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The Ellen DeGeneres Show
March 8, 2004


Ellen: Please give a warm welcome to Golden Globe and Emmy award winner Gillian Anderson!

[ Gillian comes out ]

Gillian: I can't believe I have to come on a talk show to see you anymore.

Ellen: I know! And I thought I'd see you before the show started.

Gillian: And it didn't happen.

Ellen: I haven't seen you for... Thank God I have a talk show or we would never see each other!

Gillian: Exactly. Hi!

Ellen: So look at you with blond hair.

Gillian: I know...

Ellen: That's how long it's been since I've seen you.

Gillian: It's been this long since you've seen me [gestures to change in hair length]

Ellen: Yeah, it's been that long. It's been about six months.

Gillian: You think that's about six months?

Ellen: I think that's about six months. And how long have you been blonde?

Gillian: Umm.. I don't know.

Ellen: 'Cause you were red.

Gillian: I was red. I think I went kind of blonde as soon as the series ended, and then it just kept getting blonder.

Ellen: Mhmm.

Gillian: Yeah. I did a play, and I made my character blonde for the play. [laughs]

Ellen: Oh, that's a good excuse.

Gillian: I know. And um, it's kind of been blond ever since. And I'm doing another play and I've decided I'm going to have roots and be blond hair, so... [audience and Gillian laugh] It's the truth, actually.

Ellen: That's a good way to do it.

Gillian: Yeah. [repositions self on chair]

Ellen: Bless you.

Gillian: Thank you. [laughs] You know that thing you were doing with your shirt? [motions]

Ellen: Right...

Gillian: I think you should do a dance move like that. That was perfect when you were doing that.

Ellen: Really?

Gillian: Have you ever done that before as a dance move?

Ellen: No... is it a good dance move?

Gillian: I think so!

Ellen: It didn't feel -

Gillian: The Incredible Hulk dance move.

Ellen: Yeah.

Gillian: It would be quite good.

Ellen: You're trying to make me look bad.

Gillian: I am not!

Ellen: That can't be attractive, to be on the dance floor doing that.

Gillian: Well you think what you were doing was attractive?

Ellen: Ha, knew you'd say that...

Gillian: Ha.. [pets Ellen's hand]

Ellen: [looks at audience They'll protect me!

Gillian: I know they will, I heard them.

Ellen: Do you know that your feet grow?

Gillian: Um, I do now. I did not know that. No, that's not true, I did know that but I was in denial.

Ellen: That's right!

Gillian: I was... because you... yeah! I've been in denial. Because I used to be a size 7, and now I'm a size 7 1/2. I'm sure by the time I'm your age, I'll be, you know... [ Audience goes "oooohh" ] No, I know!! They do... I know! [laughs]

Ellen: You'll be so sorry!

Gillian: I know!

Ellen: Start her car right now! [Audience and Gillian laugh] Somebody start her car.

Gillian: Usually I get away with this, you see, but apparently not...

Ellen: How old are you?

Gillian: I'm 35.

Ellen: Yeah? See, she's right, I'm 46.

Gillian: That's a half a size right there.

Ellen: Oh, for sure. 'Cause when I was 35 I'd probably gone up just a size.

Gillian: Right, yeah.

Ellen: I'm telling you... but you probably wear all the pointy heeled stuff and all that.

Gillian: I do. No, actually most of the time I wear flip flops. I've worn the same -- do you remember my flip flops?

Ellen: Oh yeah.

Gillian: I still wear flip flops.

Ellen: No.. [laughs and throws hands in air] Do I remember your flip flops?? [Gillian, Ellen, and audience laugh]

Gillian: I wore the same style flip flops for probably the last seven years.

Ellen: Uh huh..

Gillian: And I've known you...

Ellen: And now your heel's probably just hanging off. That's when you know... it hits the edge... [motions with hand]

Gillian: No, not the same pair! [Laughs] It's not the same pair.

Ellen: Oh, okay, I don't know.

Gillian: It's the same kind. Seven years.

Ellen: Well now you dress different because you've-

Gillian: I can't believe you don't remember my flip flops.

Ellen: No, I'm sure I have a photo somewhere. Um, so uh, you went after X-Files ended, you went to London?

Gillian: I did. I went to London to do a play. And I um, I've been staying there. I did a play for about five months. But you know, I grew up in London and I always wanted to make that some kind of a home again. And so I've been living there kind of ever since.

Ellen: You bought a place there?

Gillian: I bought a place there and I go back and forth between here and there. I did a play for about five months and I decided to take a year off, and I've been writing, and...

Ellen: Did you like the play? Did you have fun?

Gillian: I uh...

Ellen: 'Cause that's so different than doing a television show, to be live in front of an audience every day.

Gillian: It is very different. I mean I... but you've done the HBO special, how many people was that?

Ellen: A couple thousand.

Gillian: A couple thousand. I mean the most I... 800 people in the theatre that I... for me, I get very nervous.

Ellen: Yeah?

Gillian: It's terrifying actually. But you kind of get used to it and you learn from every night and the experience of doing it over. And you learn where you suck and you learn where you do well, and yeah.

Ellen: Yeah. I used to get scared too, but I would just push myself. I just thought, you know, I mean I was scared to death to be in front of people but I just kept doing it because I wanted to overcome that fear.

Gillian: Yeah. And did it work?

Ellen: Um, yeah -

Gillian: I mean, you seem very relaxed.

Ellen: I am very relaxed now. I feel a lot more comfortable, plus, you know, everybody makes me feel comfortable, so... [gestures to audience]

Gillian: Yeah, they're clearly on your side.

Ellen: They got my back. [Audience cheers] All right, so we have to go to commercial, but I wanted to ask you... are you still engaged?

Gillian: Um, yes, yes.

Ellen: All right. I want to find- Well I don't know, I haven't seen you!

Gillian: I know!

Ellen: You were engaged, and then I haven't talked to you.

Gillian: I know. And I still am.

Ellen: And I didn't want to bring it up...

Gillian: It's okay!

Ellen: .. and then you're like, 'No, he's not around.' [Audience laughs]

Gillian: No, no, no... yeah, that's very sweet of you.

Ellen: Well, we'll talk -

Gillian: And what if I said no?

Ellen: Then I would have said we won't talk about it when we come back.

Gillian: Okay. [laughs]

Ellen: Yeah. But we will, now that we-

Gillian: No we won't. [laughs]

Ellen: Yes we will.

Gillian: No we won't.

Ellen: We'll be right back.

[ Commercial break ]

Ellen: We're back with Gillian Anderson. And so you don't want to talk about being engaged?

Gillian: No no no

Ellen: No?

Gillian: We've got so much to talk about, come on. Next topic!

Ellen: Okay. Are you happy?

Gillian: I very happy, yeah, I'm very happy.

Ellen: Okay. I haven't met him yet.

Gillian: I know you haven't. You will!

Ellen: I will.

Gillian: Yeah. In May. End of May.

Gillian: Yeah.

Ellen: Okay good. [audience laughs]

Gillian: We're supposed to go quickly!

Ellen: Okay-

Gillian: Next!

Ellen: Okay, how is Piper?

Gillian: She's very good.

Ellen: Piper is her daughter who's 9 now...

Gillian: Piper is my daughter who's 9.

Ellen: Don't repeat everything I say!

Gillian: I'm sorry! [laughs] Doesn't help it go quickly, does it?

Ellen: She's adorable.

Gillian: She's still adorable. She swam in your pool. Remember that? What did she say to you when she swam in your pool? She came up to you... what was that thing she said?

Ellen: How come we don't remember that?

Gillian: I don't know! It was so amazing.

Ellen: You're her parent, you should remember it! It was brilliant.

Gillian: I know! She said something about knowing things and not knowing things. She said, "Sometimes you know things-

Ellen: "I know the things that I do know, and I don't know the things that I don't." She just out of the blue...

Gillian: Out of the blue! We're sitting by the side of the pool and she swims up to us and goes, "You know what, mom? I know the things that I know..."

Ellen: "I realize that I know the things that I know, and I don't know the things that I don't know. [Audience laughs]

Gillian: "Yeah, that's great, Piper!"

Ellen: And then we all lit incense and danced around her. [audience laughs, Gillian bows]

Gillian: [laughs] You know what she said recently? We were playing Scrabble, and we were playing for a while and she was kind of getting bored and then I put down the word 'smug.' And she goes, "Smug?" And I said, "Yeah, it's a word actually." And she goes, "Self-satisfied. I know, mom." [audience laughs] If I were to give a definition for smug, I'd be like, "Well, it's kinda like when... umm... you know, when you're... you know.." And I'd come up with something that would be like this long. [holds out hands] And she just gave a perfect definition.

Ellen: I'm gonna look it up when the show's over.

Gillian: Self satisfied!

Ellen: Yeah. She really is special. She is precious.

Gillian: Yeah, I know...

Ellen: I met her just briefly and I think I read a bedtime story to her.

Gillian: Yeah, I think you... I can't remember what it was.

Ellen: Well, I don't know.

Gillian: Well clearly.

Ellen: But anyway, she's adorable.

Gillian: She is adorable, yeah.

Ellen: Now you're going back to London, you're doing another play...

Gillian: I am.

Ellen: And what's the name of it?

Gillian: It's called The Sweetest Swing in Baseball. And it's at the Royal Court, and it's a theatre that I've wanted to work at for a long time. And um, the funny thing is that we actually start rehearsal a year to the day that we closed the last play. So I've -- not by choice -- I've effectively taken the year off that I wanted to... and um, I'm going to do another play and then kinda get back into things.

Ellen: Well, good. Well when you're in London, go see Gillian at The Sweetest Swing in Baseball. That's the name of the play. It opens March 31st.

Gillian: Uh huh.

Ellen: And they'll see you in London. All right GIllian, thanks for being here.

Transcript courtesy of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.



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