How Gillian Anderson, 58, feared being ‘creepy’ in racy lesbian sex scenes with actress half her age in erotic slasher

SHE was once voted the ­sexiest woman in the world, but Gillian Anderson feared she would look “creepy” playing the on-screen lover of a woman half her age. The X-Files actress, 58, is cast as reclusive ex-horror movie star Billy Presley in erotic slasher Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma, opposite 31-year-old ­Hannah Einbinder. Gillian Anderson feared she would look “creepy” playing the on-screen lover of a woman half her age Credit: Camera Press Gillian featured in in erotic slasher Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma, opposite 31-year-old ­Hannah Einbinder Credit: PA But the dynamic made Gillian uneasy as ­Hannah is the same age as her real-life daughter, Piper. She said: “It was important for me — I really didn’t want for Billy to feel creepy or predatory. “My daughter is the same age as Hannah. And so, for me, it needed to feel very purposeful and it’s a fine line to walk, but it was a really important line to walk. I didn’t want it to be off-putting or disturbing or weird. “You know, that it would only be weird in the places where it was meant to be weird.” In the horror movie, which landed in UK cinemas last week, Gillian’s ­portrayal of faded actress Billy is already generating serious Oscar buzz. But the age-gap romance was not the only thing that played heavily on her mind during production. She revealed that horror and slasher movies still deeply “trigger” her in real life thanks to watching a violent flick in her teens when she was high on cannabis. She said: “One of the first times I smoked weed, I was at somebody else’s house and they started watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre. “And I had one of the worst first trips of my entire life! “And that really dictated my relationship with horror — and weed, as a matter of fact. “So I didn’t have a big horror education, and it still triggers me a little bit. “Slasher and horror and anything ‘Saw’-like or psychological, like real psychological thriller stuff, I can’t go there. “But I’m happy to play somebody who embraces it and really leans into that level of fear around it. “Because my experience afterwards was real horror, like feeling that horror that you can’t not then dream about and gets triggered over and over and over again. “So it’s been a fun journey with my relationship with dark s**t!” Gillian’s provocative new role comes three full decades after FHM mag readers voted her the Sexiest Woman In The World at the height of global X-Files mania. She was named as the Sexiest Woman in the World during the 1990s Credit: Getty Gillian has come a long way since her days of starring in 1990s hit The X Files Credit: PA:Press Association But in 1996, she felt her real life was anything but glamorous, previously claiming it simply “revolved around call sheets, line memorisation and motherhood”. Today, however, Gillian commands both her sexuality and her sprawling career on her own unapologetic terms. Alongside writing her bestselling book, Want — a collection of anonymous sexual fantasies from women around the world — she has launched her cheeky “G Spot” drinks brand and taken on increasingly daring projects. And Gillian believes that being truly sexy stems from not worrying about what others think. She insisted the more we “practise not giving a monkey’s ass what anyone else thinks or says, then the more we radiate a confidence that is for and belongs to us and us alone”. Writing in Vogue, she added: “And that’s it really. The most seductive thing any of us can wear is the quiet conviction that we belong exactly where we are. Everything else is ­simply getting dressed.” Since finding global fame as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully on The X-Files from 1993 to 2018, Gillian has continuously subverted industry expectations to cement her status as one of her generation’s most versatile stars. She broke out of potential typecasting early on by starring as tragic socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies’ acclaimed 2000 period drama The House Of Mirth. Gillian then went on to play fan favourite sex therapist Jean Milburn in Netflix smash Sex Education from 2019 to 2023, and also ­transformed into PM Margaret Thatcher for The Crown in 2020. Up next, she is due to appear in two major new shows on Netflix. She will play a shadowy operative in high-stakes thriller Animals opposite Ben Affleck, as well as appearing in the limited series The Boys From Brazil about a holocaust survivor’s crusade to bring Nazi fugitives to justice. Most tantalizingly for sci-fi fans, Gillian is also rumoured to be appearing in the hotly anticipated upcoming X-Files remake. The actress felt strange as her co-star was the same age as her real-life daughter, Piper Credit: Getty – Contributor Gillian’s varied career saw her play former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Crown Credit: Netflix 2020, Inc She backs the X Files franchise being rebooted by the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind Black Panther and Sinners, Ryan Coogler. She adds: “A real artist like Ryan coming in to take on that franchise is such an interesting and radical concept. And kudos to our show runner Chris Carter, the creator, for allowing him to take the helm. “It feels like he’s almost a version of who Chris is, stepping in and saying, ‘I know how to do this justice’.” Selecting her creative projects requires a great deal of “patience”, even if Gillian openly admits to taking on a bit too much work at times. She said: “It does take a belief that if you wait and dare to do nothing until the thing arrives, that it will come. I do have the tendency to just embrace everything. “I just enjoy all of it. So I end up just doing too much. But yes, there is a version of me that would do less and only choose the jewels.” Public obsession over The X-Files continues to burn bright and, despite her huge stardom, Gillian still attends events to meet fans of the series. She said: “Places where I experience it sometimes are at Comic Cons. The fans’ reaction doesn’t feel like it’s for me. “So I don’t feel like, ‘Oh, I’m so cool’. It’s more of . . . I understand from their perspective, their relationship; even though I don’t understand the obsessive nature of it. “I understand that it’s important — it almost helps them define who they are. “And I can understand why that is important for a human being, to have something to identify with and that they feel represents an aspect of their internal life, and I get that. “And I’m happy to show up as the embodiment of that thing.” Despite the ongoing hype, Gillian remains profoundly grateful that social media was not around when she was rising to global fame on The X-Files, sparing her from the intense digital scrutiny that young actors today are forced to contend with. Gillian went on to play fan favourite sex therapist Jean Milburn in Netflix smash Sex Education Credit: Getty The actress says she selects her creative projects requires a great deal of ‘patience’ Credit: Getty She added: “We were working 17, 18-hour days, and so it wasn’t until we were at award shows that we were exposed to the fandom, which is very, very ­different today.” Off screen, her colourful personal life has been defined by that same open and candid approach. One of her first relationships was with an older girl at school. She later admitted: “It felt secretive and illicit and wrong and we had to hide”. She met her first husband, Clyde Klotz, while he worked as an assistant art director on The X-Files. The couple married in 1994 and had daughter Piper nine months later, before parting ways in 1997. Recalling her first marriage, she has said: “I got pregnant on my wedding night. How old-fashioned is that?” In 2004, Gillian married foreign ­correspondent Julian Ozanne, though the union ended after 16 months. She then started a new chapter with British businessman Mark Griffiths. They have two sons — Oscar, 19, and Felix, 17 — but split in 2012 after six years together. She has also reportedly been in an on-off relationship with award-winning screenwriter Peter Morgan, creator of The Crown, since 2016. Reflecting on love, she said: “The person I consider my life partner ­happens to be male . . . but I think I would feel the same way if it were a woman.” That unbothered attitude extends to online casting speculation, including whether she would ever take over the cinema world’s most famous spy role. In a viral video clip posted with Elle USA, she addressed the long-running James Bond speculation with her trademark wit. When asked for a rumour she had read about herself that she wished were true, she said: “That I’m the next James Bond. I’m kind of joking. I’d be a woman. And I wouldn’t be called Jane. I wouldn’t be Jane Bond. I’d still have a gun.” Then she cheekily added: “And maybe I’d still collect women.” Regardless of whether 007 execs come calling, Gillian remains supremely confident that her latest project delivers a thrilling, unforgettable cinematic experience. She said: “I think the audience will get that from the second it starts. And it’s hilarious and it’s important and it’s profound.”