Gillian Anderson talks X Files and her rift with co-star David Duchovny

Star of The X Files and The Fall, Gillian Anderson has spoken about the science fiction drama, doing more series and being offered half as much money as her co-stars. She also slammed surgery rumours.

Speaking about why she agreed to be a part of the return of The X Files, Gillian said: “They had never talked about it being a series, which we would have said no to. We were trying to get it done as a third film, which they also kept saying no to. It was kind of timing and it was also the fact that we could only do six rather than 22.”

On continuing to do more, Gillian revealed she wouldn’t rule it out: “They haven’t come to us. I don’t know, it is again all about schedule… It’s about whether it matches up. If it matched up and a few other things were in place – You know, we’re not getting any younger… All the boxes need to be ticked. You know what I mean,” she laughed.

On the tension between her and co-star, David Duchovny, Gillian said there was tension “for a long time”: “We’ve always gotten along and we’ve been decent friends but we were down each other’s throat for so long… We were always together.”

Joking that they fell out about her hair, Gillian laughed: “It’s so stupid. I can’t talk about this without just laughing and laughing, it’s just so silly. It takes women a lot longer than it takes men because, it’s very damp in Vancouver and so my hair gets frizzy so we shoot in the rain all the time and then I’m a drowned rat and then we have to wait around for them to blowdry it and everything and so there’s a lot of waiting because of me. It didn’t encourage our [friendship] but I got it, I understood… We were too much together but we’re incredibly friendly now.”

Speaking about her own experiences of being paid less than male co-stars – including being offered half the amount David Duchovny was as recently as the relaunch of The X Files – Gillian said: “I knew that from the beginning and there was a reason why [David Duchovny was being paid more than me] because I was starting from nothing and he had just done a big film but there was a certain point where we were doing the same amount of work and it was time to renegotiate. And I did.”

She continued: “We got the phone call with what the offer is, we knew what David’s offer was this time around and it was twice as much as my offer was. Which is stupid really because I’m going to find out and worked really hard for parity back then and was kind of shocked.”

“So even now, you mean the relaunch?”

“Last year. Yes. I don’t know it was silly. So it’s always been that David’s team does the negotiating and then I just say, [I want what he’s having] basically.”

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