Gillian Anderson is an English actress and producer.
She was born in London, England, and grew up in Oxford and North London. Her father, Ian Anderson (1926–1982), was a university lecturer in biochemistry at the University of Manchester; her mother, Sheila Gish (née Anderson; 1928–2001), was a teacher. She has two siblings: a brother named Mark and a sister named Clare. She attended the University of Manchester, where she studied English before moving to Bristol so she could train at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
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Anderson began her acting career as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company for five years.
Later, she trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art for three years.
She went on to appear in many television shows and films before landing her first major role as FBI special agent Dana Scully in The X-Files (1993–2002).
Anderson made her directorial debut with the 2003 film "The Mighty Celt", followed by "The Fall" (2006) and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (2011). In 2005, Anderson was appointed a patron of the International Rescue Committee UK. In 2006, she was included on "Forbes" list of top-earning women in entertainment, with earnings of $22 million that year.
In 2009, she was named a-list artist at Lloyds Bank's Lloyds TSB Business Awards ceremony along with other celebrities including David Beckham and Elton John. That same year, she became an associate director of production company All3Media America. She is also a supporter of Multiple Sclerosis research charities such as MSSF Trust and MS Society US.
In 2011, it was announced that Anderson would be working as an executive producer on Showtime's new espionage drama series The Circus from Stephen ten Hills Productions which premiered on March 12th 2012. In 2013, she appeared as Jean Brodie in the film adaptation of "The Group".
In January 2014 it was announced that Anderson would be starring as Clarice Starling in a new TV series about FBI agents based on The X-Files called Aquarius from David Duchovny and writer/director James Wong Howe who have both worked together previously on the film adaptation of CSI: Miami. On June 26th 2014 it was announced that Anderson would be starring alongside Tom Hiddleston in the upcoming film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel To Kill A Mockingbird which is being adapted by