‘X-Files’ star Gillian Anderson reveals parenting regret, says she wishes she was 'less selfish'
Gillian Anderson is looking back at the sacrifices she made as her Hollywood career took off — and acknowledging that some of those choices came at a cost for her family.
In a new interview with The Sunday Times, the 58-year-old actress — who became a household name playing FBI Special Agent Dana Scully on "The X-Files" — opened up about her regrets as a young mother and explained how the show’s grueling production schedule affected her ability to be present for her daughter.
"I have absolutely no regrets in my life," Anderson initially told the outlet before reconsidering. "No, there are a couple of things, in terms of early parenting, that I now would say, I wish I’d thought this through or I wish I’d been less selfish."
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Anderson became a mother at 26, welcoming daughter Piper with her first husband, "The X-Files" assistant art director Clyde Klotz, just over a year after she began filming the hit Fox sci-fi series.
Her career was rapidly accelerating at the time, with "The X-Files" becoming a global phenomenon and Anderson facing grueling days on set.
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After Anderson and Klotz divorced in 1997, Piper split her time between her mother, who was working on "The X-Files" in Los Angeles, and her father in Vancouver.
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In an effort to maintain consistency in her daughter's education, Piper attended a French lycée in both cities. The arrangement, however, meant the young girl was regularly traveling between her parents.
"It was intense for her, with no French in the household, to suddenly be getting a plane every three weeks," Anderson recalled. "It’s a lot to ask of a six-year-old."
The actress said she was working 17-hour days and didn't believe she was in a position to push back against the demanding schedule, despite being one of the show's two central stars alongside David Duchovny.
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"That show couldn’t have done without [me], and so I had leverage that I’m not sure I knew," Anderson said.
Anderson has previously spoken about wondering whether she could have made different choices as a working mother.
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In a previous interview with The Sunday Times, the actress acknowledged there was another version of her life in which she could have worked less, lived on a smaller scale and been more present for her children.
"There's another version of my life where I could have worked less, had a smaller life and been more present as a parent. I could have chosen that, that could happen," she said. "But sometimes it feels like why would you, if you keep getting work as an actor, doing things you dreamt of doing and being offered incredible roles at this age, while paying the bills, and you still get to see them a huge percentage of the time and they witness a mother enjoying her work?
Her approach to parenting changed when she later welcomed sons Oscar and Felix with businessman Mark Griffiths.
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Despite reflecting on what she might have done differently, Anderson has continued working steadily decades after "The X-Files" made her famous.
Her more recent credits include "The Crown," "Sex Education" and "The Salt Path." She also stars opposite Hannah Einbinder in filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun’s "Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma," which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
Anderson suggested that her relationship with work remains complicated as she approaches 60.
"I feel very lucky to still be working," she told The Sunday Times, adding that while she once imagined slowing down in her 60s to direct and make art, she is reconsidering those plans.
"I’m having so much fun," she said.