Gillian Anderson does not mince words. Speaking about wellness culture and the pressure to self-optimize on the podcast “How To Fail” in 2023, she said in a calm, matter of fact and confident tone: “I realized that anytime somebody tells me to do something, I’m going to say f—k off.” In a culture where women still feel obliged to be people pleasers, the 56-year-old actress makes being forthright look easy.
When we spoke over video call from the Cannes Film Festival, where Anderson was attending L’Oréal Paris’ Lights on Women’s Worth Award, I asked if she’s always been able to set boundaries. “I was quite a rebellious teenager,” she said. Yet it wasn’t until her 40s that she felt able to speak her mind without fear, without worrying about what other people thought. “It was almost like something that pre-existed but I didn’t realize how valuable it was, and that it was something that I could actually vocalize and delight in,” she said. “There was something that felt really good about having that.”
Anderson has also become more vocal about women’s sexual pleasure. A far remove from how most of us came to know her — as brainy, buttoned-up agent Dana Scully from the ’90s TV show “The X-Files” — this sex-positive persona seemed to be a spillover from her role as a sex therapist on Netflix’s “Sex Education.” When Anderson was nominated for a Golden Globe for her work on the show in 2024, she wore a strapless Gabriela Hearst gown subtly decorated with white embroidered vulvas.
Last year, she published “Want: Sexual Fantasies by Anonymous,” a collection of women’s sexual fantasies which were submitted from all over the world; she also has a functional soft drinks brand, G Spot, which includes the flavour, “Arouse.”
In this, and in everything she does, Anderson proves that life after 50 is full of possibility. “I certainly feel that and have been embracing that and really properly leaning into it and taking advantage of it,” she said. “What’s interesting is when I’ve been asked about it, there’s part of my brain that just thinks, ‘Well, of course. I mean, why wouldn’t it be?’”
Still, Anderson said leaving behind her youth wasn’t a seamless transition. She experienced two periods of “deep grief, real sadness and feeling of loss,” one in her late 30s, another in her early 40s, sparked by the realization that she was on the other side of something. In her 40s, she had a mind-altering epiphany: she was the youngest she was ever going to be for the rest of her life. “It was like, my brain exploded,” she said. “It’s such an obvious thing to say, but at the same time, this is right now. Appreciate where you are right now. Why waste time?”
But she understands why many of us feel apprehensive about what life has in store once we hit the midpoint, and why we delight in witnessing women over 50 in popular culture thrive. “To see women our age showing that not only is there a next, but it’s a really fantastic next is really important,” said Anderson, who recently landed her first beauty contract earlier this year, as a face of L’Oréal Paris’s Age Perfect line. “I encourage women to look forward to this time and not be afraid of this time, but to know that it can be incredibly positive and empowering — actually more empowering than some of the other decades that we’ve lived.”
As Anderson has progressed further into her career, she’s begun working with more women directors — including on “The Salt Path,” out later this month. The film, based on writer Raynor Winn’s memoir, is a drama about a married couple who walk across the south west coast of England after becoming homeless. It was directed by Marianne Elliott, and the crew was populated with many women, including a producer and the director of photography. “Anytime I see a woman director, I celebrate it. It’s just a very different vibe,” Anderson said, comparing the atmosphere to the “very male-centred, very macho” sets that she’s become accustomed to.
From here, Anderson is feeling ready for whatever is next. “I’m not afraid of my age or the changes that are happening. I feel proud to be the age that I am,” she said. “I’m continuing to build and to grow and do what I set my mind to.”
