Gillian Anderson admits she had doubts about return of The X Files

After all, it was the show that launched the then 24-year-old’s career and was a worldwide hit, spawning more than 200 episodes and two movies.

But Gillian is remarkably open about her reluctance to return to the sci-fi show that made her such a star.

“It took a while to persuade me, I think. When it was first brought up, I didn’t like the idea at all,” admits the stunning actress, 47.

“When we first did the series in the early 90s, I had no life, and I didn’t want to experience that again with three kids. That was the bottom line, really.

“So the big thing for me was that they were only doing six episodes, that I’d be able to fit it into my schedule.

“Then at the point that that was agreed, it seemed like maybe we could have some fun with it and wouldn’t it be great to be able to give this back to the fans?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1SmJUBT5q0

Gillian’s become a regular on British TV with Dickens adaptation Great Expectations and Belfast-set serial-killer series The Fall, which will return for a third and final series later this year.

She owes her note-perfect English accent in each to the fact she spent her early years in London, which has also been her base for several years.

But why is she so believable as The X-Files’ Dana Scully, an FBI agent assigned to debunk co-star David Duchovny’s conspiracy theories, and also as DSI Stella Gibson in The Fall?

“I guess I look like I know what I’m talking about. I look obey-able!” she laughs.

“But I would be awful as a real cop. I have a really dreadful memory. I can tell you weird and creepy things about rooms, but not useful information.

“My report back would be on what shade the walls were, the specific colour, rather than there being a tiny bloodstain behind the freezer.”

A major part of The X-Files’ appeal was wondering “will they, won’t they” get together about Gillian’s Scully and Duchovny’s character Fox Mulder.

Their characters sparked off each other on screen, were a couple in the second film and are now apart for the new mini-series.

“David and I have that chemistry, even if we’re just talking to each other as ourselves, not in character,” says Gillian who won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performances as sceptical Scully.

“There was something that happened in our very first scene together, in Mulder’s office, that lit a fire that has never been put out.

“I was looking forward to working with David again.

“We’ve become friends over the years in the interim and I knew we’d probably have a good time.”

So could there be yet more X-Files after this brief six-part reboot?

“If that’s what the fans want and they’re not put off by our walking sticks, then fantastic,” laughs Gillian.

“Everybody wins.”