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Hello
Interview by Armando Gallo
January 25, 1997

Gillian Anderson, the stunning X-Files star who was recently voted the world's sexiest woman by a British men's magazine, has reportedly left her husband of three years for a younger man.The cause of her split from 35-year-old Clyde Klotz, according to The Sun newspaper, is a fun-loving, bit-part actor in his early twenties, whom Gillian met when he appeared in the last series of the cult TV show. She was bored with Klotz, The Sun claimed, quoting her as saying, "I've outgrown him."Marital trouble apparently began last autumn and the couple split in October, just around the time when Gillian gave the following interview. Though she doesn't refer to their problems, it's clear she was seeing little of Clyde.

You met your husband on the set of The X-Files when he was working as an art director, but now he's working on another project. Do you get any time together at all?"It's very complicated. We don't get to see each other very much except at weekends."Is he working away from your Canadian home then?"No. He works in Vancouver, but still..."Your daughter Piper is just two. What's it like trying to cope with a job as demanding as yours and be a caring mother too?"It's difficult to find the balance, to be able to spend a healthy amount of time with my daughter and also put the amount of energy it requires into work. It's difficult on a daily basis, but it's possible.

What traits do you share with your screen self, FBI agent Dana Scully?"We're both very serious, but I laugh a lot more than she does. And I allow my childish side to come out a lot more than she does. We're both pretty determined and passionate about certain things."Scully doesn't have any romantic relationships at the moment. Will she ever?"She might. Not necessarily with Mulder [her work partner in the series] but hopefully at some point the writers will allow her to have some kind of passionate connection with somebody."What's the first thing that you notice in a man?"Usually everything as a whole, like his aura, and then the hands. Hands say a great deal about a man. Hands and shoes. I like men who wear vintage-type shoes, like Doc Martens. And white tennis shoes with jeans are good."

You've been defined as a role model for the end-of-the-millennium woman: strong, fearless, cultured..."I think that the world was ready for a character who is strong, intelligent and vulnerable at the same time. And fortunately, the creator Chris Carter was intuitive enough to make someone like this. And now we're seeing just how both men and women are attracted to the character's attributes."How do you feel about being a sex symbol?"I think it's interesting. For the longest time all anyone saw was Scully, very closed and tight and serious. I made a concerted effort to do a handful of photo shoots that showed a sexier side of myself and it seems to have worked. But because of Scully, they always attach the intellect to the comments... you know, 'a thinking man's sex symbol', which is much more of a compliment than just a sex symbol.

We see a lot of the paranormal in the series, but what are your own feelings about the phenomena Scully deals with day-to-day?"A lot of the issues that we deal with on the show are a little too far-fetched for me, but I do have very strong beliefs about certain aspects of the paranormal. I tend to be very open-minded."It's been reported that, contrary to the image you both give on the screen, you and your co-star David Duchovny don't get on that well."We have a very good working relationship although sometimes it's hard spending so much time with somebody. We do work things out though and play around a lot on the set, but the long hours together can bring on moodiness as with any other relationship.