Topics: Entertainment, Film and TV, Gillian Anderson, Hollywood, Money, US News, Sex Education, Feminism
The X-Files star Gillian Anderson has opened up about the 'responsibility' she feels to continue to speak out against injustices such as unequal pay in the industry.
The pure talent that is Gillian Anderson has starred in some iconic roles across her career so far - from FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in The X-Files to sex therapist Jean Milburn in Sex Education and Margaret Thatcher in The Crown.
However, despite taking on such a plethora of huge roles, that doesn't always mean Anderson has always been offered a fair cut when it comes to being paid for her portrayals.
In an interview with podcast host Josh Smith, who runs Josh Smith's Great Chat Show, the 57-year-old actor reflected on her years' experience in the industry and revealed for a 'long time' she 'didn't want the responsibility of being a role model or labeled as a role model'.
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She reflected: "It felt like after a while, talking about equal pay, talking about Scully effect, talking about all those things that journalists wanted to talk to me about because they were kind of cool and unique.
"But because it felt like old news to me at a certain point I kind of pushed back against it. And was sort of like, 'Oh my God, they want to talk about this again'."
However, Anderson quickly realized certain issues sadly aren't 'old news' but still very much continue to cause problems.
She revealed: "And it wasn't until, you know, being offered a huge percentage less than male co-star that I suddenly thought actually I f**king need to keep talking about this because it's still an issue.
"And I didn't realize that and I've been pushing it away because it felt like old news, but actually it is still in our present.
"So it's all those types of things and me suddenly going, 'Okay, right. Maybe I don't know what's best and maybe I just need to put my guard down'.
Prior to her comments on the nature of the gender pay gap in the industry, Anderson opened up about when she's been 'proudest of using [her] voice'.
She reflected on the release of her latest book, but also recently becoming an ambassador for beauty brand L'Oreal and how she didn't realize it would be 'a route to being [her] authentic self'.
The actor admitted: "I thought, at first, I'd need to put on a bit of an act or be something other than, even though they were wanting to get into a relationship with me because of things I'm outspoken about, my activism, things that are important to me, my value system.
"It wasn't until I started to work with them to realize the degree to which they really actually mean that it is me, it's my writing and completely aligns with everything that I am quite outspoken about.
Anderson resolved: "So, I've kind of had to re-adjust my thinking around it."
As one YouTube commenter wrote: "She's so right! In times like these, using our voices feels more important than ever."
