Gillian Anderson Discusses THE X-FILES and Coming to Terms with Not Taking It for Granted
The X-Files star Gillian Anderson recently did an interview with Total Film in which she discussed the classic 90s sci-fi conspiracy series. Dana Scully was her breakout role, but after playing the character for nearly a decade, she started to resent the character and was looking to distance herself from the franchise. It’s kinda sad, but it’s not surprising. It happens to a lot of actors that play the same character for years.
But, once she got the distance she was looking for, she and her co-star David Duchovny ended up returning for a revival that went on for two seasons, and it was great to see these characters back in action again after all those years!
In the interview, Anderson talked about coming to terms with not taking her time on The X-Files for granted and how she realized on fortunate she was to be a part of a series like that. She said:
"There was a definite period of time where I couldn't even really hear about it. I'd had my fill. And then -- I don't know how long it was, whether it was a decade or less than a decade -- I was suddenly realizing how unbelievably fortunate I had been, not just with its success, but to get to play a character like Scully, and for such a long time. And not just a true, iconic character, but also the impact that she particularly had on young women -- women of all ages in so many different ways."
It’s interesting to me that some actors can’t see this while they are a part of it. They need time away to actually have it click for them. It must just be the day-to-day madness of shooting a series! She went on to talk about how once she did realize this, it inspired her to want to come back for the revival!
"[I was] really coming to terms with not taking it for granted, and how lucky and how rare that is. That all started to hit me at a certain point. And I think for David, too. And certainly at the point that we started to think about, 'Go on, should we just do a couple more seasons just for the fun of it?' -- in celebrating that further, or having the opportunity to celebrate it and the characters further, it was great. You can't ask for more than what those characters gave to us."
Unfortunately, Anderson wasn’t really happy with some of the reveals in these revival shows, and those creative decisions made her uninterested in coming back for more. There is a chance that Chris Carter will one day try to revive it again, and in a previous interview, Duchovny was asked if he would return without her and he said:
"I don't know. I've never really considered that. For me, it was always there's no show unless it's Chris and Gillian, so I don't know. Again, I don't want to have to think about that, because it's not something that I necessarily need in my life, to go do that. I think at this point, I mean, there might be another iteration of the actual show without either of us. I'm not sure. Or there could be a cartoon. There are many ways to go about it. But personally, for me, the X-Files that I'm involved in consists of Chris Carter, myself, and Gillian, so I haven't spent time trying to think about a different version of that, and I don't know that I will."
Would you want to see another revival of The X-Files? Do you think it could be successfully done without Anderson?
Via: /Film