Gillian Anderson

Biography

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.

Known For

The Simpsons

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

The Crown

Late Night with Seth Meyers

The X-Files

The Graham Norton Show

Frasier

All Movies (62)

• Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma2026 · as Billy
• The Salt Path Scandal2025 · as Self (archive footage)
• TRON: Ares2025 · as Elisabeth Dillinger
• Tron: Ares - A Special Look2025 · as Elisabeth Dillinger
• The Salt Path2025 · as Raynor Winn
• Woolf Works2024
• Scoop2024 · as Emily Maitlis
• White Bird2023 · as Vivienne Beaumier
• The Pale Blue Eye2022 · as Julia Marquis
• Robin Robin2021 · as Cat (voice)
• Letters Live from the Archive: International Women’s Day2021 · as Self
• The Sunlit Night2020 · as Olyana
• This Changes Everything2019 · as Self
• National Theatre Live: All About Eve2019 · as Margo Channing
• UFO2018 · as Dr. Hendricks
• The Spy Who Dumped Me2018 · as Wendy
• Crooked House2017 · as Magda Leonides
• The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism2017 · as Narrator
• Heroes Manufactured2017 · as Self (archive footage)
• Viceroy's House2017 · as Edwina Mountbatten
• Woolf Works2017 · as Voiceover from a letter by Virginia Woolf (voice)
• Sold2016 · as Sophia
• Getting the Old Scent Again: Reimagining Red Dragon2015 · as Self
• The Widowmaker2015 · as Narrator
• Robot Overlords2015 · as Kate
• The Departure2014 · as Blanche DuBois
• National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire2014 · as Blanche DuBois
• Mr. Morgan's Last Love2013 · as Karen Morgan
• I'll Follow You Down2013 · as Marika Whyte
• Room on the Broom2012 · as Witch (voice)
• FOX 25th Anniversary Special2012 · as Self
• Sister2012 · as Kristin Jansen
• Shadow Dancer2012 · as Kate Fletcher
• Johnny English Reborn2011 · as Pamela
• No Pressure2010 · as Self
• Boogie Woogie2010 · as Jean Maclestone
• How to Lose Friends & Alienate People2008 · as Eleanor Johnson
• The X-Files: I Want to Believe2008 · as Dana Scully
• Robbie the Reindeer in Close Encounters of the Herd Kind2007 · as Queen Vorkana (voice)
• Straightheads2007 · as Alice
• The Last King of Scotland2006 · as Sarah Merrit
• A Cock and Bull Story2005 · as Widow Wadman / Gillian Anderson
• The Mighty Celt2005 · as Kate
• Richard Rodgers: Some Enchanted Evening2002 · as Self - Performer
• The House of Mirth2000 · as Lily Bart
• Playing by Heart1998 · as Meredith
• Chicago Cab1998 · as Southside Girl
• The X-Files1998 · as Agent Dana Scully
• The Mighty1998 · as Loretta Lee
• Akte X Intern - Was Sie schon immer wissen wollten1998 · as Dana Scully / Self
• Inside The X-Files1998 · as Self
• The Making of 'The X Files: Fight the Future'1998 · as Self
• More Secrets of the X-Files1996 · as Self
• Why Planes Go Down1996 · as Narrator
• Spies Above1996 · as narrator
• Secrets of the X-Files1995 · as Self
• The Turning1992 · as April Cavanaugh
• A Matter of Choice1988 · as Woman
• Three at Once1986 · as Woman 1
• Animals—
• The Julia Set—
• The Turning Door— · as (voice)

All TV Shows (50)

• Sara Price: Chasing Dakar2026 · as Narrator
• The Abandons2025 · as Constance Van Ness
• Trespasses2025 · as Gina
• The First Lady2022 · as Eleanor Roosevelt
• The Savoy2020 · as Self
• Sex Education2019 · as Jean Milburn
• American Gods2017 · as Media
• The Crown2016 · as Margaret Thatcher
• War and Peace2016 · as Anna Pavlovna Scherer
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert2015 · as Self - Guest
• The Late Late Show with James Corden2015 · as Self - Guest
• Variety Studio: Actors on Actors2014 · as Self
• Ronja, the Robber's Daughter2014 · as Narrator
• Crisis2014 · as Meg Fitch
• Late Night with Seth Meyers2014 · as Self - Guest
• The Fall2013 · as Stella Gibson
• Hannibal2013 · as Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier
• Great Expectations2011 · as Miss Havisham
• Moby Dick2011 · as Elizabeth
• The Crimson Petal and the White2011 · as Mrs. Castaway
• Any Human Heart2010 · as Duchess Of Windsor
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen2009 · as Self - Guest
• The Graham Norton Show2007 · as Self
• Bleak House2005 · as Lady Dedlock
• Parkinson2004 · as Self - Guest
• Celebrities Uncensored2003 · as Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live!2003 · as Self - Guest
• Top Gear2002 · as Self
• American Idol2002 · as Self
• V Graham Norton2002 · as Self
• Richard & Judy2001 · as Self
• Harsh Realm1999 · as Video Narrator (uncredited)
• The Magic Hour1998 · as Self
• Parkinson1998 · as Self
• Future Fantastic1996 · as Self - Host
• The Rosie O'Donnell Show1996 · as Self - Guest
• ReBoot1994 · as Data Nully (voice)
• Frasier1993 · as Jenny (voice)
• The X-Files1993 · as Dana Scully
• Class of '961993 · as Rachel
• Eek! The Cat1992 · as Dana Scully (voice)
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno1992 · as Self - Guest
• The Simpsons1989 · as Dana Scully (voice)
• This Morning1988 · as Self - Guest
• Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Presenter
• Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Nominee
• Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Nominee/Presenter
• Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Audience Member
• Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Winner
• The Boys from Brazil— · as Frieda Steiner