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New York May, 9 1998 *Wild Applause* Gillian: Hellloooo New York! (*more cheering*) Gillian:Oh-My-God! (*someone screams "We love you!") Gillian: You guys are unbelievable! Are you guys having fun? (*many yell "YES!"*) Gillian: What’s going on out there? I don’t even know what you guys have been doing all day! *Someone in the audience shouts, "Waiting for YOU!"* Gillian: Is ummm...Mulder’s apartment set up somewhere? Or Mulder’s office or something? I don’t even know what to say! I ummm...should be start with some questions? *More yelling and shouting of "We love you, Gillian" from the audience* Gillian: I love you too! (*audience goes nuts upon hearing this!*) Gillian: And you! Why don’t we ummm...I’m really dumb when it comes to these things (laughs) so why don’t we go straight to some questions and maybe I’ll find my way somewhere. How do we begin? Young woman: I’ll go! Gillian: Who’s I? Young woman: Me!Me!Me! (*someone yells, "To your right!"*) Young woman: Here! Here! I’ve got the mike! I’ve got the mike! Gillian: Okay...all right...all right Young woman: Hi! I’m Molly. Gillian: Hi, Molly. Molly: Thank you, first of all, for dealing with all the flashes. I hope that you, like, have sight after this. Gillian: Well, I’m just glad I’m not epileptic, that’s all. Molly: I have a kind of, like deep question but ummm...I know that you did a lot of stage work, like you trained for stage before you did tv, and I was wondering, because I know that...I just actually graduated from drama school 24 hours ago... Gillian: Congratulations! Molly: Thank you. And I know that it’s really grueling and draining to do a stage show every night and I was wondering if there has ever been a show that beyond, like the series...and how grueling it is to do it, like a part or a specific show that was like completely draining and like you felt like it was....you had gone through like, a two hour play on stage...I know this is like a really in depth question. I’m like thinking for myself...or the other question I was going to ask - Have you ever fallen off one of the blocks that you stood on when you’re doing a scene with Mulder? Gillian: Ehhh! *Audience laughs* Molly: That sounds really bad, ‘cus you are so cute! I didn’t know you were going to be so, like... Gillian: Short? *Audience laughs again* Molly: Yeah!....No,...it’s okay. Gillian: Yeah,...short. *Someone yells "Short people rule!"* Gillian (laughing): Ummm...I actually have fallen of those blocks many times. There’s actually a lot of scenes where...where I’m walking up towards the camera and, all of a sudden, I just kind of disappear out of frame, you know? But, yeah, ummm...along the production I’d have to say the most grueling thing I’ve ever done has been this. I did do a movement piece for a while where we rehearsed for many hours and did some ummm...a lot of...kind of...spontaneous dance stuff, and that was pretty grueling. But I really don’t have that much experience with very much at all other than this, so ummm...talk to me in a few years. Molly: Thank you. Autumn: Hi! Over here...to your right! Gillian: Hi! Autumn: For the first five seasons, there has been something that’s been a source of grave irritation for your biggest fans. So, some of us decided to do something about it and, on behalf of the 800 members worldwide of The Order of the Blessed Saint Scully the Enigmatic, I’d like to present you with a nameplate for the damn door... (*audience yells loudly which drowns out what Autumn is saying*) ...which is slightly larger than Mulder’s. *More screaming and shouting from the audience* Gillian (laughing): Wait a minute! What is it? *Someone yells, "It’s a nameplate for the door!!"* Gillian (still laughing): I think I have to have a desk first before.... (*audience too noisy*) ...I have to have a door first, isn’t that right? *People yell, "Read the back!"* Gillian: Read the back? Okay, okay, okay..."Gillian, we’re still working on the desk." (Gillian laughs) Thank you! Well, now that Mulder’s office has burned down, I have some hopes that maybe the next one that we work out of will be mine, or at least ours. So thank you very much. This is wonderful! *Audience claps* Gillian: Hi, Sharon from New York. Sharon: I just have to tell you that my 12 year old nephew here, just thinks Scully is the epitome of womanhood! Isn’t that great? We didn’t have an opportunity to - none of us got an opportunity - get an autograph from you, but I was just wondering...it would mean so much to him if you could give him a little hug and kiss? Gillian: Sure! Bring him up here! *Audience applauds* Gillian: What’s your name? Little boy: Travis Gillian: Where in New York are you from? Little boy: New Jersey Gillian: From New Jersey? Oh, this is an alien pen! Did you buy them here? You know what? This isn’t really a good pen to use on photographs but I think somebody around here must have a Sharpie. *Someone yells, "I do!"* Gillian: Okay...all right...here we go... *More applause* Gillian: Isn’t he cute? Young girl: Hi, Gillian! Gillian: Hi! Young girl (early teens): Ohmygod! I’m so excited! Okay...first of all, you are the...Scully IS the epitome of womanhood because, not only can she kick ass but she also deals with Mulder and her cancer and she works with Mulder without jumping him so.... (*audience screams*) Young girl (early teens):...okay, ummm...what I was going to ask you is.... Gillian (laughing): So the epitome of womanhood is SEXUAL RESTRAINT? *Audience laughs* Gillian: I don’t think so...but it’s a nice thought! Young girl: No, it’s just...it has to take some restraint, I would think, ummm...In "Humbug," you put the bug in your mouth and, you know, it’s like in the official tape, Chris Carter said you actually put it in your mouth and, Ohmygod! Wasn’t it like, buzzing around in your mouth? Weren’t you like, freaking out? Gillian: Let me tell you something. There was a naked, bald man with tatooed puzzle pieces sitting in a cauldron right in front of me... Young girl: Were the tatooed pieces real? Gillian: Huh? Young girl: Were they real?...they really tatooed on? The blue? Gillian: They were really tatooed on but they weren’t real puzzle pieces (laughs). But ummm...he was sitting there with fifty or so crawling up the side of his head and around and in his mouth, and he was chomping them and their guts were like going out, you know? And they asked me to, like pick one, and they spent like $1500 on these like, little chocolate ummm, cockroach... Young girl: Crickets Gillian: Crickets, thank you. And it just wasn’t real. And so....No, it stayed very still in my mouth, as I remember. It just kind of sat on the back of my tongue and since I was off camera, I spat it out. I wish I could tell you I chewed it and swallowed it but, you know... Young girl: I wouldn’t expect you to go that far! Gillian: THAT would have been the epitome of womanhood! Young girl: Thank you so much for coming. Woman: Hi, Gillian! Gillian: Hi! Woman: I’m Sharon from New York. Young woman: Hi! I have two questions. The first one is, ummm...Are you scared at all of how obsessed these PEOPLE are? *Audience laughs* Young woman:> I mean, I like the show, but I think some of these people are like... *Gillian and the audience laugh* Gillian: Watch out! Ummm....you know what? What I feel right now is just a lot of people who really love the show and a lot of appreciation for the show (*audience claps and cheers*). And it feels like this is like, a representation of everybody from every walk of life who just, you know, either gets a kick out of the show or is obsessed with the show or lives for the show or whatever and, you know...whatever gets your rocks off. Young woman: And my second question is - Do you have a preference, ummm...like, do you prefer stage or, I am sure working on The X-Files is a lot of fun but...Do you maybe like working on stage better than with a television program or...? Gillian: You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve been on stage and I know that I still am incredibly passionate about it. The medium of television is so very very different, that I think that it’s not quite comparable but both have their many attributes. But I have to say that stage versus tv...I’ve got to say that I enjoyed stage work better. Young woman: Thank you very much. Gillian: You’re welcome. Young woman: You’re beautiful by the way. Man: Hi, Gillian. Gillian: Oh, a male voice! I have to prepare myself! Man: I have a silly question. I was wondering this for the longest time. I wanted to know if you and David were actually naked together on the cover of Rolling Stone. *Audience laughs and cheers* Gillian: Well, as I recall (*someone yells, "Tell the truth!"*) Gillian:...he had some black satin boxer shorts on (*more cheering from audience - Gillian is laughing*) Gillian: I mean, it was a technical thing. I just have to preface this by saying it was a technical thing. I had like...I don’t even know how to describe this thing...like, you know, those little tap pants. Those little like, tan tap pants, you know....yeah...and like a negligee kind of top thing. But, when I laid sideways on his chest, ummm...it didn’t quite look right with the little bit of black so...we kinda had to pull it down, so...I did have my naked breast on his naked chest. (*audience goes wild*) Gillian: But ummm....from here, you know, down to here we were clothed (laughing)! Okay. Man: Thanks! Gillian:You’re welcome! Little girl: Hi! My name is Lillian and I just want to say that you’re the best actor in the world. It’s always been my dream to meet you and I wanted to know, out of all the cast of The X-Files, who’s your favorite to work with? Gillian: You’re making me miss my daughter right now. *Audience collectively says "Awwww!"* Gillian (laughs through this whole account): Who’s my favorite to work with out of the cast of The X-Files? Ummm...well you know, David and I have a lot of fun you know...we really do. And I love working with Mitch. Mitch and I crack up all the time! And, I gotta tell you something. There was an episode, that I think it aired already. I think it aired last weekend. There was a couple...there was one where it’s this really tragic thing where this acid was poured all over these people and we go into this ummm...theatre...this movie theatre and all these like, like...ummm...dead people are sitting in the theatre seats with like, their skin burned off! And we walk in, and we shine the flashlights and we’re like halfway down and we just started CRACKING UP. It was the silliest thing we had ever seen. It was just like these little DEAD HEADS, all over the place! And so we had to like...Rob Bowman...it was like 3 o’clock in the morning and he’s got the cameras rolling and he’s like, "NO! NO! Go back and do it again!" And we go running up to the top of the aisle and we get all serious and we go walking down again until we see these dead heads again and we started cracking up and, I don’t know. It took forever to shoot it and so that’s my experience with working with Mitch. It just, ummm...we take nothing seriously to the bane of our director. Did that kinda answer your question? Gillian: Hi! Man: Hi there! For somebody who’s completely locked into the character, can you tell us if we can expect a future episode directed by Gillian Anderson? Gillian: Oh God! *Audience shouts "Yeah! Yeah!"* Gillian: Oh, probably not. I may be interested in directing sometime in the future but it would have to be something completely separate from this. I mean, I don’t know how anybody could actually participate as an actor in an episode and also direct. I have no clue as to how the directors that we work with pull off what they do. And I’ve just learned how to deal with the level of stress that I’m under. And I don’t think that I even could fathom the level of stress that they are under. And I’m not sure if I would want to put myself up to that. But ummm...it’s a good thought. And I’m not sure I would want to direct David Duchovny (laughing)! *Audience laughs too* Gillian (still laughing): Well, it would be a little difficult, you know! I mean, what am I gonna say? Ummm..."Could you be a little more...ANGRY, David?" Or, "Could you ummm..." I just...It would be really really hard to do that! I wouldn’t know what to say to him! "STAND OVER THERE!" *Audience laughs....someone asks a question without using the mike* Gillian: Am I what? *Someone asks, "Are you going to Saturday Night Live tonight?"* Gillian: I was thinking about it, yeah. (*audience screams and applauds*) Gillian: Are you guys gonna be there? *Someone yells, "Not unless you get us tickets!"* Gillian: Hi! Young woman (late teens): Hi, Gillian. I’m Rebecca. First of all, I want to say ‘I am not worthy!’ I ummm...I just want to know...you, as a person...not your character on the show but you as a person in general...you’re such an inspiration to me and to many other women all over the country and all over the world. And I want to know how it feels to YOU to know that there are so many people, like myself, that look up to you. I mean...and have posters of you on their walls and just think you’re like the greatest thing since sliced bread, you know? You as a person...not your character...YOU. Gillian: Well, you know, I gotta tell you, at the beginning when ummm...when I first started to realize that ummm...when I started to read my fan mail and started realizing there were a lot of young women who ummm...who looked up to Scully and saw her as a role model. I was pregnant at the time and it was ummm...it was a huge weight on me at first. I didn’t know how to comprehend it. I didn’t know what to do with the information. I didn’t know how I was ever going to live up to what people thought that I was. But I think that, in the end, what has happened is that it has helped me to keep my focus and to really make specific what is important in my life; make it very clear about what that is and it has helped me to grow as a person and to mature as a woman and, in a sense, it’s almost like we’ve been working together in a strange kind of silent way. Because I think that, if it were not for feeling like there was some small duty that I had in some way to stay sane and to stay on a healthy plan, that I might have ummm...not done that. Rebecca: I have one other question. I have read in several books that you stated that, when you were younger, you were kind of like a punk chick and you used to dye your hair and do all funky stuff, you know. So I was wondering, if you weren’t on The X-Files right now, and you could dye your hair any color, what color would it be and why? Gillian: You know, I think about that AAAALLLLLL the time! Rebecca: I still do it and I just wanted to know. Gillian: You know, it’s funny. I do. Ummm...see the other problem is that, even though it’s not The X-Files, if I wasn’t doing the show, I’d still be auditioning for other stuff so I couldn’t, you know, go in and auditon for (*can't make out the words*) with like, blue hair. Well, I could, but I probably wouldn’t get the job! Because of the fact that I’d like to be a working actor, I probably wouldn’t dye my hair, but I do definitely want to grow it long again and, you know, do some streak stuff. *Audience cheers very loudly* Gillian: Just, you know...you know... Rebecca: Thank you Man: Hi. And before I ask my question - When you asked about David Duchovny directing you, you could respond, "Well, who’s got the Emmy?" I mean, you have a problem right there! Anyway, my question is... Gillian (laughing): I think he might have a problem and I wouldn’t blame him! Man: I was just wondering, are they ever going to give you another love interest on the show at all? Gillian: You know, I hope so! It’s about time, don’t you think? *Mixed reaction from audience - some yell, "No!" while others clap* Gillian: Well, you know, I mean it is so hard because on the one hand you want, you know...there’s that little...you want Mulder and Scully to... (*audience goes wild*) Gillian: But really, you don’t! I mean, deep deep deep down, if you were to search the bottom of your heart, you wouldn’t. But it would be good to at least have somebody that he could get jealous about! *More wild cheering from audience* Man: We were thinking you could cross over with Twin Peaks and bring in Kyle MacLachlan as Agent Cooper and then you could do the whole thing..."Hey Mulder, last time I worked with you, weren’t you wearing a dress?" Gillian: Nah! It doesn’t do it for me, sorry! Woman: Hi Gillian! My name is Caryl. First of all, I just want to say your work on the show is absolutely exquisite! (*audience cheers*) Woman: The acting is amazing. I do theatre and MOST people I know, in the theatre, are just blown away by your acting on the show. It’s just phenomenal. Gillian: Thank you. Caryl: "Never Again" is one of my favorite episodes but I know there was a lot of controversy with some of the fans over it being out of character for Scully. And I was wondering, for YOU - have you ever looked through a script or been asked to play a scene where you just went ‘That’s not the character I see!’ and, if so, could you maybe speak about that and how you’ve been able to solve that problem for yourself...when you were having to do the scene. Gillian: You know, I think it was actually more where it’s been in reverse, at least in the beginning as I was trying to grasp who this character was. There were times when Chris would call me and say, ‘Okay, let’s start from scratch. This is who the character is. Remember who this person is.’ Because I kinda go off onto different paths and find my way back again. But, in terms of "Never Again," I would like to address that because something did occur to me. You know, as we were working on it, you know, you see these characters...you see one facet of their lives and, to a degree, you have to imagine that there is something else. And I know for myself, and for a lot of people that I know, that what you see of them in a room, or in a relationship, or in public, can be very very different from what they are underneath. I mean, talk about...I mean, for instance, men...ummm, middle aged men. I’m not just singling them out, but middle aged men who, at 2 o’clock in the morning, will go out to a transvestite bar and dance! You know, there’s a lot of stuff you don’t see. People with addictions, people with eating disorders...there’s so much about human beings that we may not see at the office or whatever and who knows that she may not have a dark side that just once in a while kind of peeks its head out? Caryl: Oh, I thought it was terrific! Gillian: It’s an interesting way to go. It was fun to do. It was different. Caryl: Thank you *Someone in the audience asks, "What’s your tattoo of?"* Gillian: It’s a...it’s right there...It’s two...I had it done in Tahiti. It’s two Tahitian tortoises back to back. You know, there was this guy in Tahiti called George, who was Polynesian-Tahitian and he had tattoos over half of his entire body, front and back, and most of the ones on the front he did himself. I have no idea who did the ones on the back. But I asked him what would be a Tahitian symbol for ‘Peace Of Mind’ and he said, ‘Let me think about this.’ And then he showed me his little finger and from the knuckle up he had this thing...of these two tortoises and I guess, because tortoises represent peacefulness and longevity and, you know...so I did it. Gillian: Hi! Woman: My name’s Ginny, with a G. Gillian: I’m sorry? Woman: Ginny with a G, like Gillian! I came all the way from Maryland. I had a five hour drive just to see you and, no autograph, but I’m not complaining. Anyway, I just have two questions. I ‘m sure you know all about the fake pictures of you on the internet. Gillian: Uh huh, why? Do you have one rolled up right there in your hand? I really haven’t seen many of them, but I’d be interested... Ginny: They’re really bad. Gillian: Okay. Ginny: Your head’s not attached to your body...but anyway, how do you feel about that? Gillian: How do I feel about that? I think that if I thought that any of them were real that THAT would bother me. That if somebody, in my life, had actually exposed some naked pictures of me... Ginny: Did you pose nude before? *Audience laughs* Gillian (laughing): Not on purpose! But you know how things just kind of crop up out of your life and you go, ‘Oh My God! That’s what I did!’ All the time, as a celebrity, you’re thinking, ‘Oh My God! What did I do? What did I do?’ And so, hopefully, that won’t come up. But what do I think about that? I think that ummm...as I said, as long as...if if if it’s not my body and it’s somebody else’s, I really don’t care, you know. I don’t. It doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t do one thing or another for me. It’s, you know... *A man in the audience yells, "You’re gorgeous!" Ginny: And what kind of underwear do you think Scully wears? *Audience laughs* Gillian: What kind of underwear would Scully...ummm, okay, well, let’s see. It wouldn’t be a G-string, that’s for one. Ummm...she probably...she’s not like Jockey. I mean, she’s not like, you know, like big white things. I don’t think so. You know, it’s probably just some kind of sweet little cotton things, you know, but not too thick of a band...just kind of a little, you know an inch, an inch and a half. Wouldn’t you say? (*audience claps*) Gillian: I mean, I don’t think she’s got like little Barneys or strawberries or anything either but, you know...maybe a couple of years ago. Man: Okay. I have a question over here. Hi! How are you? Gillian: Hi! I’m good. Man: Now, she said she came a long way, five hours. I came all the way from Michigan to ask you a couple of questions. I know that you went to school in Grand Rapids, if I’m not mistaken; maybe your family is still in Grand Rapids. What would you say to someone who comes, I don’t know, from a small town and has a dream like yours to achieve something like you’ve achieved? And also, my other question is, since you’re not going to make it to Detroit - to The X-Files Expo in Detroit - what would you say to your fans in Detroit? Gillian: Ummm... *Audience laughs* Man: Sorry Gillian (laughing): Yes, that is what I would say. I’d say I’m sorry. Sorry you have to live in Detroit. No! *Audience can’t believe she just said that!* Gillian (still laughing): Come on! I get to say that because I’ve lived in Michigan for a while. No, I ummm...no, I wouldn’t say that. I’d say ‘Hi!’ and ‘I’m sorry I can’t be there’ is what I’d say. And what would I say for anybody? You know, it’s hard. I have been so incredibly lucky in my life and in my career to be in the right place at the right time and ummm...I mean, I think all I can say is that if you have a goal; if there is something in your life that you’re interested in doing, whatever it is - whether it’s got to do with acting or being an environmental engineer or whatever - you’ve got to put your mind and your energy there. And you can’t sleep in until 11 o’clock in the afternoon and you can’t, you know...You’ve just got to do what it takes to get where you want to be. As an actor - getting up, pounding the pavement, getting your photo out there, and doing as many auditions as you can, taking acting classes, or going to college and studying acting or...doing whatever you can, in whatever field you’re in, to educate yourself as much as you can about what you’re interested in. And ummm...that’s really the best you can do. ‘Cus you can’t live in a fantasy of ‘Somebody’s going to rescue me. Somebody’s going to take care of me.’ You really have to do it yourself and put one foot in front of the other and eventually it will pay off. It really will. It’s hard going through it when you have to get up at 8 o’clock in the morning and go to a 9 to 5 job for a while because you are temping and you really want to be doing something else. But if you keep doing what it is right in front of your nose and you give it time and you keep your focus, you’ll get there. Man: You like Michigan though, right? Gillian: You didn’t hear a word I just said, did you? *Audience laughs* Man: No, I heard every word you said. But you dissed Michigan in the process. I hope you still like us. Gillian: No-no-no! It’s just ummm...It was wrong of me to stay that because I haven’t spent a lot of time in Detroit and it may be a really beautiful city. I did ummm...spend quite a bit of time in Grand Rapids, Michigan and it’s, you know...I’m just not a small town person, you know. I’m just not. And some people are, and that’s great. Man: All right. Thanks a lot. I appreciate your time. Gillian: Thank you *Audience members yell "Gillian!" and someone whistles loudly* Gillian (laughing): Who are you that keeps whistling at me? Young girl (early-mid teens): Hi! (her voice breaks) I’m sorry. I’m like...I love you too! I’m like breaking my best friend’s hand here because this is like talking to God right now! I was just wondering like, what did you feel about the introduction to Emily in the show? And like, you having a daughter? Did that help you in your acting experience and the way you felt towards her on the show? Gillian: You know, I think it did. I think before I got pregnant, before I had my daughter, I... My parents had kids when I was ummm...I was an only child until I was 13 and so, I kind of became the live-in babysitter for a while. And so, after I moved away from home, I...I was not a kid person whatsoever. It wasn’t until I got pregnant and started to feel ummm...to really feel another life growing inside me and to start getting all those maternal feelings that I really kind of stepped up to the plate of being a mother and I think that, because of the state of mind that I was in, before having that experience without having a child, I wouldn’t have had the sensitivity to a young girl as I was able to do with this girl that I worked with. I think a lot of it has to do with the experience of being a mother. Young girl: Thank you so much! You rule! You really do! Gillian: Thank you *Someone in audience asks, "How is your daughter?"* Gillian: How is she? She’s wonderful! What? *Same person asks, "Does she hang around the set at all?"* Gillian: Yes, she’s on the set all the time. *Audience members yell "Happy Mother’s Day!"* Gillian: Oh thanks!....No, I can’t be with her tomorrow. *More people scream "Happy Mother’s Day!"* Gillian: Oh, thank you! I have to tell you, she is the cutest kid in the entire (can't make out the words). What, what, what? I’m sorry. I can’t hear you at all!...You mailed me a drumstick? Yeah, I do have it! You mailed me a drumstick! (laughing) My daughter plays with it! Is that okay? Is it okay that my daughter plays with it? You have another one? Okay. All right. Woman: Hey, Gillian! How are you doing? Gillian: I’m good. Woman: My name’s Ruby Thomas. I came down from Canada. Gillian: Hi! Where in Canada? Ruby: Winnepeg, Manitoba Gillian: Cool Ruby: Speaking of things that people sent you, like the drumstick, I sent you a drawing one time and you sent me an autograph back. It was really sweet for you to do that. I just want to say, first of all, that the security men here told me that I had to kneel down before I could come up and ask you a question. Gillian: Oh! Get out of here!!! Ruby: And normally, I wouldn’t kneel down for celebrities but, I said ‘Well, okay. Gillian Anderson. I’ll kneel down for her, that’s all.’ Gillian (laughing): What do you mean he tells you to kneel down? Ruby: So everyone can see in the back! Gillian: Oh! Okay. Ruby: My question is...I was going to ask you something serious but I think I’m just going to make it really frivolous. Gillian: Go for it! Ruby: People were talking about the Rolling Stone cover. I wanted to ask you about the US magazine cover where you are licking David’s face (*audience cheers*) Ruby: I just wanted to ask you, how did the photographer sort of, you know, get that idea and how did he coerce you into doing that? Gillian: Well, I have ummm...a habit of...licking people’s faces! (laughing) I have a habit of just kind of doing whatever the photographer suggests. But sometimes it might not be such a good idea. But ummm...it was the photographer’s idea and it seemed like a good idea at the time although, in retrospect, I’m not so sure anymore. Ummm...but he did and he mentioned it and he, you know,...they show you Polaroids of your stand-ins doing the same thing and how it’s going to look. It didn’t look too controversial. Ruby: Well, you know, TIME magazine nominated it as one of the best magazine covers of last year. Gillian: No! I didn’t know that! Ruby: Yeah, it was in their issue so I thought that it was kinda cool that they would pick that one ‘cus that was an interesting one. Gillian: Thank you Ruby: But, I want to thank you for coming. Thank you very much. Young girl (mid teens): Hi! First, I just wanted to say that I know you are interested in science and, as a smart young student who is interested in science and aspire in acting, I’d love to say I really admire you. Gillian: Thank you Young girl: I was wondering...I am pretty sure you were aware of the fan response on the internet. I was wondering if you have any comments about Fan Fiction; about how those fans want you guys to get together and how they write different scenarios...if you have any comments on that. Gillian: I actually haven’t read any of those scenarios. Ummm...can you hear that feedback? Is it me?...I haven’t read any of those scenarios. What do I think about it? Having not read them, should I answer the question? Or do I need to have read them in order to answer the question? Young girl: I just want to know your ideas on how people actually write this stuff about your characters...how you feel about it. Gillian: Well, I think it’s, you know, it’s fine. It’s great. I mean, if people want to, you know, write stories or they have fantasies about how they would like to see us ummm...it’s not harming anybody. *Audience getting very noisy again* Gillian: How do I what? What? What was my favorite? You know, I have to say that now, "Bad Blood" had got to be one of my favorites. (*audience cheers*) Gillian: I don’t think any of us realized, when we were doing it, that it was actually going to come out like it did. I just...I cracked up through the whole thing! *Audience members still yelling out questions* Gillian: When I was younger? Ummm...it took me a long time to. I kind of held on to it as a crutch for a while. You know, when I’m in England, or whenever I’m around British people... Actually, I have a funny story. I was doing, like, the first job I ever got when I was living here in New York - was a commercial. And the director was British. And he...I just had a few lines, but he’d tell me ummm...he’d come over and he’d give me some notes and then I’d do it the way he wanted me to do it, but I’d do it with a British accent because I was picking up on HIS British accent! So he had to have...tell somebody else the notes, who was American, and then have them relay it to me so I didn’t. I pick up on it really quickly and it’s hard for me when I’m around Brits not to fall into it. But it’s actually been very beneficial for me because a lot of the theatre that I’ve done has been British. *More yells from the audience. Someone suggests, "Talk with a British accent!"* Gillian: Ahhh...I should get back to the people behind the mike. I’m already running over. Man:> Thank you. My name’s Fred and we were told before you came out that you were very nervous about coming out and, I just wanted to let you know, from an audience member’s perspective, that you’re handling it very well. Gillian (laughing): Thank you very much. Fred: Also, this is kind of personal, but I figured, if other people can ask you what you wear for underwear, I can ask you this. We know Dana Scully’s faith is - Dana Scully is of the Catholic faith. I was wondering what your faith is and what your beliefs are regarding God and the Bible. Gillian: Ummm...well...ummm... Fred:> Sorry Gillian: No, it’s okay. I ummm...I wasn’t raised on any specific religion at all and, in a sense, I feel that that was a good thing because I was allowed to find my own way. My belief has more to do with a belief in a constant, loving energy in the world - just something good. An energy that binds all of us. That is inside of us and outside of us and is in every person and every rock, and every tree, and ummm... Fred: Kind of like ‘The Force?’ *Audience laughs* Gillian (in a goofy tone of voice): Yeah. Kind of like ‘The Force.’ *More questions are yelled out from the audience* Gillian: I don’t think so! Oh, come on!! The question was: Would I marry David Duchovny if he wasn’t married to Tea Leoni?! All right, how many people would want that to happen, SERIOUSLY? (*some cheering and groaning from the audience*) Gillian: And how many people would like....Okay, I’ve done this wrong! I’m actually curious by this - How many people would REALLY be interested in seeing that happen? Okay...all right...there you go. But you know, if Mulder and Scully got together, that’s okay.... (*audience cheers loudly*) Gillian: Okay (Gillian talking to someone on stage) Gillian:...Didn’t these guys raffle off ticket questions? They bought raffle tickets, right? (Person she is talking to says, "No. That’s for autographs!") Gillian: Hi! Young girl (mid-teens): Over the entire series, but especially over the last two seasons, your character has been getting deeper and expanding more. What would be something that you would want to see her do or become? Gillian: You know, it’s interesting. I don’t really think about it that much ummm...because the writers have done a really tremendous job at allowing each of us to grow on some really interesting and deep paths and, I don’t think in that respect, I’ve ever felt like I’m not being challenged in any way, or there’s stuff that I’d like to do that I’m not. I mean, there are...there are ummm... the only thing that has really been an issue for me has been the issue of her skepticism and how can she just keep NOT believing after seeing all this stuff all the time! And you know, I mean...the bottom line is that there is a dynamic that works. There is a formula that works between Mulder and Scully and, you know....Hey Cutie! (directed at someone in audience)...If it were to change at all for any length and period of time, it would just change the balance of the show. And so, in some way, we need to keep that alive. I think that she has definitely become more open-minded and...but even somet imes...even after a few episodes of her open-mindedness, she’ll still be very skeptical about something. You know, really small, like a bug that eats people’s toes or something. I don’t know what I’m saying. But you know what I mean. You know. All right. Young girl: And what was one of the strangest rumors you’ve heard about you that... Gillian: I’m sorry. What? Young girl: One of the rumors or tabloid stories that’s been about you. What’s one of the strangest that you’ve heard? Gillian: Strangest? Ummm...I recently got asked if I would be in a coffee table book for twins. (*audience laughs*) Gillian: I...I’d say THAT’S pretty strange! *Someone in the audience says something* Gillian: Yeah! What? Do you know something that I don’t know?!! Ummm...ummm... yeah...I mean like, an old boyfriend published in The Globe once, poetry that I’d written him which was really BAD poetry and that was kind of a strange experience, yeah. Okay, last question. Young woman: I just want to say (can't make out the words)and I really just so admire you and you really inspired me. I’m going to acting school and stuff and my question was: I heard you were in "The Mighty" and "Hell Cab" and it was really confusing if it was a made-for-tv movie or a movie for the theatre and what’s going on with it? Gillian: "Hell Cab" is a little independent film that was made and produced out of Chicago - I was born in Chicago! - and it was ummm...apparently it just screened at The Los Angeles Film Festival. I don’t know exactly what’s happening to it. "The Mighty" is gonna be a great film and it’s coming out in October. It’s a Peter Chelsom film. He also directed a movie called "Funny Bones" and a movie called "Hear My Song" which are really great films. Gena Rowlands is in "The Mighty"... (tape ended at this point and had to be switched over to the other side so the rest of her sentence was not recorded) ...is coming out at the end of October...October something....30th! October 30!! Young woman: Also, in "Detour" you sang to Mulder and I am kind of requesting if you could sing again? *Audience cheers loudly!* Gillian: No! No! If I...Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog? (*audience still cheering*) That is the funniest thing! But I’d have to do it like Scully would do it, right? Turn my back to you!...Will you sing it with me? (laughing) All right! But you have to sing REALLY bad, like I don’t even sing really bad. Okay, everybody sing really bad! Okay, all right...I have to hide! (lauging hard now) Okay...how does it go? (*audience starts singing ‘Jeremiah was a bullfrog’*) and Gillian joins in at ‘was a good friend of mine/never understood a single word he said/but I helped him drink his wine/Joy to the world/SING BAD!/All the boys and girls/Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea/Joy to you and me!’ *Audience cheers wildly!* Man on Stage: Ladies and Gentlemen, Gillian Anderson! Gillian: Thank you! That was fun! These are a couple of posters that we auctioned off and we got $2500 for each one, which is really cool, and I agreed to sign them and so I’m going to sign them on stage! Man on Stage: Here they are. Here, I’ll hold the mike for a sec. Gillian: Okay Man on Stage: Can I ask your name nd where you’re from? Yeah. These are awesome. For the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation we raised $5000 from these two people here. We are delighted for this chance. So what’s your name and where are you from? -Michelle (can't make the rest out) from (can't make the rest out) and my sister, Rebecca -JoAnn (can't make the rest out) from Fremont, California. Rebecca and Michelle, are you gonna swap in each other’s rooms just back and forth, Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays for Rebecca...Tuesdays, Thursdays for Michelle...whatever? Gillian is looking, kinda concerned. Here we go. All right, one more. Does she look like a million bucks or what? (*audience cheers in agreement*) Show us, let’s take a look. Show everybody what you got there. ‘To Rebecca and Michelle, ‘...what does that say? -Gillian should have been a doctor!- (continues reading) ‘That’s me, Gillian. Thanks for the charity, Gillian Anderson.’ That’s wonderful! That’s wonderful! (*audience cheers*) You want to say goodbye to New York? You are going to be signing autographs for the lucky people who won the lottery today and you’ll be back tomorrow! Gillian: Thanks, you guys! Thank you all for coming! This was fabulous! You guys are great! *Audience goes wild* Man on Stage: Ladies and Gentlemen, Gillian Anderson! She will be back tomorrow for anybody who did not get enough today. We appreciate you! Gillian: Bye, you guys! Thank you for coming! Bye, New York!!!! Transcript courtesy of Cécile Le Floc'h..      |