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Swing
Dec/Jan 1997

The Most Powerful People In Their Twenties
by Jodi Bryson

Forget Friends and ER; the most influential show on television is The X-Files. The show has given sci-fi a new face for the '90s and spawned the recent multibillion-dollar paranormal fad in film, on TV, and in toy stores. The stars, Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, are largely responsible for the show's unexpected success. (Fox initially expressed no interest in the show; it's now the network's top-rated drama.)

In the four years since The X-Files debuted, Anderson has gone from anonymous actress to Hollywood A-list. But not in the Uma Thurman/Nicole Kidman goddess-blockbuster way. The 29-year-old has screen allure because she's poised herself as the smart bitch. She's become the thinking woman that men won't mess with, but whose secretly slutty side they fantasize about bringing out.

Sci-fi geeks (and nongeeks) who tune in every Sunday have been thanking the show's creator, Chris Carter, since the day Agent Dana Scully reported for duty. "Gillian didn't have the obvious qualities that the network executives have come to associate with hit shows," Carter said. "But she read the part with a seriousness and intensity I knew the Scully character had to have."

Anderson explained her poise and seemingly permanent sober expression to US, this way: "People automatically assume that I'm totally in control, even at times when I'm not. Even at times when I need help, I make it appear that I don't need it."

Although Anderson's had a tough year - splitting from her husband, X-Files assistant art director Clyde Klotz, father of her 3-year-old daughter Piper - she isn't letting it show. She's in the process of filming The X-Files - the series and the movie. She's also busy with Hellcab and The Mighty, two decidedly not Scully-like films. And when the season's over, the De Paul University Goodman Theater grad is hoping to score some stage work. If the past three years are any indication of her good fortune, New York has a director right now who's looking for a sexy, cerebral redhead.