The X-Files Revival Was Gillian Anderson's Way Of Showing Her Gratitude For Dana Scully
The original run of "The X-Files" lasted from 1993 to 2002, lasting a whopping nine seasons. Few shows were better exemplars of their time than "The X-Files." Initially released in a post-Cold War world, the series explored the shadowy world of government cover-ups and secret alien conspiracies at a time when the public had come to mistrust the government. The United States was not at war, and the citizens began to look for enemies within. In comparison to the political tumult than has come since the 1990s, the alien abductions, clone experiments, and killer liver fluke men of "The X-Files" is now a quaint, almost cute analysis of government malfeasance. Mulder and Scully would be lost in a world of QAnon and the like.
Apart from the paranoid fun, the central appeal of "The X-Files" were its two lead characters. David Duchovny played Special Agent Fox Mulder, a man skeptical of social norms and traditional religion, but very open-minded when it came to the paranormal and the scientifically unproven. Gillian Anderson played Special Agent Dana Scully, a doctor who believed in God, but insisted there was a scientific explanation for all the seemingly supernatural shenanigans she encountered with her partner. The two characters played off each other very well, and Anderson and Duchovny were excellent acting partners.
2002 was a fine time to retire "The X-Files," as the world had changed too much to fit its '90s ethos, and the story arcs were getting kind of silly anyway. Fans bid the show farewell, with only a brief follow-up in 2008 in the form of "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," a feature film that kept the story small and the relationships intimate. That, it seemed, was the end.
Coming back around to Scully
In the 2023 preview issue of Total Film Magazine, Anderson reveals that she, too, was pretty much done with playing Scully. "The X-Files" was a massively complicated sci-fi show with a very dedicated fanbase, and being so deeply entrenched in that world eventually became tiresome for the actress. She had already moved to England and was working on various theater and TV projects even prior to the 2008 movie. Anderson had appeared as Lady Dedlock in the BBC version of "Bleak House," and would eventually land a role on the crime series "The Fall." Dana Scully was behind her.
In 2016, however, a brief, six-episode tenth season of "The X-Files" was released, with Anderson and Duchovny returning for a second last hurrah. It seems that, by 2016, enough time had passed that Anderson was ready to give Scully her due again. The role had, after all, launched her into the public eye, and she wanted to acknowledge that. After some contemplation, the time had come. In her words:
"It took me a while. There was a definite period of time where I couldn't even really hear about it. I'd had my fill. And then — I don't know how long it was, whether it was a decade or less than a decade — I was suddenly realizing how unbelievably fortunate I had been, not just with its success, but to get to play a character like Scully, and for such a long time. And not just a true, iconic character, but also the impact that she particularly had on young women — women of all ages in so many different ways."
Not taking it for granted
There don't seem to be any stats on increased FBI enrollment because of Scully, but anecdotally, many peers of this author took a great deal of inspiration from her. Anderson was sensitive to the fact that a role she had previously tried to actively put behind her was largely responsible for the professional attention she was receiving in the present. It seems she wanted to make sure her gratitude was seen. What's more, enough time had passed that she and Duchovny began to feel a little nostalgic themselves. 2016 was the right time. As Anderson said:
"[I was] really coming to terms with not taking it for granted, and how lucky and how rare that is. That all started to hit me at a certain point. And I think for David, too. And certainly at the point that we started to think about, 'Go on, should we just do a couple more seasons just for the fun of it?' — in celebrating that further, or having the opportunity to celebrate it and the characters further, it was great. You can't ask for more than what those characters gave to us."
The tenth season was successful enough that Anderson and Duchovny were convinced to do a third and final "last hurrah," and a 10-episode eleventh season was broadcast in 2018. That, however, was definitely going to be the end. In a 2018 interview with TV Guide, Anderson finally and officially shut the door, saying:
"It's time for me to hang up Scully's hat. It just is [...] I'm finished, and that's the end of that ... There's lots of things that I want to do in my life and in my career, and it's been an extraordinary opportunity and extraordinary character, and I am hugely grateful."