21st Century Leaders Project
Posted at 10:26 AM (PDT) on Tuesday, June 28, 2005

21st Century Leaders do whateverittakes.org.

Gillian and her daughter, Piper, are among many who have participated in "21st Century Leaders," a project which, rather than raising money for one particular charity, provides an umbrella for celebrities to raise awareness for a range of registered charities around the world.

For more information on this project, click here.




"I thought it might be nice to do this project with my daughter in the hope of inspiring mothers and daughters to spend time together whether for a meal or for a creative endeavor as this fantastic project has prompted us."

Thanks to loislane, Belyn, and gillyrocks2002!

SSIB painting auction on now!
Posted at 1:06 PM (PDT) on Friday, June 24, 2005

The auction of Gillian's SSIB painting has begun.

Click here to access our eBay page.

Auction ends on July 4.

New HAL albums due subject to legal wranglings
Posted at 5:41 PM (PDT) on Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Anglo-French band HAL have announced the forthcoming release of two albums. HAL hit the charts in 52 countries worldwide in 1997 when they collaborated with X-Files star Gillian Anderson on the Virgin Records single 'Extremis', which was originally a track on the band's 1996 album 'Gorilla Conspiration'. Extremis subsequently appeared on more than 30 compilation albums worldwide, and the video received heavy airplay thanks in part to a provocative performance from Gillian Anderson.

The release last year of Extremix' which featured remixes of tracks from the original album by artists such as In the Nursery, Humble Brothers, has prompted renewed interest in the band and a European re-release of 'Gorilla' is planned for the Autumn, together with a new mini-album 'Umoya' before the end of the year. Paul Gallagher played the bass lines for this mini-album which is being composed to honour his memory.

'Umoya' will be a taster for the band's current project which will be a 2 CD set which features HAL collaborating with four South African singers who combine traditional vocals with HAL's characteristic dub-laden techno. The band are currently working in South Africa, Belgium and the UK to finish the album.

Confusion has been caused by the emergence of the Irish group signed to Rough Trade who are also using the name HAL.,and the original HAL have been forced to take legal action against Sanctuary Records, the label behind Rough Trade, in order to establish ownership of the name. The legal case continues.

More info:
www.halspirit.com - www.halboutique.com

Strawberries and Cream
Posted at 10:57 AM (PDT) on Tuesday, June 21, 2005

The Times (London)
By Andrew Pierce

Gillian Anderson, born in Chicago but living here, becomes more British by the day. Over strawberries at the Vanity Fair and Veuve Clicquot Vertigo party at Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire, she said: "I love doing Wimbledon and strawberries and cream. Foreign visitors tend to do more British things than the British."

Cafe Press Sale
Posted at 10:26 AM (PDT) on Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Summer Laughs Sale at our Cafe Press store:

Get $3 off all apparel.
Use the coupon code LOLSAV.
Sale ends 7/14/2005.

All proceeds benefit Neurofibromatosis, Inc..

Gillian at "24 Hour Plays"
Posted at 12:04 PM (PDT) on Monday, June 20, 2005

LONDON - JUNE 19: Emma Thompson and Gillian Anderson attend the backstage party following "24 Hour Plays" at The Old Vic Theatre on June 19, 2005 in London, England. The event saw six short plays, written and rehearsed in 24 hours, performed to raise funds for the Old Vic New Voices US/UK Exchange.

Images are available to view here. Thank you to Malika and Mary at Gillian Anderson World.

From What's On Stage:

Proceedings begin on the Saturday evening when six writers, six directors and up to 24 actors gather at the West End theatre, bringing no more than a prop and costume each. After working overnight and through the next day, the event culminates on Sunday evening when the resulting six ten-minute plays will be premiered before a live, gala audience. This year, the concept will be extended to budding actors, directors and writers who will be able to take part in a second event, sponsored by coffee chain Starbucks, on 31 July.

For more information:

• Spacey, Shields, Bernal Star in Old Vic 24 Hour Plays June 19
  Broadwayworld.com
  
• A Host of Stars to Raise Money for the Old Vic
  IndieLondon.co.uk

Li'l Message from Gillian
Posted at 8:33 AM (PDT) on Monday, June 13, 2005

To everyone who has been wondering why she went to Beirut and Damascus:

Well for crying out loud guys. Okay, I was in Beirut and Damascus for holiday ONLY in between filming for "Bleak House" and I do not get to Uganda till the middle of July. Get some sleep!

G.

Royal Court Theatre Auction: Gillian's SSIB painting
Posted at 10:12 AM (PDT) on Friday, June 10, 2005



When Gillian was working on The Sweetest Swing In Baseball (25 March 2004 - 15 May 2004), each night she painted a picture on stage adding a little bit more with each performance. On June 24, we shall auction on eBay the finished product to benefit The Royal Court Theatre.

Gillian's vibrant and expressionistic work is an oil on canvas measuring 70cm x 50cm (27.5 x 19.7 inches). It's very light and only weighs 900grams (2 lbs.).

The painting is in London, England. The winner will have to email The Royal Court Theatre at develop@royalcourttheatre.com for payment instructions and shipping fees. They will accept cheques or credit cards.

The Mighty Celt at The 17th Galway Film Fleadh
Posted at 9:21 AM (PDT) on Friday, June 10, 2005

The Irish Times

The 17th Galway Film Fleadh, which runs from July 5th to 10th, will open with Gaby Dellal's On a Clear Day, starring Peter Mullan as a Glasgow shipyard worker who is made redundant and pursues his dream of swimming the English Channel.

The fleadh will present the world premieres of three new Irish movies: Anthony Byrne's tale of culinary seduction and fantasy, Short Order, featuring John Hurt, Vanessa Redgrave and Jack Dee; Stephen Bradley's Boy Eats Girl, a comic horror movie of zombies rampaging through the Dublin suburbs; and photographer Perry Ogden's first feature film, Pavee Lackeen, set in the traveller community.

The line-up also includes Hill 16, a Dublin coming-of-age story involving a teenager's obsession with her teacher, and Pearse Elliott's The Mighty Celt, which features the work of accomplished lighting cameraman Seamus Deasy, the subject of a special tribute programme at Galway where Deasy will host a masterclass in cinematography.

Full details of the programme will be announced later this month at http://www.galwayfilmfleadh.com/.

NEW: Per the BBC, The Mighty Celt is scheduled to be released in the UK on August 19. Thanks, Vaughn!

The X-Files Mythology, Vol. 1 - Abduction
Posted at 9:42 AM (PDT) on Thursday, June 9, 2005



Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

What a smart idea: Fox Home Entertainment is repackaging all 60 mythology episodes of "The X-Files" in four boxed sets. First up, The X-Files Mythology, Vol. 1 - Abduction, features 16 myth-arc episodes from seasons one through three.

Five of the episodes include new commentary tracks, and part one of a new four-part documentary, "Threads of Mythology," spends 27 minutes discussing how the mythology came to be. Producer Frank Spotnitz explains how star Gillian Anderson's real-life pregnancy in season two altered the course of the series forever.

If nothing else, this re-release saves on shelf space for fans who only want the series' most important episodes.

For more information on the upcoming mythology sets, click here.

The Official X-Files Abduction Web Site is fabulous!

Message from Gillian
Posted at 8:04 AM (PDT) on Thursday, June 9, 2005

Just a quick note cause I am really tired from filming but I have to say two things.

One is that Jane Fonda's new book, My Life So Far, is very inspirational on many counts and I recommend it highly.

Two is that I have just come back from Beirut and Damascus and I loved both cities and both countries and the people, wherever we went and no matter the circumstances, were so generous and welcoming and giving and warm and I just fell in love with it all, the history, the people. My eyes were opened and I was touched.

G.

Gillian Urges Everyone To Help End Cruelty At A Primate-Testing Lab
Posted at 12:58 PM (PDT) on Tuesday, June 7, 2005

Recently, my friends at PETA revealed terrible cruelty to monkeys during an undercover investigation at a drug-testing laboratory. After viewing footage of the horrors that these intelligent and social animals are being put through, I want to share the findings of the investigation with you, so that together, we can help put an end to the nightmare that these monkeys endure in this laboratory every day.

For 11 months, an undercover PETA investigator worked as a technician inside a Vienna, Virginia laboratory, owned by Covance, a billion-dollar Princeton-based company. She videotaped workers who were striking, choking, taunting, and deliberately tormenting terrified monkeys. She documented small monkeys, choking, gagging and suffering from daily bloody noses after having large tubes forced up their nostrils and down into their stomachs. Other monkeys had developed painful protrusions of the intestines through the rectum resulting from constant stress and diarrhea, and monkeys with broken arms and other severe injuries were denied proper veterinary treatment. Sadly, many animals in desperate need of euthanasia were kept alive and in agony just to please drug companies.

PETA has filed a 272-page complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture that asks for the Vienna laboratory to be shut down until a thorough investigation can be conducted.

Please take time to view PETA's video for yourself.

These monkeys cannot speak for themselves, so we must be their voices for them. To learn more about Covance-and how you can help the animals in its laboratories-please visit www.CovanceCruelty.com.

Last King of Scotland starts filming on Saturday
Posted at 9:00 AM (PDT) on Tuesday, June 7, 2005

Hollywood comes to Africa
News24, South Africa

Kampala - Uganda is set to relive the era of its most brutal dictator, Idi Amin, as a major Hollywood production begins filming the screen adaptation of the acclaimed novel The Last King of Scotland this week.

Starring award-winning United States (US) actors Forest Whitaker as the notorious Amin, Kerry Washington as one of his wives and television star Gillian Anderson of X-Files fame, the film tells the tale of Nicholas Garrigan, a Scottish physician who becomes the dictator's personal doctor.

"It has been a long-held ambition of mine to work in Africa, so I am very pleased that making The Last King of Scotland in Uganda has given me the reason to come," Whitaker said in a statement released on Monday.

Cameras start rolling soon

Beginning on Saturday, when cameras begin to roll outside the Ugandan parliament, the capital, the Lake Victoria airport town of Entebbe and other parts of the country will be thrown back to the height of Amin's ruthless regime in the 1970s.

Filming will also take place in Mabira forest in central Uganda, where many of the bodies of the hundreds of thousands of victims of Amins excesses were dumped during his eight-year reign of terror, one of the producers, Charles Steel.

Between 300 000 and 500 000 Ugandans were killed during Amin's despotic 1971 to 1979 rule, the height of which is covered by the Last King of Scotland.

On-location shooting in Uganda is to last eight weeks and the film is expected to be released worldwide by Twentieth Century Fox International in July 2006, according to the production company, Cowboy Films.

About 300 Ugandans, including about 100 actors and extras, are to be employed by Cowboy Films during the $6m shoot, it said.

More about the characters

Based on Giles Foden's award-winning novel of the same name, The Last King of Scotland tells the story of Garrigan, played by Scottish actor James McAvoy, and his career as Amin's doctor.

Flattered at first by his command appointment, the physician is horrified to discover his unknowing complicity in the savage crimes of Amin, who in real life died in exile in Saudi Arabia in August 2003 of multiple organ failure.

Anderson plays an Israeli nurse whom Garrigan falls in love with shortly after his arrival in Uganda and plays a critical role later during the well-known 1976 raid on a hijacked Air France flight at Entebbe airport.

The Last King of Scotland, titled after Amin's pyschopathic belief that he should take over from Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as monarch to the Scots, is directed by Kevin Macdonald, who won an Oscar for the 2000 documentary One Day in September about the Israeli hostage crisis at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Ugandan actors Abby Mukiibi, Stephen Rwangyezi and Sam Okello play significant roles in the film: Mukiibi as Amin's right hand man, Rwangyezi as a senior government minister and Okello as a rural clinic worker.

World Premiere of A Cock & Bull Story
Posted at 8:52 AM (PDT) on Tuesday, June 7, 2005



Pour yourself a glass of Shandy
By Chris Titley
UK Newsquest Regional Press - This is York

The beautiful North Yorkshire village of Coxwold is going Hollywood for one night only. It is hosting the world premiere of a new movie A Cock & Bull Story in the village hall on Friday June 17 at 7.30pm.

This is quite a coup. The advanced charity screening comes at least three months before the movie makes its official debut at the Toronto Film Festival in September - and it may not go on general release until next year.

A Cock & Bull Story is based on Tristram Shandy the pioneering 18th century novel written by Laurence Sterne while he lived at Shandy Hall Coxwold.

The cast list reads like a who's who of English comedy talent: Steve Coogan Rob Brydon Dylan Moran Stephen Fry and Gillian Anderson are the stars. Any one of them could turn up to the Coxwold premiere although Patrick Wildgust is not promising anything.

A Cock & Bull Story is directed by Michael Winterbottom.

Patrick curator of Shandy Hall said there are a few tickets still left for the event price £17.50. All proceeds to the Laurence Sterne Trust. Call (01347) 868465 for details or email shandyhall@fireflyuk.net.

Attendees are also required to join in the "guess the weight of the bull competition" on the night.