3 things to know about Gillian Anderson, star of a new queer slasher

By Elliot Mawas.

Published on 17 June 2022. Updated on 18 May 2026.

In 2022, Gillian Anderson received the Variety Icon Award. A well-deserved distinction for the American actress, who has played numerous unorthodox, strong characters throughout her career. One can remember iconic agent Dana Scully and her sidekick Fox Mulder in the series The X-Files. Yet, it was on stage that the young actress, born in Chicago in 1968, took her first steps. In 1990, she landed her first major role in the Broadway play Absent Friends. A performance that earned her her first Theater World Award.

Three years later, the actress, who had previously sworn she would never appear on the small screen, portrayed the enigmatic Dana Scully. A role for which she won several awards. However, Gillian Anderson‘s career goes beyond this legendary show. The audience remembers her performances in the films The Last King of Scotland (2006) and Shadow Dancer (2012), or on stage in A Doll’s House (2009) and A Streetcar Named Desire (2014). Today, the new face of Chloé is embodying a reclusive star of cult slashers in Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, directed by Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow). This queer horror movie will open the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2026.

She made a phenomenal comeback at 50

The end of the famous series The X-Files in 2002 did not mean the end of Gillian Anderson‘s career. The actress has been landing offbeat and exciting roles since then. In 2021, she plays Media, a goddess who morphs into pop icons, in season 3 of American Gods. For the show, she donned agent Scully’s impeccable hairdo for the iconic red hair of rock legend David Bowie and American cult actress Lucille Ball.

In the series Sex Education (2019), she portrayed the protagonist’s uninhibited sex therapist mother. A role that echoes the shrink she brilliantly played in Hannibal (2013). Gillian Anderson is also behind charismatic historical figures, such as Margaret Thatcher in the series The Crown, for which she won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in 2021, or Eleanor Roosevelt in The First Lady (2022).

An aspiring author

In addition to being a well-known actress, Gillian Anderson is also a writer. Along with Jeff Rovi, she co-wrote The EarthEnd Saga, whose first volume, A Vision of Fire, was published in 2024. This science fiction thriller follows a child psychologist investigating a series of strange, supernatural events. Before that, in 2017, the actress and writer published a self-help book, We: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere. Having been in therapy since the age of 14, she explained that her personal struggles inspired the book. “I have struggled with self-esteem myself. In looking at the ways that I have dealt with overcoming those things, I started to think that maybe some of it might be potentially useful for other people of all ages,” she told The Guardian.

In this intimate interview, the mother of three shared that she had a poor memory. During the casting of the historical film Viceroy’s House (2017), about India’s independence, the actress said that she had to call a history teacher to help her better understand the context of the film. “It was a disaster. I couldn’t remember a thing he taught me. (…) You know, even my favorite books, I couldn’t tell you what they were about. It’s always been that way.”

A woman who embraces her age

At 57, Gillian Anderson is more radiant than ever. Authentic and extroverted, just like her wild character in Sex Education, she told her secret to success and self-acceptance to Net-a-Porter in 2016: “I’m not perfect, you know? I have flabby thighs, I’m aging, and I’m 5’3“. A confidence and directness that did not prevent the actress from being under the spotlight of British tabloids.

Indeed, in early 2016, the Daily Mail claimed that the star had undergone plastic surgery, which she quickly denied. “I’m not necessarily anti-surgery, I’m anti the shame that is attached to women who make that choice, rightly or wrongly, in their own mind,” she told the Telegraph that same year. Her natural beauty seduced not only women in the 1990s, but also fashion designers. Gabriela Hearst, creative director at Chloé, chose the actress to embody the house’s spirit in their new campaign, following Lucy Boynton.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026) by Jane Schoenbrun is expected to come out on August 7th, 2026. The film will premiere at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard category.