History Creator / GillianAnderson

* DyeHard: She's a natural blonde, but Dana Scully was a redhead (of various shades in the long run), and this image of her got stuck (though one character claims it isn't her real hair color[[note]]which makes no sense, as all the flashbacks of Scully show a girl with red hair[[/note]]).
* FakeAmerican: Gillian Anderson was born in America to American citizens of English, Irish and German ancestry, but she moved to England when she was two and didn't move back until she was eleven, and by then, her speech patterns had been set. She had to work to lose it when she went into acting, and if you pay attention to the early episodes of ''The X-Files'', it slips through at times. Now that she's moved back to England, she's got the accent back in full force. Her American accent she acquired in her teenage years comes back whenever she's interviewed by an American reporter.

* ActorShipping: She's extremely aware of the fact that some fans ship her with her former co-star, Creator/DavidDuchovny, and she sometimes enjoys [[InvokedTrope messing with people]] with vague answers. However, at the end of the day, she and David Duchovny are just colleagues and friends with wonderful chemistry.

*** She and David Duchovny [[RuleThirtyFourCreatorReactions are aware]] of the RuleThirtyFour side of the fandom, but she's made the most nods to it. Notably, she made a coy reference to ''The Airport'' -- a well-known {{NSFW}} fanfiction from 2000 in which Maulder and Scully hook up in a Chilli's restaurant -- when she promoted a season 11 episode on Twitter, and then admitted at a Q&A she'd read it (and enjoyed it) months later. At another convention, she explained that David often sends her "MSR after dark"[[note]]subsection of the fandom that create hyper-sexual Maulder and Scully stories[[/note]] fan art.
*** Has mentioned she's overwhelmed, intrigued and proud to be part of "[[https://archive.vn/CmH0l The Scully Effect]]".

Gillian Leigh Anderson, OBE (born August 9, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois) is a film, television, and theatre actress. She's best known to the general public as an FBI agent Dana Scully from ''Series/TheXFiles''. She also frequently appears in PeriodDrama pieces. She has also started moving into novels, with the science fiction series ''The [=EarthEnd=] Saga''.

She's involved in many charity projects. She's on [[https://twitter.com/GillianA Twitter]] and has a very detailed [[http://www.gilliananderson.ws official webpage]].

* ActorShipping: She's aware of the fact that some fans ship her with her former co-star, Creator/DavidDuchovny, and she sometimes enjoys [[InvokedTrope messing with people]] with vague answers. However, at the end of the day, she and David Duchovny are just colleagues and friends with wonderful chemistry.

Gillian Leigh Anderson, OBE (born August 9, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois) is a film, television, and theatre actress. She's best known to the general public as an FBI agent Dana Scully from ''Series/TheXFiles'' (1993-2002, 2008, 2016). She also frequently appears in PeriodDrama pieces. She has also started moving into novels, with the science fiction series ''The [=EarthEnd=] Saga''.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' (1993-2002, 2008, 2016): Dana Scully

* AbilityOverAppearance: Fox executives wanted somebody "taller, leggier, blonder and breastier" to play Scully, but Chris Carter convinced them that the then-unknown petite, redhead (albeit natural blonde) Gillian would be perfect.

* BeautyMark: Was often covered up by makeup on ''Series/TheXFiles''.

Gillian Leigh Anderson, OBE (born August 9, 1968) is a film, television, and theatre actress. She's best known to the general public as an FBI agent Dana Scully from ''Series/TheXFiles'' (1993-2002, 2008, 2016). She also frequently appears in PeriodDrama pieces. She has also started moving into novels, with the science fiction series ''The [=EarthEnd=] Saga''.

* PromotedFangirl: She played a parody version of Dana Scully in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'', as well as fellow Fox series ''WesternAnimation/EekTheCat''.

Gillian Leigh Anderson (born August 9, 1968) is a film, television, and theatre actress. She's best known to the general public as an FBI agent Dana Scully from ''Series/TheXFiles'' (1993-2002, 2008, 2016). She also frequently appears in PeriodDrama pieces. Her roles include the ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in the adaptation of ''The House of Mirth'' (2000), and Lady Dedlock in the BBC production of Charles Dickens' ''Series/BleakHouse''. In 2009, she played Nora in Ibsen's ''Theatre/ADollsHouse'' at the Donmar Warehouse in London. In 2011, she played Miss Havisham in the award-winning BBC adaptation of ''Literature/GreatExpectations''. She has been seen in two acclaimed 2013 TV series, ''Series/TheFall'' on the BBC and ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' on NBC.

She is now moving into novels, with the science fiction series ''The [=EarthEnd=] Saga''. She currently plays Media on ''Series/AmericanGods''.

* OlderThanTheyLook: She's in her forties, but looks positively gorgeous and definitely better when her looks are compared to her early Scully days. Dana Scully was cute, but a bit mousy and dressed with questionable fashion taste in the early seasons of ''The X-Files''.

[[caption-width-right:280:While most people are getting older, Gillian Anderson is getting more gorgeous.]]

* BeautyMark: Was often covered up by makeup on TheXFiles.

* SpeechImpediment: She has very very slight lisp, if you pay attention, that is. Anderson, who lived in Britain until she was eleven, has said hers is partly the result of trying to drop her accent in high school. If you pay attention, in the earliest episodes of ''The X-Files'', it occasionally slips a bit, especially when she tries to say 'garage'.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gilliananderson35_767.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:While most people are getting older, Gillian Anderson is getting more gorgeous.]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gilliananderson35_767.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Most people are getting older, Gillian Anderson is getting more gorgeous.]]

* AdamWesting:
** In ''Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story'', a quasi-mockumentary about filming an adaptation of the novel, Gillian Anderson (as herself) gets the part of the Widow Wadnam because the producer loves her as Scully on ''The X-Files''. Gillian wants to get away from her most famous role, and is later annoyed when her scenes as the widow are cut from the movie. Many, many more layers of meta in this film.

* FormerTeenRebel: She was a full on punk in her teen years, complete with a near-Mohawk hairdo and a Butthole Surfers collection.

She is now moving into novels, with the science fiction series ''The [=EarthEnd=] Saga''.

* OlderThanTheyLook: She's in her forties, but looks positively gorgeous and definitely better when her looks are compared to early Scully days. Dana Scully was cute, but a bit mousy and dressed with questionable fashion taste in the early seasons of ''The X-Files''.

Gillian Leigh Anderson (August 9, 1968-) is a film, television, and theatre actress. She's best known to the general public as an FBI agent Dana Scully from ''Series/TheXFiles'' (1993-2002, 2008, 2016). She also frequently appears in PeriodDrama pieces. Her roles include the ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in the adaptation of ''The House of Mirth'' (2000), and Lady Dedlock in the BBC production of Charles Dickens' ''Series/BleakHouse''. In 2009, she played Nora in Ibsen's ''Theatre/ADollsHouse'' at the Donmar Warehouse in London. In 2011, she played Miss Havisham in the award-winning BBC adaptation of ''Literature/GreatExpectations''. She has been seen in two acclaimed 2013 TV series, ''Series/TheFall'' on the BBC and ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' on NBC.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Her accent tends to fluctuate. She was born in the US, but lived in England until she was in her early teens, and didn't try to shed the accent until she was out of high school. In the very early episodes of ''The X-Files'', she'll slip occasionally. In the 2008 movie, it can get quite noticeable in Scully's emotional scenes, as Anderson moved back to England after the show ended in 2002, and had to relearn her American accent all over again for the film.

** PromotedFangirl: She played a parody version of Dana Scully in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'', as well as fellow Fox series ''WesternAnimation/EekTheCat''.

'''Gillian Leigh Anderson''' (August 9, 1968-) is a film, television, and theatre actress. She's best known to the general public as an FBI agent Dana Scully from ''Series/TheXFiles'' (1993-2002, 2008, 2016). She also frequently appears in PeriodDrama pieces. Her roles include the ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in the adaptation of ''The House of Mirth'' (2000), and Lady Dedlock in the BBC production of Charles Dickens' ''Series/BleakHouse''. In 2009, she played Nora in Ibsen's ''Theatre/ADollsHouse'' at the Donmar Warehouse in London. In 2011, she played Miss Havisham in the award-winning BBC adaptation of ''Literature/GreatExpectations''. She has been seen in two acclaimed 2013 TV series, ''Series/TheFall'' on the BBC and ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' on NBC.

'''Gillian Leigh Anderson''' (August 9, 1968-) is a film, television, and theatre actress. She's best known to the general public as an FBI agent Dana Scully from ''Series/TheXFiles'' (1993--2002). She also frequently appears in PeriodDrama pieces. Her roles include the ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in the adaptation of ''The House of Mirth'' (2000), and Lady Dedlock in the BBC production of Charles Dickens' ''Series/BleakHouse''. In 2009, she played Nora in Ibsen's ''Theatre/ADollsHouse'' at the Donmar Warehouse in London. In 2011, she played Miss Havisham in the award-winning BBC adaptation of ''Literature/GreatExpectations''. She has been seen in two acclaimed 2013 TV series, ''Series/TheFall'' on the BBC and ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' on NBC.