Gillian Leigh Anderson was born on August 9th, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois. Soon after, she moved to Puerto Rico and then England. During the nine years that her family lived in England, her father took a course on Film Production. Her family then moved to Grand Rapids Michigan where Anderson was often teased about her English accent. In Michigan she formed a punk rock appearance by spiking her hair and getting her nose peirced. However, her appearance wasn't the only punk rock thing about her. On the night of graduation, she was arrested for trying to glue shut the doors to her high school.

Anderson had become interested in acting after auditioning for a play while attending City High School. When she was 14, she won the role of Juliet in Romeo & Juliet. Her success in this role wiped away her previous dreams of being an archaeologist or a marine biologist. After graduating from high school, she studied at DePaul University’s Goodman Theatre.

Upon graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, Anderson, then 22, moved to New York. Soon after, she won a Theatre World Award for her part in the Broadway play ‘Absent Friends’. The next year, she appeared in The Turning, her first movie. Although the movie was filmed in 1992, it wasn’t released until 1997, well after Anderson had become a major star.

With her career stalled, Anderson moved to Los Angeles. After going a whole year without work, she settled for television and made a guest appearance on the short-lived Fox series ‘Class of 96’. That same year, she auditioned for ‘The X-Files’. Producer/director Chris Carter decided to cast her as Special Agent Dana Scully, going against the advice of Fox executives who wanted a ‘sex symbol’ in the lead female role. Upon being told that she had the part, Anderson, who had just received her last unemployment check, immediately left for Vancouver to begin filming. The massive success of the show was a surprise. Previously, most science-fiction shows developed only a small but dedicated following. The X-Files changed all of this, sparking a wave of interest in all things alien.

Anderson’s role in ‘The X-Files’ garnered her much critical attention. She was nominated for the Best Actress in a TV-Series-Drama Golden Globe in 1996, 97, 98, and 99. She won in 1997. Similarly, she was nominated for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Emmy in 1996, 97, and 98. She also won that award in 1997.

While working on the show, Anderson met assistant art director Clyde Klotz. On New Years Day of 1994, they were married by a Buddhist monk on the 17th hole of a golf course in Hawaii. A month later, Anderson became pregnant. To accommodate for this, Chris Carter wrote Scully’s abduction into the script so that Anderson could take a ten day maternity leave. Piper Maru Anderson was born on September 25th, 1994. Due to complications, she was delivered by Caesarean section and Gillian had to spend the next six days in hospital. Four days later, she went back to work on the show. Anderson and Klotz later divorced.

Acting on ‘The X-Files’ and raising her daughter kept Anderson busy for the next several years. Then in 1998, she found the time to appear in four movies. Playing by Heart also starring Sean Connery and Dennis Quaid, The Mighty, Chicago Cab also starring John Cusack, Julianne Moore, and Laurie Metcalf, and The X-Files.

In 1999 Anderson starred in the theater production The Vagina Monologues. In 2000 she had the starring role in The House of Mirth, directed by Terence Davies. Her role as Lily Bart garnered her a British Independent Film Award for Best Actress (2000).

The X-Files completed its ninth and final season in 2002, when Gillian was 34 years old. After the show came to a close, Gillian moved to London and began doing theater work again, starring in the Michael Weller play What the Night is For, from November 2002 to February 2003.

Meanwhile, Gillian is doing her best to promote awareness for charitable causes including Neurofibromatosis, Inc. (her brother has the disease), Buskaid, The Trevor Project, and Tusk Trust.

Anderson is currently married to producer Julian Ozanne.