Gillian Andersonhas been a British national treasure for many years.
The yearThe X-Filesended, Anderson moved to London, and she has lived there ever since.
She had spent her earliest childhood years in the city.
Anderson and Rufus Sewell asPrince Andrew.Peter Mountain/Netflix/Everett Collection
She quickly became British cinemas best friend, starring in a string of independent productions.
And, oh yes, she was awarded an honorary OBE by the Queen in 2016.
Havisham is fictional and Thatcher is, to say the least, divisive, but Maitlis is well-respected.
What would I be subjected to?
A few months after the interview aired, Andrew indefinitely withdrew from his public roles.
Was I asking for trouble?
Anderson says she asked herself.
Does doing it cause too much controversy?
I admire her, shes still alive, shes in the same neighborhood.
More than anything, was it a fair portrayal?
This was someone elses experience and I wasnt interested in any dirt or drama.
Its part of how I relax, she laughs.
I do seem to be doing that over and over again, she notes.
In the case of Thatcher, I didnt know much about her at all.
I certainly didnt know anything about her history or her childhood.
Maitlis felt a lot closer.
Interrogating the script, it felt like the way she was presented was not controversial, Anderson says.
She comes across well.
For my brain to go blank, or to scare someone away by being too keen.
All of the things that Emily doesnt do.
Its the talent that sets good journalists apart, I think, and you see that.
I used to be married to a war correspondent, I know of that adrenaline.
I know the chasing of that feeling.
I dont know, but it seemed like part of her comes alive in that moment.
Is it excitement, is it fear?
Scoopdeftly deals with the suggestion that it might also be the weight of expectation.
Ive had panic attacks, she says.
On stage, in interviews.
On film or television, I always think Im going to be fired for the first day or two.
She remembers working onThe Fall, a dialogue-heavy project for which she received many plaudits.
And when I panicked, theyreallywouldnt stay in my head.
There were things that remained unanswered.
There are still question marks.
It was like a physical manifestation of any creative process, trial and error manifest.
It was really startling.
It is a conversation she has struggled to have with herself for many years.
Interview, interview, photo shoot, photo shoot.
Everywhere I went, there would be paparazzi.
I felt trapped, so Id sit across from a journalist and project trapped.
Why do the press want to talk about the pay disparity?
Why are they bringing all of this up again?
I didnt want to talk about any of it, she says.
But actually, now Im like, Im going to join you in talking about it because itsstillan issue.
DoingSex Educationalso helped her reshape her own narrative.
The irony is Ive only started to think consciously about it in the past two years, she says.
I can understand, with my business hat on, why I was the person hired for Scully.
But Im not sure if I ever understood or took ownership for what the trajectory was between them.
Like a true (honorary) Brit, Anderson doesnt take praise very well.
Im a bloody private person, she says, and a bit of a hermit.
If you asked me, Id rather be at home.
Then, she says, there is another point she wants to make very urgently.
She is pensive, struggling to find the words, and our time is running out.
She will write it down, she promises.
It is the first time it feels like more of a dialogue than a monologue.
A few nights ago, she remembers returning home at 11 p.m. ready to unwind with some light dismemberment.
She turned to the familys Spotify app, which she doesnt often use, and hit play.
After a few seconds, the podcast switched to a mindfulness exercise; plinky-planky meditative music and all.
It was like some ghost in the machine, she says.
Anderson persisted, but the podcast kept switching over.
Then she got a text from her 15-year-old son.
He says, Mum, are you trying to listen to a crime podcast?
He had been at his dads house, using the same shared Spotify account.
Like, shouldnt it be the other way around?
What a perfect example of how sane and healthy my kids are, and how slightly disturbed I am.
