In the newest issue of Out magazine, X-Files star Gillian Anderson talks about her career, but it’s her mention of romances with women that got the attention.
In an article titled “The Double Life of Gillian Anderson,” she mentions in passing that she had “a long relationship” with another girl while in high school. In the interview, she discusses how odd it was to move from England to Michigan when she was a kid, and that when she was in high school she was considered an oddball by her classmates.
Anderson, who made her name as Agent Dana Scully in the 1990s hit TV show The X-Files, mentions that one of the things that set her apart were her relationships. She then makes a quick list of a “punk drug addict,” as well as “someone way, way older than me.” But it’s her comment, “I was in a relationship with a girl for a long time when I was in high school” that caught everyone’s attention.
She’s asked to elaborate, but doesn’t really. In fact, she barely talks about this so-called “lesbian” side of her at all. She mostly talks about her career — she’s soon appearing in a new TV adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations.
Great expectations might be what her lesbian fans might have upon reading this week’s headlines, but their expectations won’t be met by the Out article. You’d never know it, based on how the press has reacted.
CBS News says she “dishes on past lesbian relationships.”
ABC News says she “talks past lesbian relationships.”
The U.K. Sun says simply, “reveals lesbian relationships.”
Hollywood Dame comes right out and calls her a “high school lesbian.”
While the gossip sheets make a mountain out of a little mound, they ignore the rest of the interview, which is admittedly pretty light fare.
You’d be better off reading the Who2 biography of Gillian Anderson. But before you do that, look at these photos of Gillian Anderson:
