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eDrive
June 1998

Gillian Is Out There
By Kenneth M. Chanko

Hardcore X Files fans (are there any other kind?!), prepare to groan big-time.

In the highly-anticipated feature film, The X Files: Fight the Future, the truth about Samantha was finally going to be revealed. It was right there in the shooting script, and the scene was actually shot. But, at the last moment, series creator Chris Carter, who is also the movie's producer and screenwriter, decided, along with the movie's director, Rob Bowman, to cut the Samantha revelation. Die-hard fans will have to resort to scouring the internet for boot-legged copies of the shooting script. (Samantha, for the uninitiated, is Mulder's younger sister, who might or might not have been abducted by extraterrestrials.)

But Gillian Anderson fans will get to see major lip-lock on the big screen between her character, Dana Scully, and David Duchovny's character, Fox Mulder. It's sort of a kiss, but not quite how you might imagine it in your fantasies...

eDrive: So, is a kiss still a kiss even it's done for resuscitation purposes?

Gillian: [laughing] Well, there's the rub, right? That's part of what makes Chris great, the way he foils and twists expectations. We're about to kiss and then -- ouch, a bee sting. Then our lips finally meet for purposes unintended, in a more medical context.

eDrive: But the romance is out there now, right? Are you guys going to make goo-goo eyes at each other during season six?

Gillian: I really have no idea how the relationship will shift in the series. In the movie, I was most struck by the fact that it's very much a love story. It was about two human beings in addition to all the other alien and conspiracy stuff.

eDrive: Chris Carter doesn't tell you or David what's going on with the characters and the plot more than one or two episodes ahead?

Gillian: I don't know about David, but I'm kept in the dark. I don't ask Chris too many questions, though, and that's because I don't think I'll ever get any real answers. I'm more curious than I've ever been about where it's going, though, because of the romance element now. How can we go back to doing the series, after the momentous scenes in the movie, how can we go back doing the series the same way? I'm not sure we can.

eDrive: Do you personally subscribe to any conspiracy theories?

Gillian: Well, I've always been skeptical of the governments' motives in just about anything. I think I'd be fooling myself if the show didn't heighten those beliefs to some degree. If I read in the paper that the government behaved in a certain way and the "official" version is such-and-such, I'd have a tendency to believe it would be more like so-and-so, if you see what I mean. I tend to see the negative point of view. But that doesn't mean I necessarily see vast conspiracies everywhere.

eDrive: What about the existence of extraterrestrials?

Gillian: There are so many millions of planets out there, we can barely fathom it. So to think that we're the only intelligent life forms in the universe -- or universes -- is greatly egocentric of us. I'd say it's more likely than not that there are life forms -- probably more intelligent than we are -- out there.

eDrive: In terms of the non-fan, how easy to you think it will be for them to get into the movie?

Gillian: I think they'll get into it. While I was watching it for the first time, I sat in the audience and tried to imagine never having seen these characters before, not knowing exactly what they're up to, starting from scratch. I think it can stand on its own. There's enough information and flavoring of the characters, you wouldn't have to know previous history. I feel it can stand alone as an action adventure for non-fans, while the fans will get off more on the relationship and the minutiae.

eDrive: Have you ever had any negative or unpleasant incidents involving fans? They can get pretty intense about the show.

Gillian: Oh, they sure can. But there's never been any problems. Sometimes the sheer size of the crowds at the expos and other functions is amazing, but all my experiences have been good. There's just a whole lot of people who feel passionate, show up out of common interest, and it's all good. It's appreciation and positive feedback.

eDrive: How much longer do you see doing the show? It must be grueling to do an hour drama in which you're one of the stars season after season. I think David Duchovny has been quoted as saying he's bored with the character of Mulder now. Are you bored with Scully?

Gillian: No, I'm not bored, but I think -- like David -- I'd like to see the TV series become a movie franchise and do movies once every couple of years, kind of like the Star Trek movies. We're all committed to doing at least one more season; I think I'm signed up for two more after that and David is signed up for one more after that. Doing the first and second seasons were the most grueling for me, getting used to everything and everyone. Now, it's a little easier. Of course, being pregnant and having a baby complicated things a little back in 1994...

eDrive: I would think, yes. You'll be 30 in August. Do you ever think back on how far you've come from your difficult days as a teenager?

Gillian:> At one point, I thought to myself I could either kill myself or pull out of it. I always had a sense, though, that things would work out in a good way. There's been a lot of people in my life who have been very strong, positive influences. I've had a lot of helping hands.

eDrive: Have you learned anything about yourself by playing Scully?

Gillian: [laughing] Well, she's very responsible, mature, smart and compassionate -- and those are all human qualities to which I aspire.