Gillian Anderson is opening up about her sexuality, identifying as pansexual in a recent interview after years of speaking candidly about her attraction to women.
The 58-year-old X-Files and Sex Education star discussed sexuality, attraction, and the evolution of her identity during an interview with The Australian.
Writer Nikki Gemmell said Anderson told her she is “pan,” meaning pansexual and attracted to people regardless of gender. During the conversation, Anderson also spoke openly about the physical traits she finds attractive in both men and women.
The revelation may not come as a complete surprise to longtime fans. Anderson has discussed relationships with women and questioned how she identifies several times throughout her career.
Anderson currently stars in the sapphic horror romance Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Miasma. She previously portrayed bisexual detective Stella Gibson in the crime thriller series The Fall, which ran from 2013 to 2016.
Speaking with The Australian, Anderson described herself as “a very sexual being” and explained that her relationship with sexuality has evolved throughout her life. However, she also suggested that her latest role may mark the end of a particularly sexual period in her professional career.
The actress has become increasingly open about her experiences with women in recent years.
In an August interview with The Times, Anderson recalled one of her earliest relationships, which was with an older girl while she was in high school. Anderson said the relationship had to remain hidden and that a boyfriend later ended their relationship after learning about it.
Her comments follow years of publicly examining her own sexual identity.
During a 2024 interview with The New Yorker surrounding the release of Want, her collection of anonymous sexual fantasies submitted by women, Anderson openly wondered whether bisexual or pansexual might describe her.
Anderson had spoken about relationships with women even earlier. In a 2015 interview with The Telegraph, she said she had previously been in same-sex relationships and would be open to another.
For Anderson, she explained at the time, the gender of a romantic partner was less important than the connection between two people.
Throughout her career, Anderson has developed a significant LGBTQ+ following through both her openness about sexuality and the complicated, powerful women she has portrayed onscreen.
Her most recognizable roles include FBI agent Dana Scully in The X-Files, sex therapist Jean Milburn in Netflix’s Sex Education, psychiatrist Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier in Hannibal, and Stella Gibson in The Fall.
Now, after years of publicly discussing attraction to both men and women, Anderson appears to have found a label that fits: pansexual.
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