Actress Gillian Anderson has detailed a secretive relationship with an older girl during high school, while also describing The Crown creator Peter Morgan as her life partner in a candid new interview with The Sunday Times.
The Sex Education star, 58, opened up about her sexuality and past relationships after moving from London to the United States at age 11, sharing details of her early experiences with women and her evolving understanding of her identity.
Speaking about her high school years, Anderson recounted how one of her earliest relationships was with an older female student. "One of my first relationships was with an older girl in high school. It felt secretive and illicit and wrong and we had to hide," Anderson said. "Later on I had a boyfriend who found out and broke up with me."
The actress added that she did not think she was gay at the time because she had also dated male partners. "But I definitely felt I didn't have the language for it," she explained. "Even later on when I had other relationships with women, I'm not sure I ever thought of them as being potentially for ever."
The Chicago-born star has previously spoken openly about having relationships with women in her past, maintaining that gender is irrelevant to her when connecting with someone on a personal level.
Relationships and marriages
Anderson has been married twice in her life. She married production designer Clyde Klotz in 1994, with whom she had a daughter, before the marriage ended in divorce in 1997. She later married documentary filmmaker Julian Ozanne in 2004, with the couple separating in 2006.
Since 2016, Anderson has been in an on-off relationship with British screenwriter and playwright Peter Morgan, creator of the Netflix historical drama series The Crown. Although she has never publicly confirmed their relationship, she addressed her current domestic life during the interview, stating: "The person I consider my life partner happens to be male."
FHM Sexiest Woman title in 1996
The disclosure comes after Anderson revealed earlier this week that she was stunned when readers of men's lifestyle publication FHM voted her the Sexiest Woman in the World in 1996. Writing in an essay for British Vogue on the secret to sex appeal, the actress admitted she could not believe receiving the title because it coincided with a period when she felt at her least sexy.
At the time, Anderson was one of the biggest television stars in the United Kingdom and internationally thanks to her leading role as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully on sci-fi series The X-Files. However, behind the scenes, she was struggling with crippling self-doubt while raising her then two-year-old daughter as a single mother following her split from first husband Clyde Klotz.
Reflecting on the title, Anderson noted that she had gone through phases of wearing deliberately provocative clothing, but was neither confident nor comfortable in her body when deemed to be at her peak. "In 1996 I was voted 'Sexiest Woman in the World' by FHM readers, a title that arrived with all the certainty of a cultural verdict," she wrote.
"How 'sexy' I felt inside, or indeed looked, when the accolade was announced is another story," Anderson continued. "The ludicrous irony, of course, is that when the 'world' declared me its sexiest woman, I felt anything but."
She recalled being in well-worn oversized flannel pyjamas during the phone interview accompanying the FHM article while her young daughter darted in and out of the room. "I was raising a toddler while working impossibly long days," she explained. "I had been single for a while, having split from her father, and I wasn't dating. I was shut down, self-protective and detached from my body, a state that was mirrored in my everyday attire."
Anderson added that the public image projected onto her bore no resemblance to her daily reality. "The fantasy projected onto me bore no resemblance to my reality, despite the latex bodysuit and exposed midriff in the accompanying photoshoot," she wrote. "My life revolved around call sheets, line memorisation and motherhood."
Three decades later, the actress reflected that she now feels sexier than ever. "The most seductive thing any of us can wear is the quiet conviction that we belong exactly where we are," she noted.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma movie
Anderson is currently on a promotional tour for her new feature film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, a critically acclaimed queer slasher movie directed by Jane Schoenbrun.
The film, which is set for release in US cinemas on August 21, follows an indie film director, played by Hacks star Hannah Einbinder, who attempts to reboot a classic slasher franchise. The project draws her to a former star, played by Anderson, sparking an obsession with casting the original picture's final girl that triggers a frenzy of psychosexual mania.
The movie earned widespread acclaim at its premiere during the Cannes Film Festival in France, where it received a six-minute standing ovation from the audience.
Anderson plays a reclusive actress in the film, with director Schoenbrun praising her performance as comic, strange, and grotesque. Schoenbrun, who came out as transgender in 2020, identifies as transfeminine and non-binary, and uses they and them pronouns.
"It almost feels like she's like Jim Carrey in certain moments," Schoenbrun said of Anderson's performance. "It's so funny and strange and a little bit grotesque and a little bit sad, so far from our traditional notions of high-fem sexuality, while also still being incredibly sexy and weird."
Schoenbrun also spoke about the financing hurdles faced during production before independent production company Plan B and global distributor Mubi stepped in to provide financial backing.
In an interview with trade outlet The Hollywood Reporter, Schoenbrun voiced frustration over industry funding for transgender filmmakers. "When I look around in our 'post-woke, post-Biden' era, I don't see any other trans artists getting budgets, and that's a f*****g shame," Schoenbrun said. "I shouldn't be the only one who's making movies at this level of budget."
Despite the challenges, the director expressed confidence in the project's commercial prospects, adding: "I think this movie will be a hit."
