Gillian Anderson slips between worlds. Or, more accurately, she slips between countries. The star of Netflix's “Scoop,” based on a true story, was born in the United States, was raised partly in Britain and now lives in Britain full time. And she moves between cultures, accents and perspectives like a chameleon.
Perfect training for an actress with two Emmy Awards who is still often identified by one of her first roles: Dana Scully in “The X-Files.”
But it is as if he sensed where his true identity lies and had an answer: a very particular vegetation in North London.
“Hedges are the smell of my childhood,” says Anderson, who was born in Chicago, lived in the United Kingdom as a child in the 1970s, and then moved with her family to Michigan to spend her teenage years. “We would walk past them and the height of my head was always the height of the hedges. It is a typically English smell. If my soul had a smell, it would be a hedge.”
Anderson, 55, will spend this April afternoon at New York's Lowell Hotel being interviewed and photographed for her role as British television journalist Emily Maitlis in “Scoop,” the TV movie about the BBC's explosive interview with Prince Andrew. Despite her stiletto heels, she's smaller than you'd expect, until you remember that she's the inspiration for the portable, resizable “Scully Box,” created during her “X-Files” days to get closer. to his 6 foot tall companion. star David Duchovny. But the real reason her smallness is surprising is the way Anderson fills a room when she's in it. With or without heels, she masters her roles with a restrained stillness that simultaneously crackles with a hyper-aware presence.
“There's such a quiet, calm sophistication about Gillian as a human being,” says Sam McAlister, executive producer of “Scoop” and also the real-life journalist who landed the important interview. “It was wonderful to see her throw herself into Emily, because of the actress that she is. When I heard Gillian was looking at the script, I held my breath for days. “When she said 'yes', I was screaming in the streets of west London.”
Picking Anderson is a shrewd decision for several reasons. Aside from her ability to portray the presenter who interviewed the prince, Anderson's name makes the film more accessible outside the UK bubble. The American public is not likely to know the importance of Maitlis, nor understand on an instinctive level how important it was for a royal to speak on the BBC's “Newsnight” program about her relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and denied the accusations. She had had sexual relations with a minor. But Anderson's casting makes things relatable and more interesting.
“The British know the cast of characters much better,” says Anderson. “We won't know until people see it if they care [about the story].”
Gillian Anderson plays the journalist who interviews Prince Andrew, played by Rufus Sewell, in “Scoop.”
(Peter Montaña/Netflix)
Making the interview with Andrew the centerpiece of the film was key to seeing if he could fly, says director Philip Martin. So he made two “shrewd and intentional” moves: One, the day they filmed the interview was the first time Anderson (as Maitlis) and Rufus Sewell (as Prince Andrew) interacted on set. Second, they filmed the interview several times, but in 20-minute takes.
“We all knew that if the interview didn't work, we wouldn't really have a movie,” Martin says.
The interview had to work on a technical level with both actors, but as Anderson points out, the underlying point of the story was to emphasize the importance of professionals shining a light on dark corners. Fans of “The Crown” (Anderson won her second Emmy in 2021 for playing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the Netflix series) probably understand the insularity and protectiveness of royalty, so persuading one of them to to sink before the masses is an enormous task. Victory for journalists. (Shortly after Maitlis' interview, the prince stepped away from his public duties as a royal.)
“The truth appears to be more malleable than ever, and the importance of independent journalism and a platform to hold people to account is, perhaps, a dying art,” says Anderson. “Reminding us in a film of the importance of independent journalism is justified at any time.”
Despite playing a journalist, Anderson still doesn't care much about having microphones pointed at her, but “I care less than I used to,” she says. “A mix of becoming famous very young and having a small child [Anderson has three children now] and be followed by the paparazzi [made it hard]. He was scared during interviews, so he was quite closed off and seemed quite serious and dark. Maybe it’s gotten easier, maybe I’ve gotten better, or maybe I’m just less serious.”
Getting older and wiser has also helped Anderson make peace with Scully, the character for which she won her first Emmy, in 1997. Over the decades, the innovative nature of her rational FBI agent has followed her: Studies have shown that “the Scully effect” inspired a generation of young women to study in STEM fields, but Anderson says she now feels more comfortable including that iconic character in the discussion.
“It took me a while after the series ended to be able to hear about it again, talk about it again,” he says. “Maybe it took even longer to appreciate it properly. I needed a little rest and a little distance to take ownership of it and accept it.”
While doing so, Anderson continues to look for projects outside of film and television that he can take on as well. In 2023 she launched a drink (G-Spot) that she calls a “functional drink,” and her latest book (she's a three-time novelist) is a collection of anonymous letters from women talking about sex called “Want,” coming out for sale. in September.
“We called on women around the world to write anonymously. “It’s a look at the degree to which things have or haven’t changed since Nancy Friday’s book, ‘My Secret Garden,’ in the ’70s,” she explains.
Sitting calm and collected in her chair, Anderson occasionally turns her face toward the American sun streaming through the French doors to her left. She closes her eyes, takes it all in, and then returns to the interview. “It's about what happens with women, inside their minds. His deepest thoughts.” She pauses. “I do a lot of things when I'm not acting.”
