The Film That Lit My Fuse: ‘The X-Files’ & ‘The Crown’s Gillian Anderson

The Film That Lit My Fuse is a Deadline video series that aims to provide an antidote to grim headlines about industry uncertainty by swinging the conversation back to the creative ambitions, formative influences and inspirations of some of today’s great screen artists.

Every installment asks the same five questions. Answering them today is the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress Gillian Anderson. She spent the early years of her career in theatre before shooting to international fame in Fox’s sci-fi classic The X-Files as Dana Scully, for which she earned her Hollywood statues.

Since then, Anderson has appeared in films including The Last King of Scotland and become synonymous with countless high-end British dramas, including War & Peace, The Fall and most recently the Netflix hit Sex Education, in which she plays sex therapist Jean Milburn.

The Netflix connection will grow stronger later this year, when she stars as Margaret Thatcher in The Crown. In doing so, Anderson is following in the footsteps of her hero Meryl Streep, who depicted the British prime minister in The Iron Lady. Streep gets more than one mention in Anderson’s The Film That Lit My Fuse, as she credits Out of Africa for helping stir her passion for acting.

Check out the video above.