Actresses From England

"Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears."

"I will not tolerate not being heard as a result of excess testosterone."

"I didn't really think too much about the fact that it was about aliens. I was intrigued by that aspect of it, but I was more intrigued by the relationship between Mulder and Scully, and how intelligent this woman was, and that she would stand up in the face of his intelligence and feel comfortable with him."

"I wouldn't say I'm normal, but I'm relatively stable. When I think of normalcy I think of mediocrity and mediocrity scares the fuck out of me."

"Something happened when I got pregnant, and I'm not able to listen to that kind of music as much. I feel like I'm going nuts when I listen to it. I used to listen to Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, PiL, Butthole Surfers. But today, I can't. I love Alanis Morissette, Emmylou Harris' latest album, and all sorts of jazz and blues. If I want to hear something heavy duty, I'll put on the Foo Fighters or a good rocking Rolling Stones song. But that's as intense as I've got."

"There are huge differences in the way male and female actors are perceived. Women have to be a certain size, in order to get good roles. The only successful, larger-than-average female actor I can think of is Kathy Bates. And once women reach a certain age, they can only expect one or two good roles per year, whereas male actors can continue working regularly well into their forties. Then there are the types of roles available to women. We're constantly depicted as sidekicks, ingenues, and hangers-on, rarely as independent and capable individuals. And the enormous, huge discrepancies in pay....the amounts that some male actors make are astronomically obscene. Women in Hollywood are constantly shown that there's a difference between them and men, and that that's okay. But it's not okay."

"People have been willing to accept that the government is lying to us, but [are now also] more willing to accept the concept of aliens and other life forms. There's just a slew of stuff out there right now. It's been people's closet belief system, and now it's coming out of the closet."

"Just like Mitch Pileggi, I too had a crush on you."

"Gillian's a lot of fun, very intelligent, has great ideas and creates a lovely atmosphere on set."

"You've got to go for it, and once she had her confidence, it was as though there was nothing she could not do. To this day, she is one of the most remarkable performers I have had the privilege of working with, and I would work with her again in a second."

"Honestly, Gillian Anderson as the next James Bond would be the greatest thing of all time."

"Being with Gillian was like going to a surprise party. Gillian had an eight-line part in a French farce but turned it into a star role just by the attitude she brought to it. She has an incandescence."

"I have to say something about Gillian Anderson before we go on. Have you seen her in The Fall? This is just an amazing actress, just an amazing actress. I just have to throw that in there. So she's had to sort of transcend Scully, I think, and she has."

"She's a fantastic wonderful actress and she's an extremely funny person as well. So we had some good fun quality time together."

"Outstanding. Fantastic. She's a stunning living legend."

"I knew I was gay when I would stay up and watch Saturday Night Live, put on a wifebeater and lift weights. Also, I'd masturbate to Gillian Anderson in The X-Files... That's when my mom found out."

"I'm in awe of Gillian's work of late, all of the stuff that she’s done. Oh my god, The Fall, she’s amazing in that! It's just always great to see a great actor, so that's exciting right there. And Duchovny is everybody’s favorite puppy dog."

"I thought Gillian Anderson was amazing in The House of Mirth, also adapted from a Wharton novel. She should certainly have been nominated for an Oscar. Will you put that in, please? Every now and then I think there is huge injustice in our business."

"You are our most censored guest ever... But it was my fault; I asked you what was your favorite curse word and you continued to use it like 48 times."

"Who wouldn't be infatuated by Gillian Anderson?! Gillian Anderson could play a rabbit and I would be totally be infatuated by her."

"... Gillian Anderson. One of the nastiest actors I have run into in all these years in the business. David was just the sweetest, and kept me from walking off the job."

"G-Money, as I call her."

"Just finished watching the utterly compelling series The Fall on Netflix. What an amazing and beautiful actress. That's Gillian Anderson of course. I knew she was amazing when she was in Bleak House, but she gets better and better."

"I mean I was OBSESSED with The X-Files and I wanted to marry... She was the one person who I was like, 'We're gonna get married. One of these days, she and I will finally meet and this will finally happen.' So last night I was just sitting next to her like, [whispers] 'It's Gillian Anderson, oh my God.' I don't even know what I said or how I answered the questions; I was just looking at her like, 'She's so beautiful.'"

"Just saw Gillian Anderson in A Streetcar Named Desire at St Ann's warehouse. She was remarkable, powerful, funny, tragic."

"I think that’s the fun of playing with such an iconic actress like Gillian Anderson who really expands to fill the vessel of whatever role she’s inhabiting. Working with her has been such a joy: A, I love her as a human being and find her to be such a bright spark of light, and B, it’s a ball to throw some absolutely ridiculous dialogue her way and see how it spins off the edge of her bat. If you are watching the show and you see a particularly bloated piece of dialogue, chances are it’s a direct quote from one of the Thomas Harris books that I’ve fetishized over in the process of making the show, and there are some doozies where I'm like, 'this is such a great line — I want to make it dialogue but it’s so over the top... I’ll give it to Gillian!' So that’s a joy."

"What self-respecting gay man doesn't want to be Gillian Anderson?"

"There is such a clever quality to Gillian's performance where she's balancing so much in terms of tone that she goes from these very serious pontificating scenes about the nature of what they’re doing to virtually a broader comedy of sorts."

"[She's] one the of the most elegant and savage performers I've worked with. We're boxing each other off the stage every night, with love."

"There's a recognition, an animal recognition, of meeting your match. Stanley is not going to give up and neither is Blanche. That’s what’s exciting about what Gillian has done is empower Blanche. Her performance is very strong – she's a warrior – a glamorous warrior."

"Gillian is every bit as hot, and hotter. It's somewhat shocking."

"Gillian's a really hard working actress. I can tell you that much. A lot of times when I give up on a scene, she stays in there. She never doesn't try to do it as well as she can. That can be pretty inspiring. And infuriating."

"Gillian has beautiful eyes. Her eyes anchor me to the scene. They're big and they're blue and they're wet."

"...Gillian Anderson, the best co-star anybody could have."

"I think she gets better and better and she's more and more beautiful every year. And she's just... she's a dream."

"She's a fantastic amazing actress. That’s so evident in her work; in everything she has done – I think especially in The Fall, but she's so fun as well... For my money, she's really sweet and funny and easy and has really giggly childish side to her that comes out often on set. She's great and I can't say enough of good things about her. She's brilliant."

"I was looking for someone who had that kind of period look; I wanted the film to look like Singer Sargent portraits and I saw her extraordinary face and that kind of luminosity that one associated with Greer Garson in the late 40s. I just thought... she'll never meet me; she'll never say yes."

"She's so remarkable. She's not one of those actors who just does her usual thing every time. She's completely different in everything she does – she even has a different voice in every role."

"I think she's got a wonderful stillness in her performances, so that she never seems to be acting particularly. She just brought a terrific sense of tragedy to this part, a woman who has spent her life being so contained, with almost no ability to express herself."

"My secret crush of a famous person that people will actually have heard of? I'm quite conventional. I really love Gillian Anderson. Like, ever since she was Scully and I wasn't even out then. It always surprised me but now I know. I love Gillian Anderson. I like red heads so I quite like Susan Sarandon and Helen Mirren. But Gillian Anderson -- totally, totally love that."

"I didn't want her to look kind of perfect, but one of the things about Gillian is that she always kind of looks stunning, just because she's got such an interesting face. There's such an intelligence going on in her acting, I think, your eye is drawn to her."

"One of the reasons why I thought she is the best actress of her generation is because she is incredibly focused, understated, truthful, detailed, intelligent, with an underpinning of emotion that she chooses, for the most part, to keep in check."

"I gaze at her perfect skin, unable to suspend my disbelief. One of the more unnerving things about Anderson is that no photographer has ever done her justice; in the flesh, she is 10 times more exquisite than on the page – today, as I now point out, being no exception."

"Gillian Anderson is one of a kind. She's lovely. She's a fantastic mother. A steadfast friend. More beautiful today than she's ever been. And a natural actor who was born to her art."

"I had to fight for Gillian. Not because of her youth or relative inexperience, but because she didn't fit the network's or the studio's idea of the prime-time tootsie. She didn't have the usual assets they thought of in a TV man-woman relationship."

"She has become like a proper feminist icon. There are so many straight women having girl crushes. You're turning Britain lezzy!"

"She arrived as a surprise guest, and was charming and funny and utterly wonderful. On seeing her, I was as cool as you might expect, if by being cool means standing at the sides of the stage, unable to move my limbs in her direction. The many nights I'd spent with Agent Scully in my 20s, imaging our imaginary life together, left me flushed and embarrassment."

"Every time Gillian Anderson appears on the television, my wife looks at me like I'm mentally cheating on her."

"Gillian Anderson is greatest actress of her generation."

"I ADORE Gillian. She's smart and strong and fascinating. What a talent."