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Scully Down Under Interviewer: John Karpathakis March, 1996 She came! She saw! She caused about a million people to faint at shopping centres around the country. Here's what happened when Gillian Anderson came to Oz to promote her hit series The X-Files, on Foxtel, and the Tooms videos on Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. John: Hello Gillian and welcome to Australia! Gillian Anderson: Thank You. John: What Australianisms will you take home with you? Gillian Anderson: Um, hopefully not "G'day mate." (laughs) John: Thank god! Gillian Anderson: Um, what else? Now I thought that "keep your pecker up!" was an Australian term. Our executive producer, Bob Woodward, always says "As we say in Australia, keep your pecker up." He keeps saying that it's Australian. John: What do you think of silverchair? Gillian Anderson: I don't know silverchair. You're the third person to ask me and I've never heard of silverchair! sorry! (laughs) John: OK. Has seeing "Babe" put you off bacon? Gillian Anderson: No, unfortunately! (laughs) On the show, I've even been in slaughter houses and stuff and, well, actually I don't eat that much bacon. I don't eat any bacon, really, but it's not because of Babe. (laughs) but Babe was wonderful. John: What's the strangest line you've ever had to say on The X-Files? Like, "Hey Mulder, that building's floating in the air?" Gillian Anderson: Oh God, there have been so many of them, I'm not sure if I can find one right now. There are just some difficult lines as an actor to say. You know, they're just really awkward and they never seem to fit in. I can't think of one off the top of my head. I wish I could because I know there are some really hysterical ones. John: A lot of articles label you "the thinking man's babe" - does that offend you? Gillian Anderson: Actually, no, simply because of the words "thinking man's" in the sentence. If I was just "a piece of crumpet" then it would be more insulting. But because it has something to do with the brain, um, it's less of an insult. John: we've heard about your so-called "punk past". Do you ever dust off your old punk records, whack on your leather trousers and safety pins and have a dance around the coffee table? Gillian Anderson: No, although originally I did DJ on a CBC, which is a Canadian Broadcasting Company, and I did my own little session. I pulled some track from an old Lords Of The New Church album and I first put it on at home to really listen to it, and I think I might have done a little bit of... ah... scamping! (laughs) John: so you'd be in the mosh pit at a concert these days? Gillian Anderson: Well I, ah... John: You strike me as a mosh pit kind of girl! Gillian Anderson: I used to be, I definitely used to be, but I almost broke my arm once so that probably wouldn't be too safe for me to do these days, I was in the crowd... slamming! John: Have any psychos ever come up to you and said, "Look, I'm actually an alien and I need you help, Scully?!" Gillian Anderson: No, but there was once this very strange man who approached me in Los Angeles. He was sitting with some other very strange men and I was doing an interview at another table. He sent over this very long note scribbled on many different little pieces of paper and talking about how he works for the government to investigate UFOs. He had this very strange toupee and he was very odd-looking, and I said, "Um, well, I don't know if we can talk about anything but I'll pass this note on to Chris Carter" which I did. I think Chris probably threw it away right away but that was the weirdest thing. John: What is the freakiest dream you've ever had involving Scully? Gillian Anderson: I never, ever have dreams about the show. Ever! John: But Scully's such a big part of your life! Gillian Anderson: I know and that's probably why. It's probably like my brain does not want to think about it any more. But I do have a lot of very strange dreams. They're always very, very odd and usually very dark for some reason. I' sure that has a lot to do with the show and the darkness of the show. John: Have you danced to the techno version of The X-Files theme? Gillian Anderson: I've never heard it! But I'm going to go back to the hotel and I'll put it on. I just can't imagine what it would sound like. I can't imagine putting it on at a dinner party. I mean, who wants to listen to the actual... (she starts whistling the theme tune!) John: Does it ever worry you that fans take their X-Files obsessions too far? Gillian Anderson: No, but I guess the stuff that is most unfortunate is the stuff that's been dredged up from the past, stuff that is taken way out of context and exploited. Like England right now is going through this huge thing in the tabloids with me and my past. John: Of course, you lived there for a while. Gillian Anderson: Yeah, you know, they saw a picture of me in school, so now it's "Has anybody gone to school with Gillian Anderson? Please come forward if you have." It's been like a daily thing they've been running. It's pathetic. John: What surprises people most when they meet you? Gillian Anderson: That I smile! (she smiles) John: Uh huh. Gillian Anderson: And that I laugh! yep! (she laughs) John: You're doing it right now! Gillian Anderson: (laughs again) John: When we did our X-Files issue earlier this year, we noticed David Duchovny used long words like autoerotic asphyxiation in his interview. So, er, what is a typical David word? Gillian Anderson: (laughs hysterically) Autoerotic asphyxiation! that is a typical David Duchovny word. Autoerotic, because it has to do with sex, and because it's long. Most of the time when I read his articles it takes me so long to decipher exactly what he's saying. John: Does he actually talk like that? Gillian Anderson: Yeah, he does! But mostly when he's doing interviews. I mean, I think it's because he's got such a vast knowledge of words. He's studied the theory of words. He pulls it out when it's needed most, like in interviews. John: Do you ever feel dumb reading his interviews? Gillian Anderson: I think, in general, reading my interviews next to David's interviews I always feel kind of not-there upstairs. (laughs) John: What's the best lie you've read about yourself? Gillian Anderson: Oh, a recent one that I was supposed to be on the flight from Japan to Bali that crashed. It's horrible that they'd even print that, it's just horrible. It's sick. John: Do you ever get bored with playing Scully? Gillian Anderson: I don't get bored with playing her, but I get frustrated sometimes playing the same reactions over and over again begin so serious and so skeptical and asking the same questions and saying the same things like, "but this is pure science fiction, Mulder!" Stuff like that kind of gets to me (laughs) Transcript provided by Medellia and
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