Gillian Anderson Speaks Out on Hollywood Pay Gap and Unequal Salaries With Male Co-Stars

Gillian Anderson has recently opened up about the persistent challenges surrounding pay equity in Hollywood, sharing that she still encounters significant disparities in compensation compared to her male counterparts.

The 57-year-old actress, celebrated for her iconic performances as Dana Scully in The X-Files and Jean Milburn in Sex Education, admitted during an appearance on Josh Smith’s Great Chat Show that she was recently offered a salary that was a huge percentage less than that of a male costar.

Reflecting on her decades-long career, Anderson confessed that she had previously attempted to distance herself from the role of a vocal advocate. She shared that discussing topics like the gender pay gap felt like old news to her after years of addressing the subject.

Noting, I felt like after a while talking about equal pay, talking about the Scully effect… It felt like old news to me at a certain point. However, receiving a discriminatory offer caused her to shift her perspective, leading her to conclude that, actually, I need to f**king talk about this because this is still an issue.

This struggle for equality is one Anderson has navigated since the inception of The X-Files in the 1990s. In the early seasons of the show, studio executives famously mandated that she stand several feet behind her co-star, David Duchovny, in every scene, reinforcing the perception that her character was merely a secondary figure.

Anderson recalled this dynamic, quipping, Surely the audience couldn’t deal with actually seeing them walk side by side! Even during the show’s 2016 revival, she found herself forced to fight for pay parity once again, discovering she had been offered only half of her male co-star’s salary.

Beyond her ongoing advocacy, Anderson has maintained a prolific creative output. She is set to make her horror debut in Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, a slasher film written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun, which is scheduled for release on August 7.

The film features Anderson as a reclusive, mysterious actress who becomes entangled in a dangerous obsession with a young filmmaker, co-starring alongside Hannah Einbinder. Outside of acting, Anderson has continued to build her brand and influence.

She recently launched a follow-up to her popular book Want, titled More, which features intimate letters submitted by women across the globe and is slated for publication in September.

She also actively manages her functional drinks brand, G Spot, which focuses on adaptogenic and nootropic soft drinks designed to support wellness and cognitive function. Anderson’s commitment to progressive storytelling also extends to her production work; she currently holds a first-look deal with Netflix under her banner, Fiddlehead Productions.

As she embraces this phase of her career, she noted that she is increasingly finding joy in being a vocal advocate for the causes she values. Whether through her writing, her activism, or her diverse roles in film and television, she remains one of the industry’s most influential and outspoken voices.

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