Full Name: Gillian
Leigh Anderson
Date
of Birth: August 9th,
1968
Hospital
of Birth: St Mary of
Nazareth
City
of Birth: Cook County,
Chicago
State
of Birth: Illinois,
USA
Hair
Color: Ash/Blond
Eye
Color: Blue
Height: 5'3"
Husband: Clyde Klotz (separated)
Children: Piper Maru Anderson
Parents: Edward & Rosemary
Siblings: Zoe & Aaron
Profession: Actress
GilliGillian's love for
acting began, when she decided to audition for a community play
while still City High School in Grand Rapids Michigan.
"Somehow, I have no idea how the transition was made from
wanting to be a archeologist or a marine biologist, to wanting to
be anattending actress, but it just kind of happened," says
Gillian. As a child Gillian showed a flair for drama but
was more of a tomboy that harbored dreams of becoming a marine
Biologist than the dream of movie stardom. "I loved
digging up worms and cutting them up into little pieces. In
the interests of science, of course!" Her mother,
Rosemary recalls, "From the start Gillian had a real flare
for the dramatic. That has simply always been her
personality. But the first time I knew something was really
up with her and acting was when she was 14 and a teacher assigned
her the Romeo And Juliet balcony scene. Gillian had no
background in Shakespeare, acting or anything remotely like
it. Nobody on either side of our family had any experience
with acting. Her father was interested in film production,
but that had mostly been connected with industrial training films
and commercials. But she studied that scene and mastered it
with no effort whatever. When she performed it from me my
jaw just dropped."
Gillian Leigh Anderson was born in Chicago Illinois, on August
9th, 1968. Soon after her birth the family relocated to
Puerto Rico, for 15 months then moved to England. Gillian
spent the next 9 years of her childhood growing up in London's
North End. First in Stamford Hill, then later in Crouch
End, while her father Edward was studying film production at the
London School of Film Technique in Covent Garden for 2
years. Eventually the family moved back to the States and
settled in Grand Rapids, her father now runs a film
post-production company and her mother is a computer analyst.
Before the acting bug hit, Gillian dabbled in the punk rocker
scene. "I fainted when it was inserted. My
father was furious 
about it," Gillian tells of her and her
father's reaction of her getting a nose ring. "I was
confused," is how Gillian puts her somewhat wild teen
years. "I was arrested on graduation night for
breaking and entering into the high school," Gillian
confesses in a recent interview for TV Guide. Of course
growing up in England and then moving back to the States was not
a simple thing, as her mother recalls: "The contrast
was just incredible. Plus she missed all the friends she
had grown up with in London. And her classmates all thought
she talked funny because she didn't have an American
accent. Gillian had to learn to speak like an American for
the first time in her life, just to fit in." Gillian
herself admits: "I was angry and it was my way of
keeping people at a distance." In a different
interview Gillian remembers, "I was always off in my own
little world or being sent to the principal's office for talking
back." Then the acting bug hit and, "My outlook
changed, my grades went up and I was voted 'most improved
student'," Gillian says.
After graduating from City High School in 1986,
Gillian studied acting at the prestigious DePaul University's
Goodman Theater and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Fine
Arts. While attending DePaul Gillian was selected to attend a
three-week workshop run by the National Theatre of Great Britain
at Cornell, in Ithaca, NY, during the summer after her freshman
year. Upon obtaining her degree, Gillian headed to New York
at the age of 22, to pursue a career in acting. Gillian's
first big break came she landed a role in an off Broadway play
'Absent Friends.' It was for her performance in this
production that Gillian won a Theater World Award in 1991.
Gillian did one more play 'Philanthropist,' with was performed at
the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, Conn. and a low budget film
staring Tess Harper and Karen Allen called the 'Turning,' before
relocating to LA, to pursue a career in film. "First
of all, I swore I'd never move to Los Angeles, and once I did, I
swore I'd never do television. It was only after being out
of work for almost a year that I began going in [to auditions] on
some stuff that I would pray that I wouldn't get because I didn't
want to be involved in it."
In LA Gillian landed a guest appearance in the
sort lived TV series 'Class of 96,' the title of the episode she
guest stared in was 'The Accused,' that was episode 8. In
1993 Gillian auditioned for a TV pilot on a newly formed Fox
Network, called The X-Files -- in which she auditioned for the
role of Special Agent Dana Scully. "I couldn't put the
script down," Gillian remembers. During the auditions
though, there was a bit of behind the scene's action. The
executives at Fox wanted someone with less radiance and more
sex-appeal cast in the role of Scully, but Chris Carter insisted
that Gillian had the no-nonsense integrity the role
required. "I sort of staked my pilot and my career at
the time on Gillian. I feel vindicated everyday now,"
says Chris Carter on his decision to stand firm on his choice for
Scully. As luck would have it the day her last unemployment
check arrived she found out that she had won the role of Agent
Scully and flew straight out to Vancouver and began shooting the
pilot. "I didn't foresee at all that it was going to
become as popular as it has. I often thought, 'What have I
gotten myself into?' The first year was the hardest in
terms of getting into the grueling hours and sleep deprivation
and having to perform constantly, day in and day out,"
Gillian recalls of the first season.
Just as the show was taking off, Gillian met
Clyde Klotz, the series assistant art director at the time.
"It wasn't quite love at first sight," Gillian says of
their three-month affair. "It was Clyde's smile that
first attracted me. He was very quiet, rugged and cool, but I
soon realized he had a lot to say and that he was a very
intelligent man." On New Year's Day, 1994 Gillian and
Clyde flew to Hawaii and got married on the 17th hole of a golf
course. The only other person present was the Buddhist Monk
that performed the ceremony. "We sent a letter to my
mum and dad, with a strict instruction not to open it until New
Year's Day. Mum had already met Clyde and my dad was in a
good mood that day, so they were happy," Gillian recalls on
how she informed her parents about her new spouse. Gillian
was back on the set of the X-files 2 days later. Then came
shocking news a few months later, Gillian found out she was
pregnant. When Gillian learned she was indeed pregnant she
already knew what she wanted to do, but concedes to "not
completely thinking ahead about the consequences of that
decision." The first person she told on the set was
co-star David Duchovny. "Part of the show's success is
the audience's investment in these characters," Chris Carter
says as he again stuck by Gillian and refused to have Scully
re-cast. "It was a bit of a bombshell for them
(referring to the executives at Fox). It wasn't in my contract
not to get pregnant, but it is now," Gillian recalls.
Chris Carter then created an alien abduction that kept Gillian
off-camera long enough for labor, delivery and a 10-day maternity
leave. "My feet were swelling and I was exhausted,
sleeping between scenes," Gillian remembers. Gillian's
daughter, Piper was delivered in September 1994 by cesarean
section, which wasn't anticipated and required her to spend the
next 6 days in the hospital. Four days later Gillian was
back on the set shooting scenes for the episode 'One
Breath.' "During the first season, I didn't know who
the hell I was, let alone this character was. I feel
stronger as a person in the world now. I remember, after
going through the birthing process, feeling that no cut, no
abrasions, no knock on the head will make me whine again,"
she commented in a recent interview. "I can't imagine
not having Piper," says Gillian, who chose Chris Carter to
be the baby's godfather. Four years, one husband and a
daughter later, Gillian is still playing the enigmatic Special
Agent Scully on the Fox Networks biggest hits to date. The
show itself has received numerous awards and nominations namely
The Golden Globe Award for Best Drama TV Series in 1995, and
raked in 5 Emmy's at the 1996 Ceremony. Gillian has
honored with a SAG Award in 1996, as Best Lead Actress in a Drama
Series and was also nominated for and Emmy in 1996 for the same
category.
1997 as been kind to Gillian so far, as she took home the
"actor" at this year's SAG Awards, as Best Lead Actress
in a Drama Series. Ms. Anderson also was honored by the Foreign
Press with a Golden Globe in the category of "Best Actress
in a Television Drama," for 1997.
This Biography was taken
from The Official Gillian Anderson Website (The Official
Gillian Anderson Web Site!)
