1994-95 1996-97 1998 1999-00 2001-03 2004-06

FM 107 WAAF
Boston Radio Morning Show
February 15, 1996

GILLIAN ANDERSON
KEVIN BARBARE
CHRIS ENGEL (PRODUCER)

GILLIAN: Hello there, I'm good, how is everybody

KEVIN: Hello.

CHRIS: You are on what is about the hottest show on television right now.

KEVIN: I'd have to say!

GILLIAN: It appears to be, it's doing quite well... (Laughs)

CHRIS: I gotta ask you, my first question is, when they were pitching you this show, how did they explain it to you?

GILLIAN: Um, well actually I read the script first before anybody talked to me about it, so I kind of had a pretty good idea ... Urn, and the script was ... Was good. I mean, I had a very strong reaction to the characters, and to their relationship and their intelligence, and how they reacted to one another, and so that's all I needed to know at that point. I didn't quite understand exactly what we'd be getting ourselves into were we to be involved in the show. I think that was something that um, wasn't clear to me until we started shooting the pilot and then the series and uh, I found myself in all kinds of different, strange situations.

KEVIN: Well, remember it the show was always kind of popular, but it seems like overnight it's just everywhere.. Especially you like lately, it used to be David (Duchovny) was everywhere but now you're everywhere ...

CHRIS: Woo-Hoo!

KEVIN: In what ways does your multiplying popularity frustrate you? Because I know you like it, but I mean there must be some things that frustrate you about it.

GILLIAN: Well, it always good, you know... I mean it's only gonna last for a month you know what I mean? These magazine interviews and stuff, it's now, and next month it will be somebody else. So for right now it's fine, and it's good publicity, and I appreciate the exposure.. And you know... Then it's over and it's on to somebody else. So right now it's groovy.

CHRIS: And it's up for the Emmy for best drama series1

GILLIAN: Is it?

CHRIS: Isn't it?

GILLIAN: You mean last year.?

CHRIS: That was last year?

GILLIAN: That was last year..

CHRIS: Oh ...

KEVIN: Now being, personally, a huge fan of the show... I didn't think it would be fair to ask questions without at least asking people on the net what kinds of questions they'd wanna ask.

GILLIAN: Oh... So did you?

KEVIN: I did...

GILLIAN: Oh, excellent!

KEVIN: When I mentioned you were going to be on the show, I got a million responses from the United States, all over New England obviously, Canada, England, Australia and I tried to take the ones you hadn't been asked a million times.

GILLIAN: Okay.

KEVIN: Like ... Are Mulder and Scully gonna jump in the sack together..

GILLIAN: Right, right...

KEVIN: So here's some of the ones that we got...

GILLIAN: Okay.

KEVIN: They're wondering what kind of influence you have on your character on the show ... In other words I guess, this season you've been more in the front with physical action and a lot of things have been happening. So how much influence do you have on this stuff?

GILLIAN: I don't really. I mean the executive producer Chris Carter has had a very clear and formulated vision of who these characters are and has from day one, and ... It's been extremely important to him that we stick to who they are. And I guess just over time, with new writers as they start to realize that Scully has a voice to, they've made her a bit more involved, and I bring bits of myself and my personality to the character as any actor has to in a way. So probably here and there there's bits of me coming out and I feel more free within the character the more we do the show, so.. It shifts and changes and stuff.

CHRIS: You're also a lot more gullible on this years episodes of the x-files.

GILLIAN: Gullible?? In what way?

CHRIS: Yes, well the other character is always falling for every single trick in the book and you're always the one to look at the logical side first...

KEVIN: This year, you've been more..

GILLIAN: A little more open-minded..

KEVIN: Yeah, and after three years I guess, you have to eventually say "yeah.. Okay."

GILLIAN: Yeah, but it's odd because if you are as much as involved in science and physics as this character is ... If you see one something in the dark that could be an alien, could be something else...And you start to think, "oh well maybe there are aliens", it doesn't mean that you're going to believe in everything paranormal .... You know?

KEVIN: I went to see you in Burbank. And I also didn't want to ask any questions that were asked there. Because I thought they could have done a lot better job with some of the questions they asked you, but I noticed you were really nervous.

GILLIAN: (smiles) I'm always nervous. You know, those things ... It's like I love doing them, but I get so nervous. After a while I calm down though ... I calm down. At the beginning I was very nervous.

KEVIN: This is the closest to a Mulder and Scully getting together question that I'm going to ask..

GILLIAN: Oh dear.

KEVIN: Because this was a very good question I thought ...

GILLIAN: Okay.

KEVIN: Chris Carter has said that if anything was ever going to happen between you two it would be in the very last episode. How would you like to see the series end, including or excluding their relationship. Like if you had the perfect thing or the perfect story that you would like to see in the last episode ... What would it be?

GILLIAN: Well, I don't know about the perfect ... Because I think I'd prefer it to be more romantic. I think that one of the things that has crossed my mind was that in the pilot we were talking about the idea of losing time. That when a UFO that you actually lose minutes. At one point maybe even twice in the pilot, we lost like seven minutes or nine minutes ... And it's been so long. So I was thinking what if Mulder and Scully were in bed together and they realize that they lost time and they don't know exactly what happened...

CHRIS: Boy ... You were quick!

GILLIAN: ... Within the period of time, whether they actually made love or just sat there ... Or what?

KEVIN: You'd be going, "that's it?" And Mulder would be going, "that's was the longest love-making session I've ever had!"

GILLIAN: (laughs)

CHRIS: We're talking with Gillian Anderson, she is agent Scully on the x-files and Kevin has been going through the Internet and there are just tons and tons of fans out there. It was very smart of you Kevin to go out and get questions from fans of the x-files.

GILLIAN: That was great.. You know, Kevin, I gotta tell you, this Lords of the New Church CD that you sent me...

KEVIN: Yeah?

GILLIAN: I'm on CBC, which is a Canadian radio station, but it's gonna be I think, broadcast over the Internet. Actually all over the world. I'm doing some DJing on March 16th, and I've been trying to find this song 'Russian Roulette' by Lords of the New Church, because it was one of my favorites when I was about 16 years old...

KEVIN: Ta-Da!

GILLIAN: ... And you sent it to me!! I'm so excited!! Cause I ...

CHRIS: So you're gonna be on the radio?

GILLIAN: I'm gonna be on the radio.

CHRIS: You're gonna be the DJ on the radio?

GILLIAN: I'm gonna be the DJ on the radio ... For I don't know how many songs..

CHRIS: Give us a sample, put on your radio voice and give us a little sample ...

KEVIN: What's wrong with her voice now?

CHRIS: Put on your big radio voice!

GILLIAN: I haven't practiced yet. (Starts talking in a sexy voice) it's probably gonna be at nighttime so it will probably be a lot smoother, I'll probably talk to the audience like this. But I won't have anything to say whatsoever..

KEVIN: Scully, I am getting really turned on right now...

GILLIAN: (laughs)

KEVIN: Tell us something about the show, you can pick the material whatever you want to tell, behind the scenes ... That I can say your fans heard here first. Oh, by the way, everyone is pissed off that Kathy Lee was on for an hour last night and you were only on three minutes on Letterman... Just thought I'd mention that.

GILLIAN: Thank you. (Laughs) well, I don't usually surf the net, but we did an episode about a month ago called �Piper Maru.� Which was on television� I�m losing it. It was on television, yes indeed. Piper Maru is actually the name of my daughter. Chris Carter named the ship in the episode after my daughter. Now it's been the press a lot that my daughter's name is Piper, but I'm not actually sure if the audience was aware that her middle name was Maru. Which in Polynesian means calm and gentle...And in Japanese means ship. So that was kind of appropriate.

KEVIN: Chris Carter actually told me that 'Drop Dead Red' was also a nod to you. The painting on the side of the plane.

GILLIAN: Was it really ... Did he tell you that?

KEVIN: He said it was because you were a drop dead red-head.

GILLIAN: That is really cool... I didn't know that! I didn't know that! That is great...Well now I learned something too. That's fabulous.

KEVIN: Was there anything they've ever written about your character for the show that you weren't happy about? But you did it anyway or maybe you said, "I can't do this. This isn't something Scully would do...

GILLIAN: Not really. There was one episode called 'Shapes' and maybe it was in the second season and it was about Native American Indians ... And it just seemed like it was another one of those episodes where Scully was skeptical but it was skeptical about their spiritualism and their beliefs and it almost seemed like she was being disrespectful of their way of life and their culture so I had a little bit of trouble with that. Because I didn't feel that, she�s' not close-minded especially when in regards to spiritual things because her background is Catholic, and that's more religious than spiritual ... But they're pretty great they like to stick to what's there but Chris is willing to listen and change things if we have any ideas ... Or changes that we want to have made.

CHRIS: Well it�s been our pleasure to have Gillian Anderson, Agent Scully from The X-Files, it's on Fridays, 9 o'clock here in Boston..... Gillian, thank you.