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Gillian Anderson - Biography |
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Gillian Leigh Anderson was born on
August 9th, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois. Soon after, she moved to Puerto
Rico and then England. During the nine years that her family lived in
England, her father took a course on Film Production. Her family then
moved to Grand Rapids Michigan where Anderson was often teased about her
English accent. In Michigan she formed a punk rock appearance by spiking
her hair and getting her nose peirced. However, her appearance wasn't the
only punk rock thing about her. On the night of graduation, she was
arrested for trying to glue shut the doors to her high school.
Anderson had become interested in acting after auditioning for a play
while attending City High School. When she was 14, she won the role of
Juliet in Romeo & Juliet. Her success in this role wiped away her previous
dreams of being an archaeologist or a marine biologist. After graduating
from high school, she studied at DePaul University’s Goodman Theatre.
Upon graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, Anderson, then 22,
moved to New York. Soon after, she won a Theatre World Award for her part
in the Broadway play ‘Absent Friends’. The next year, she appeared in The
Turning, her first movie. Although the movie was filmed in 1992, it wasn’t
released until 1997, well after Anderson had become a major star.
With her career stalled, Anderson moved to Los Angeles. After going a
whole year without work, she settled for television and made a guest
appearance on the short-lived Fox series ‘Class of 96’. That same year,
she auditioned for ‘The X-Files’. Producer/director Chris Carter decided
to cast her as Special Agent Dana Scully, going against the advice of Fox
executives who wanted a ‘sex symbol’ in the lead female role. Upon being
told that she had the part, Anderson, who had just received her last
unemployment check, immediately left for Vancouver to begin filming. The
massive success of the show was a surprise. Previously, most
science-fiction shows developed only a small but dedicated following. The
X-Files changed all of this, sparking a wave of interest in all things
alien.
Anderson’s role in ‘The X-Files’ garnered her much critical attention. She
was nominated for the Best Actress in a TV-Series-Drama Golden Globe in
1996, 97, 98, and 99. She won in 1997. Similarly, she was nominated for
the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Emmy in 1996, 97, and 98.
She also won that award in 1997.
While working on the show, Anderson met assistant art director Clyde
Klotz. On New Years Day of 1994, they were married by a Buddhist monk on
the 17th hole of a golf course in Hawaii. A month later, Anderson became
pregnant. To accommodate for this, Chris Carter wrote Scully’s abduction
into the script so that Anderson could take a ten day maternity leave.
Piper Maru Anderson was born on September 25th, 1994. Due to
complications, she was delivered by Caesarean section and Gillian had to
spend the next six days in hospital. Four days later, she went back to
work on the show. Anderson and Klotz later divorced.
Acting on ‘The X-Files’ and raising her daughter kept Anderson busy for
the next several years. Then in 1998, she found the time to appear in four
movies. Playing by Heart also starring Sean Connery and Dennis Quaid, The
Mighty, Chicago Cab also starring John Cusack, Julianne Moore, and Laurie
Metcalf, and The X-Files.
In 1999 Anderson starred in the theater production The Vagina Monologues.
In 2000 she had the starring role in The House of Mirth, directed by
Terence Davies. Her role as Lily Bart garnered her a British Independent
Film Award for Best Actress (2000).
The X-Files completed its ninth and final season in 2002, when Gillian was
34 years old. After the show came to a close, Gillian moved to London and
began doing theater work again, starring in the Michael Weller play What
the Night is For, from November 2002 to February 2003.
Meanwhile, Gillian is doing her best to promote awareness for charitable
causes including Neurofibromatosis, Inc. (her brother has the disease),
Buskaid, The Trevor Project, and Tusk Trust.
Anderson is currently married to producer Julian Ozanne. |
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Gillian Anderson - Personal Quotes |
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"I am more spontaneous than my
character..."
"Fame is complicated and definitely overrated. There are perks to it
that are unfathomable. But the other aspect is there's little to no
privacy at all - being anywhere at any time and knowing that
somebody you cannot see is probably taking a picture of you, which
has happened hundreds of times. I look around and cannot see anyone
and a couple of weeks later I see a photo of me looking around."
(Movieline interview, Dec. 1998)
"When I think of normal, I think of mediocrity... and mediocrity
scares the f*ck out of me!!"
"It's easier to be myself here. I can go out wearing whatever the
hell I want, no matter how ridiculous it looks. If I do that in
America, people look at me like I'm insane. There are aspects of the
British press which are incredibly intrusive, but then you'll go to
a premiere and someone will ask permission to take a photo, and when
you say, "That's enough", they'll back off. In the States, you go to
a restaurant and there are people lined up outside with eight-
by-10s of you. Or they just follow you with a video camera. I had
someone deliberately rear-end my car a few years ago in LA, and
there was a video camera: they were videoing my reaction. Luckily, I
was in a good mood."
"I know people who are embarrassed to be American. They don't like
showing their passports. It's becoming a scary place. It takes
someone very brave not to be quiet, someone who doesn't mind death
threats, their life being turned upside down, news cameras outside
their door. There is no freedom of speech in America anymore. They
are not living up to the constitution. There's so much fear in
America and control."
"My tendency is towards the opposite of health and taking care of
myself. My natural tendency is destructive. In order not to act on
that, I have to be careful. The minute I don't feel like that, if I
let down my guard, I'm in trouble."
"I often showed up ungroomed. It didn't occur to me. Then I'd end up
at a premiere and I'd think, what are you doing? I remember being at
a restaurant with a famous British actress. I knew there were
paparazzi outside. My intention was to make a beeline for the car.
But then, as we were walking outside, she applied lipstick. I
thought, what is she doing? But her public image is very glamorous.
It's a different mindset."
"I don't show my face [in LA] very much, and so that makes it a bit
more complicated for me in terms of work. They [producers] need to
see you in the press, and in their face, in meetings, auditions,
whatever. And as far as they're concerned, I haven't provided enough
of an example of the kind of things that I can do, as an actor, for
them to justify hiring me without me sitting down in front of them
or having me dance around."
"I don't usually like seeing things I'm in. I get really depressed
afterward." |
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Gillian Anderson - Filmography |
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No One Gets Off in This Town
(2008)
Straightheads (2007) .... Alice
The Last King of Scotland (2006) .... Sarah Merrit
"Bleak House" .... Lady Dedlock (14 episodes, 2005)
... aka Masterpiece Theatre: Bleak House (USA: series title)
- Episode #1.14 (2005) TV Episode .... Lady Dedlock
- Episode #1.13 (2005) TV Episode .... Lady Dedlock
- Episode #1.12 (2005) TV Episode .... Lady Dedlock
- Episode #1.11 (2005) TV Episode .... Lady Dedlock
- Episode #1.10 (2005) TV Episode .... Lady Dedlock
(9 more)
A Cock and Bull Story (2005) .... Widow Wadman
... aka Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (USA)
The Mighty Celt (2005) (TV) .... Kate
The X Files: Resist or Serve (2004) (VG) (voice) .... Dana Scully
"The X Files" .... Dana Scully / ... (196 episodes, 1993-2002)
... aka The X-Files (USA)
- The Truth (2002) TV Episode .... Special Agent Dana Scully
- Sunshine Days (2002) TV Episode .... Dana Scully
- Release (2002) TV Episode .... Dana Scully
- William (2002) TV Episode .... Dana Scully
- Jump the Shark (2002) TV Episode .... Dana Scully
(191 more)
The House of Mirth (2000) .... Lily Bart
... aka Chez les heureux du monde (France)
... aka Haus Bellomont (Germany)
"Harsh Realm" .... Video Narrator (1 episode, 1999)
- Pilot (1999) TV Episode (voice) (uncredited) .... Video Narrator
"Frasier" .... Jenny (1 episode, 1999)
- Dr. Nora (1999) TV Episode (voice) .... Jenny
Playing by Heart (1998) .... Meredith
The X Files (1998) .... Special Agent Dana Scully
... aka Aux frontières du réel (Canada: French title)
... aka The X-Files (USA: closing credits title)
The Mighty (1998) .... Loretta Lee
Chicago Cab (1998) .... Brenda, Southside Girl
... aka Hellcab (USA: video title)
The X Files Game (1998) (VG) .... Special Agent Dana Scully
... aka The X-Files (USA)
Mononoke-hime (1997) (voice: English version) .... Moro
... aka Princess Mononoke (USA)
"The Simpsons" .... Dana Scully (1 episode, 1997)
- The Springfield Files (1997) TV Episode (voice) .... Dana Scully
Hellbender (1996) (VG) .... Ship's Computer
"ReBoot" .... Data Nully (1 episode, 1996)
- Trust No One (1996) TV Episode (voice) .... Data Nully
The X-Files: The Unopened File (1996) (V) .... Special Agent Dana
Scully
"Eek! the Cat" .... Agent Scully (1 episode, 1995)
... aka Eek! and the Terrible Thunderlizards
... aka Eek!stravaganza
- Eek Space 9 (1995) TV Episode (voice) .... Agent Scully
"Class of '96" .... Rachel (1 episode, 1993)
- The Accused (1993) TV Episode .... Rachel
The Turning (1992) .... April Cavanaugh
... aka Pocahontas, Virginia
A Matter of Choice (1988)
Three at Once (1986) |
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Gillian Anderson - Related Links |
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Wikipedia: Gillian Anderson
YouTube: Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson at Babemania.com
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