Gillian Leigh Anderson was born in Chicago on the 9th of August 1968.

Daughter of nomadic parents, Gillian travelled a lot during her childhood. But it’s in London, England, that she feels most at home. She lived there from the age of 2 to the age of 11 and has always considered herself as a true Brit in her soul, even if the kids in her school didn’t think that way.

When she became a teenager in the 80’s, she adopted a punk look and had her nose pierced, even before it became fashionable, but for her it was just a way to expressing herself, a way to exteriorise an inside rebellion, but she wouldn’t hurt a fly.

Back in the United States, she wasn’t well received by the Americans who made fun of her British accent. It's a pity because she has always been very jovial with a wonderful and unique laugh, somebody you cannot miss… At school, she was never a serious student, something that she now regrets. She spent her time dreaming or fooling around. She was even voted “Class clown” and once broke a window at her school and was taken to the police station.

Gillian dreamed of becoming a marine biologist, but she finally found her way through theatre. She enrolled in the DePaul University in Chicago where she learnt how to act, and participated in different plays and short-movies. It’s whilst she is in New York, that she become noticed and even won a Theatre World Award for her performance in the play Absent Friends. Then she tries her luck in the famous town of Los Angeles. She appeared in the series Class of '96 and in her first film The Turning.

In 1992, she went to an audition for a character she knew a little about, for a TV series called The X Files. Her agent has never read such a great script, but Gillian was not attracted to a role in television; she preferred a cinema career. Her hippie look doesn’t frighten Chris Carter, the show creator, who is absolutely sure she’s the right person for the main character : Scully. He will even convince big network bosses, who wanted a bimbo to play the role. But they were finally convinced and Gillian was hired.

Then she changed her punk look for a suit, cut and dyed her hair red. She was ready to play her new character : Dana Scully, FBI agent assigned to the weird X-files department where she joined the very strange FBI agent Fox Mulder. Gillian doesn’t know a lot about the character; she only knows she’s a rational forensic scientist who doesn’t believe in paranormal phenomenon and spent her time refuting all the arguments her partner uses to convince her they are not alone in the universe.

The young actress was a novice whereas David Duchovny who played Fox Mulder had a quite important background. On the set, she was persuaded to do everything wrong and tried her best to not let the producers down. Actually, the crew were satisfied with her and Carter knew he had found the right actress.

Gillian plays in the first season of the series where she meets Clyde Klotz, artistic director on the show. It’s love at first sight and they decided to marry each other in a very original way : on a golf course. From this marriage, a little girl was born, called Piper Maru. Thanks to the birth of her daughter, Gillian took more confidence in herself and for the first time for a long time, she felt at peace with herself. However she didn’t feel the same happiness with her husband whom she divorced a few years later.

Being pregnant frightened Gillian who could have been fired from what was becoming a more and more successful show. Her character was well-known, as was she; the producers couldn’t make mistakes but they found an idea for the story which is considered for most people as a major turning point in the success of The X Files.

Scully became an icon throughout the world, Gillian Anderson too. She has been proud to play an intelligent and honest character, a woman who is equal to men, who is hard-working and strong, who is the archetype of all those bimbos television and cinema showed before. Scully is a model for numerous fans and Gillian is more than happy about it.

Mulder and Scully became cult characters and David and Gillian reached stardom. Despite this success, the actress remained down to earth. It’s difficult considering she was on the cover of thousands of magazines all over the world and her life was described wrongly in the tabloids. Gillian tried to be more and more careful about what she said and the way she said it in her interviews. With the help of her mother, she has protected her daughter by forbidding any paparazzi picture of her in the papers or on the internet.

Gillian has always known what celebrity implies. Even if she knows there are drawbacks, she has known how to use it to support all the causes that are important in her heart. She spent time, money, but above all generosity and kindness to get the attention of people and funds for the Neurofibromatosis associations (a sickness her younger brother has), to defend beaten women, homosexuals, lost animals, poor African children, etc… She even expresses strongly her political opinions.

In 1997, the show reached his pinnacle. Several interviews, tv shows, articles, books and internet websites have been dedicated to the actress. She has become famous all over the world and was on the cover of prestigious magazines. The most unforgettable photo shoot is certainly the one she made for FHM magazine. The pictures of her scantily dressed created a sensation. But she only wanted to break her image as she has often been compared to Scully.

The fact she portrayed a character who is extremely different from who she is in her real life shows how great an actress she is and professionals noticed it. In 1997, she won the prestigious Emmy Award for Best Actress in a TV Drama series, then she won the Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actor Guild Award in the same category. Many awards and nominations will follow to reward her fabulous acting.

However, she wasn’t entirely happy with the way she was paid in the show. She was unhappy about being paid less than her co-star purely on the basis of her sex, so much so she sued the company and won the case. More proof of her strong personnality.

Then, whilst she was hosting a British show about paranormal phenomenon : Future Fantastic, the techno music group Hal, asked her to participate in a particular project : a song. Gillian, who has always been eager for new experiences accepted. The single “Extremis” was released in which you can hear Gillian’s sensual voice and adopting a sexy image for her video. She thought the character she played in this song looked more like herself than Scully. Another way for her to break her image.

Afterwards, it was time for Gillian to come back on the big screen. She accepted a small part in the film The Mighty with Sharon Stone. She played the vibrant Loretta. On the set, the crew were so used to see her playing Scully they were really amazed by her acting.

The film from the series : The X files, fight the future was released soon afterwards. No surprises, Gillian was again brilliant as Scully, a role she has had no difficulties in playing anymore, and that she considers as her sister.

Then she played in Chicago Cab alongside a bunch of actors including Julianne Moore. It’s an adaptation of a play which tells the day of a taxi driver on Christmas eve. In 1999, she played by the side of a prestigious cast for the motion picture : Playing By Heart, a simple and romantic comedy about different couples in Los Angeles. Gillian played Meredith, a young woman disappointed by men and who refuses in advance any love affair, being afraid it might fail. Despite the Stella cast, the film wasn’t a hit, but Gillian’s acting was congratulated by a few critics.

Gillian continued into the 6th season of The X files. Then in the 7th season in which she produced and directed the episode “All Things”. In this very philosophical episode focused on her character, she involves a lot of herself. She hesitated for a long time before writing this episode, even if she wishes to follow the example of her friend Jodie Foster and direct a movie.

Contrary to all expectations, Gillian agrees to play Scully for two more years. Her decision surprised everyone as she really wanted to stop. But the reason why she accepted is because some aspects in her character became really interesting. Gillian has never been interested in a big career in blockbuster films, she can accept very small parts in films just because she’s interested in the character. She only agrees to play interesting and deep roles to prove what she’s able to perform as an actress.

It’s in a period film Gillian comes back to the big screen in 2001. In The House of Mirth, an adaptation of the classic novel written by Edith Wharton, she shines as a woman from the New York High Society, in the beginning of the 20th century, who sunk in social decline. Gillian Anderson is convincing, heart-rending and incredibly talented in this role. She got wonderful reviews and a few awards. Some people had been confirmed of her talent, others discovered it but lots of them were disappointed she didn’t get an Oscar nomination.

Gillian hasn’t forgotten her wish to direct a film. She bought the rights to a book written by Elizabeth Rosner : The Speed of Light, a novel that touched her deeply.

She has also often expressed her desire to come back on the theatre stage after the end of The X files. She went in London, to the famous West End to perform in a play called : What the Night is for. In this play, written by Michael Weller, she is Melinda Metz, a married woman who meets an ex-lover she’s never managed to forget. The play wasn’t a real success with the critics but Gillian remembered it as a great experience and was happy to be back on stage again.

Theatre is not her only passion, she’s also very attracted to Africa, a continent she has visited a lot and has a very important place in her mind. There she met her second husband, whom she has recently divorced, Julian Ozanne, a British journalist born in Kenya. She also participated actively in different events to prevent AIDS in Africa.

In 2004, she decided, surprisingly, to return on the stage in a very original play The Sweetest Swing in Baseball by Rebecca Gilman. She played Dana Fielding, a depressed painter who will regain her health by being someone else. The play was cheered by the press reviews, her acting for this very difficult role was simply breathtaking.

During this period of time, Gillian appears very thin and most of her fans were worried about her health. Later she will confide in an interview she had miscarriages and went through difficult times.