Gillian Anderson Is Developing New Role Based on a Historical Figure, Actor-Producer Tells Canneseries Audience

variety.com:

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorGillian Anderson, speaking at a masterclass at the Canneseries TV festival on France’s Côte d’Azur Saturday, teased that she is developing “something else” based on the life of a historical figure, following her roles as Margaret Thatcher in “The Crown” and Eleanor Roosevelt in upcoming series “The First Lady.” No further details were forthcoming from the actor, who recently signed a producing deal with Netflix.Speaking about receiving recognition for her career achievements, such as the Variety Icon Award she accepted Friday in Cannes, she said it felt “kind of surreal actually,” adding, “it kind of feels like it is happening to somebody else.”Asked by French journalist Nora Bouazzouni, who was the onstage interviewer, whether she had realized that her role as Dana Scully in “The X-Files” would change the face of female leads on television when she first read the script, Anderson responded: “Oh God, no.” She saw it just as a job, and “figured it might be a year’s worth of work.” Anderson concurred with Bouazzouni’s assertion that Scully was a “badass” – “confident” and “no push over” – and that had set the tone for her whole career. “I think that the badass-ness pre-existed in me […] and she brought that out in me.

The nature of badass has a bit of rebelliousness in it, and I had pushed that to its limits prior to Scully. But I am definitely drawn to badass women.”She acknowledged that there was a “stigma” attached to television at that time, and said of her decision to take the role: “It was a naive and very innocent entrance into TV.