Claim: Gillian Anderson acts.

Gillian Leigh Anderson , OBE -LRB- born August 9 , 1968 -RRB- , is an American-British film , television and theatre actress , activist and writer . Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the long-running and widely popular series The X-Files , ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies ' film The House of Mirth -LRB- 2000 -RRB- , and DSI Stella Gibson on the BBC crime drama television series The Fall . Among other honours , Anderson has won a Primetime Emmy Award , a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards .   After beginning her career on stage , Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully on the American sci-fi drama series The X-Files . Her film work includes the dramas The Mighty Celt -LRB- 2005 -RRB- , The Last King of Scotland -LRB- 2006 -RRB- , Shadow Dancer -LRB- 2012 -RRB- , Viceroy 's House -LRB- 2017 -RRB- and two X-Files films : The X-Files : Fight the Future -LRB- 1998 -RRB- and The X-Files : I Want to Believe -LRB- 2008 -RRB- . Other notable television credits include : portraying Lady Dedlock in the successful BBC production of Charles Dickens ' Bleak House , Wallis Simpson in Any Human Heart , Miss Havisham in Great Expectations -LRB- 2011 -RRB- , and Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier on Hannibal . Anderson is the co-writer of The EarthEnd Saga novel trilogy and the self-help guide book WE : A Manifesto for Women Everywhere .   Aside from film and TV , Anderson has taken on the stage and received both awards and critical acclaim . Her stage work includes Absent Friends -LRB- 1991 -RRB- -- for which she won a Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer , A Doll 's House -LRB- 2009 -RRB- -- that earned her a Laurence Olivier Award nomination , and a portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire -LRB- 2014 , 2016 -RRB- -- for which she won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress and received her second Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress .   Anderson has been active in supporting numerous charities and humanitarian organizations . She is an honorary spokesperson for the Neurofibromatosis -LRB- NF -RRB- Network and a co-founder of South African Youth Education for Sustainability -LRB- SAYes -RRB- . Anderson was appointed an honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire -LRB- OBE -RRB- in 2016 for her services to drama .