Gillian Anderson

Acting

Gillian Anderson

Born 1968-08-09 · Chicago, Illinois, USA

Gillian Leigh Anderson OBE (born August 9, 1968) 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-Files films 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.

Acting credits

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma poster
6.7

After years of slapdash sequels and waning fandom, the Camp Miasma slasher franchise is handed over to an enthusiastic young director for resurrection. But when she visits the original's star, a now-reclusive actress shrouded in mystery, the two women fall into a blood-soaked world of desire, fear, and delirium.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

2026

TRON: Ares poster
6.5

A highly sophisticated Program called Ares is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind's first encounter with A.I. beings.

TRON: Ares

2025

Johnny English Reborn poster
6.2

The most prominent heads of state in the world begin gathering for a conference that could have a major impact on global politics. When MI-7 receives word that the Chinese premier has become the target of some high-powered killers, it falls on Johnny English to save the day. Armed with the latest high-tech weaponry and gadgets that would make even James Bond jealous, the once-disgraced agent uncovers evidence of a massive conspiracy involving some of the world's most powerful organisations, and vows to redeem his tarnished reputation by stopping the killers before they can strike.

Johnny English Reborn

2011

The X-Files: I Want to Believe poster
5.9

Mulder and Scully are called back to duty by the FBI when a former priest claims to be receiving psychic visions pertaining to a kidnapped agent.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

2008

The X-Files poster
6.9

Mulder and Scully, now taken off the FBI's X Files cases, must find a way to fight the shadowy elements of the government to find out the truth about a conspiracy that might mean the alien colonization of Earth.

The X-Files

1998

The Spy Who Dumped Me poster
6.4

A couple of thirtysomething best friends unwittingly become entangled in an international conspiracy when one’s ex-boyfriend shows up at their apartment with a team of deadly assassins on his trail.

The Spy Who Dumped Me

2018

The Last King of Scotland poster
7.4

Young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan decides it's time for an adventure after he finishes his formal education, so he decides to try his luck in Uganda, and arrives during the downfall of President Obote. General Idi Amin comes to power and asks Garrigan to become his personal doctor.

The Last King of Scotland

2006

The Pale Blue Eye poster
6.8

West Point, New York, 1830. When a cadet at the burgeoning military academy is found hanged with his heart cut out, the top brass summons former New York City constable Augustus Landor to investigate. While attempting to solve this grisly mystery, the reluctant detective engages the help of one of the cadets: a strange but brilliant young fellow by the name of Edgar Allan Poe.

The Pale Blue Eye

2022

Crooked House poster
6.4

A private investigator helps a former flame solve the murder of her wealthy grandfather, who lived in a sprawling estate surrounded by his idiosyncratic family.

Crooked House

2017

White Bird poster
7.8

After being expelled from Beecher Prep for his treatment of a classmate with a facial deformity, Julian has struggled to fit in at his new school. To transform his life, Julian's grandmother finally reveals her own story of courage of her youth in Nazi-occupied France, where a classmate shelters her from mortal danger.

White Bird

2023

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People poster
6.0

Sidney Young is a down-on-his-luck journalist. Thanks to a stint involving a pig and a glitzy awards ceremony, Sidney turns his fortunes around, attracting the attention of Clayton Harding, editor of New York-based glossy magazine 'Sharps', and landing the holy grail of journalism jobs. The Brit jets off to the Big Apple and moves from one blunder to the next.

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

2008

Room on the Broom poster
6.6

Animated film based on the wonderful children's picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The story of a kind witch who invites a surprising collection of animals to join her on her broom, much to the frustration of her cat. The gang ultimately saves the witch from a fearsome dragon, and in gratitude she rewards them with a magnificent new broom which has room for everyone. A magical tale about friendship and family from Magic Light Pictures, the producers of the hugely successful The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child.

Room on the Broom

2012

The Salt Path poster
6.7

The profound story of husband and wife Raynor and Moth Winn, who embark on a 630-mile trek after being forcibly removed from their home. Hoping that in nature they will find solace and a sense of acceptance, they walk through the beautiful but rugged coastlines of South West England - a journey that is exhilarating, challenging, and liberating in equal measure. THE SALT PATH is a powerful portrayal of home, and how it can be lost and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.

The Salt Path

2025

I'll Follow You Down poster
6.0

After the disappearance of a young scientist on a business trip, his son and wife struggle to cope, only to make a bizarre discovery years later – one that may bring him home.

I'll Follow You Down

2013

Shadow Dancer poster
6.0

In 1990s Belfast, a woman is forced to betray all she believes in for the sake of her son.

Shadow Dancer

2012

Scoop poster
6.3

Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatization gives an insider account of how the women of Newsnight secured Prince Andrew's infamous interview.

Scoop

2024

The House of Mirth poster
6.3

In early 20th century New York City, an impoverished socialite desperately seeks a suitable husband as she gradually finds herself betrayed by her friends and exiled from high society.

The House of Mirth

2000

Straightheads poster
5.3

After surviving a gang rape and mugging, a businesswoman and her younger boyfriend plot to murder their attackers, but find themselves conflicted about carrying out their plans.

Straightheads

2007

Robot Overlords poster
4.8

Earth has been conquered by robots from another galaxy and the human survivors must stay in their homes, or risk incineration.

Robot Overlords

2015

This Changes Everything poster
6.2

An investigative look and analysis of gender disparity in Hollywood, featuring accounts from well-known actors, executives and artists in the Industry.

This Changes Everything

2019

Viceroy's House poster
6.6

In 1947, Lord Mountbatten assumes the post of last Viceroy, charged with handing India back to its people, living upstairs at the house which was the home of British rulers, whilst 500 Hindu, Muslim and Sikh servants lived downstairs.

Viceroy's House

2017

Boogie Woogie poster
5.1

In London's contemporary art world, everyone has a hustle. Art Spindle runs a high-end gallery: he hopes to flip a Mondrian for millions. One of his assistants, Beth, is sleeping with Art's most acquisitive client, Bob Macclestone. Beth wants Bob to set her up in her own gallery, so she helps him go behind Art's back for the Mondrian. Bob's wife, Jean, sets her eye on a young conceptual artist, Jo, who lusts after Art's newest assistant, Paige. Meanwhile, self-absorbed videographer Elaine is chewing her way through friends and lovers looking to make it: if she'll throw Dewey, her agent, under the bus, Beth may give her a show. And the Mondrian? No honor among thieves.

Boogie Woogie

2010

The Sunlit Night poster
5.4

An aspiring painter meets eccentric locals and a fellow New Yorker while working on a barn in Norway.

The Sunlit Night

2020

Robin Robin poster
7.0

A bird raised by mice begins to question where she belongs and sets off on a daring journey of self-discovery.

Robin Robin

2021

Behind the camera