrator
Movie2018The Spy Who Dumped MeWendy
Movie2019This Changes EverythingSelf
Movie2020The Sunlit NightOlyana
Movie2019National Theatre Live: All About EveMargo Channing
Movie2021Robin RobinCat (voice)
Movie2021Letters Live from the Archive: International Women’s DaySelf
MovieN/AAnimals
MovieN/ATeenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
TV Show1989The SimpsonsDana Scully (voice)1
TV Show1994ReBootData Nully (voice)1
TV Show1999Harsh RealmVideo Narrator (uncredited)1
TV Show2005Bleak HouseLady Dedlock15
TV Show2001Richard & JudySelf1
TV Show2002American IdolSelf1
TV Show1993The X-FilesDana Scully218
TV Show2016The CrownMargaret Thatcher10
TV Show1996Future FantasticSelf - Host9
TV Show2003Celebrities UncensoredSelf1
TV Show1993Class of '96Rachel1
TV Show2022The First LadyEleanor Roosevelt10
TV Show2002V Graham NortonSelf1
TV Show2011Great ExpectationsMiss Havisham3
TV Show2013The FallStella Gibson17
TV Show2010Any Human HeartDuchess Of Windsor4
TV Show2011Moby DickElizabeth4
TV Show2011The Crimson Petal and the WhiteMrs. Castaway4
TV Show2013HannibalDr. Bedelia Du Maurier21
TV Show2003Jimmy Kimmel Live!Self - Guest1
TV Show2014CrisisMeg Fitch13
TV Show2016War and PeaceAnna Pavlovna Scherer6
TV Show2014Late Night with Seth MeyersSelf1
TV ShowN/AThe AbandonsConstance Van Ness1
TV Show2014Ronja the Robber's DaughterNarrator26
TV Show2007The Graham Norton ShowSelf1
TV Show1993FrasierJenny (voice)1
TV Show1992Eek! The CatDana Scully (voice)1
TV Show2020The SavoySelf1
TV Show1992The Tonight Show with Jay LenoSelf - Guest1
TV Show2019Sex EducationJean Milburn32
TV Show1996The Rosie O'Donnell ShowSelf - Guest1
TV Show2004ParkinsonSelf - Guest1
TV Show2017American GodsMedia2
TV Show2009Watch What Happens Live with Andy CohenSelf - Guest1
TV Show2015The Late Show with Stephen ColbertSelf1
TV Show1998The Magic HourSelf1
TV ShowN/ATrespassesGina1
TV Show2017American GodsGoddess Media8
TV Show1944Golden Globe AwardsSelf - Presenter1
TV Show1944Golden Globe AwardsSelf - Nominee3
TV Show1944Golden Globe AwardsSelf - Nominee/Presenter1
TV Show1998ParkinsonSelf1
TV Show2002Top GearSelf1
TV Show1944Golden Globe AwardsSelf - Audience Member1
TV Show1988This MorningSelf1
TV Show2014Variety Studio: Actors on ActorsSelf1

Crew

Media
Movie2014The DepartureDirectorDirecting
TV Show1993The X-FilesDirectorDirecting
TV Show1993The X-FilesWriterWriting
TV ShowN/ATrespassesExecutive ProducerProduction