Gillian Anderson | Biography, Television, Films, & Books | Britannica

Other TV work: The Fall, Sex Education, and The Crown

Anderson also took roles in several miniseries on British television. Among her portrayals were Lady Dedlock in Bleak House (2005), based on Charles Dickens’s novel; Wallis Simpson in Any Human Heart (2010); and, in another adaptation of a Dickens work, Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (2011). From 2013 to 2016 she starred as a detective in the Northern Ireland-set crime drama The Fall, and during this time she also had a recurring role on the American series Hannibal (2013–15). In 2016 Anderson portrayed Anna Pavlovna Scherer in a television adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace and reprised the role of Scully in a six-part X-Files miniseries. Ten additional episodes, starring Anderson and Duchovny, aired in 2018. She also appeared in American Gods in 2017, playing Media, a god who transforms into various celebrities, including Lucille Ball, David Bowie, and Marilyn Monroe.

Continuing to work steadily on TV, Anderson was later cast as a pubescent’s oversharing sex therapist mother in Sex Education (2019–23) and as Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season (2020) of The Crown; for her work in the latter series, the actress received her second Emmy. In the debut season (2022) of The First Lady, an anthology series about U.S. first ladies, she portrayed Eleanor Roosevelt.

Quick Facts Born: August 9, 1968, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. (age 57) (Show more) Awards And Honors: Emmy Award (2021) Golden Globe Award (2021) Emmy Award (1997) Emmy Award (1997): Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Golden Globe Award (2021): Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television Golden Globe Award (1997): Best Actress in a Television Series - Drama (Show more) Married To: Clyde Klotz (1994–1997) Julian Ozanne (2004–2007) (Show more) Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In): "The X Files" (1993–2018) "Any Human Heart" (2010) "The House of Mirth" (2000) "Chicago Cab" (1997) "Frasier" (1999) "Moby Dick" (2011) "The Simpsons" (1997) "Bleak House" (2005) "National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire" (2014) "Mr. Morgan's Last Love" (2013) "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People" (2008) "Robot Overlords" (2014) "The Mighty Celt" (2005) "Princess Mononoke" (1997) "Shadow Dancer" (2012) "From Up on Poppy Hill" (2011) "The Mighty" (1998) "Sanzoku no musume Rônya" (2014–2015) "Playing by Heart" (1998) "The Fall" (2013–2016) "The Turning" (1992) "Crisis" (2014) "Viceroy's House" (2017) "A Cock and Bull Story" (2005) "American Gods" (2017) "Hannibal" (2013–2015) "The Last King of Scotland" (2006) "Robot Chicken" (2014) "War & Peace" (2016) "Boogie Woogie" (2009) "The Spy Who Dumped Me" (2018) "Sex Education" (2019–2020) "ReBoot" (1996) "The X Files" (1998) "Sold" (2016) "Eek! the Cat" (1995) "All About Eve" (2019) "Class of '96" (1993) "Crooked House" (2017) "Johnny English Reborn" (2011) "UFO" (2018) "The Sunlit Night" (2019) "Great Expectations" (2011) "L'enfant d'en haut" (2012) "Harsh Realm" (1999) "Straightheads" (2007) "The X Files: I Want to Believe" (2008) "The Crimson Petal and the White" (2011) "I'll Follow You Down" (2013) (Show more) Movies/Tv Shows (Directed): "The X Files" (2000) (Show more) Movies/Tv Shows (Writing/Creator): "The X Files" (2000) (Show more) On the Web: CNN - ‘Raw, honest, open, braveÂ’: actor Gillian Anderson on her new book exploring female sexuality (Feb. 06, 2026) (Show more) See all related content Show More Access for the whole family! Bundle Britannica Premium and Kids for the ultimate resource destination. Subscribe