1994-95 1996-97 1998 1999-00 2001-03 2004-06

The Martin-Molloy Show
July 1, 1996
with Tony Martin and Mick Molloy

The Martin-Molloy show is a radio program on the Austereo network.

TONY: ...She's out here thanks to the good people at Foxtel, where of course you can see her show, The X-Files, uncut and uninterrupted every Sunday night at 8:30. Please people no pushing, it's Gillian Anderson. (applause track etc...) Gillian, thanks for coming in today.

GILLIAN: Thank you for having me.

TONY: Now, How long have you been here in Australia?

GILLIAN: In Australia, I've been here for about, uh, 12345,6, 6 days.

TONY: And how are you coping?

GILLIAN: I've just kind of seen it from car windows and stuff like that, so I, haven't really gotten a great view of it, I did go to the zoo, and umm, uh, went scuba diving with some sharks.

TONY: (chuckling)Went diving with some sharks, how was that? Did you mean to go diving with sharks? Was that an accident?

GILLIAN: (amused)It was actually. Well it wasn't an accident. I, I, we'd just been in Bali and my friends and I went snorkeling and we said to somebody at Fox, "Oh, we just went snorkeling, can we do it again?". And so they put us in a tank with sharks.

TONY: Right. And were all the sharks going, "Look, it's her off the X-Files? Does that happen everywhere you go, not just in Australia? Do walk down the street and it's "it's her off the X-Files"? Are you going to have to write a book like Linden Nemoy , "I am not Scully", something like that?

GILLIAN: Mmm, I'd, I, umm, there are some cities that, that, like New York, that I could very easily walk down the street completely...

TONY: Everyone's too cool.

GILLIAN: (laughs) Everyone's too self-obsessed, I think, (laughter), they're so focused on their own world and life and business that, uh, people just don't even pick their heads up.

TONY: Do you feel comfortable with being someone who's, uh, downloaded on the Internet, or, and subjected to such an enormous amount of attention? How does that sit with you?

GILLIAN: I don't know. I try not think about it too much. And, and until umm, until I, I put myself in these kinds of situations where I have to talk about myself all the time, I don't, I don't really actually think about it.

TONY: Now, I uh, notice uh, one thing. On the X-Files you're constantly uh, wearing sensible clothes. You're wearing long coats, you're running about with torches. But the magazines love to go to the opposite extreme. I'm often seeing you in mags in the vinyl gear, in uh, outrageous clothing. Is that a release for you?

GILLIAN: I think it's, it's been a publicity attempt to show umm, audiences and also umm, other people in the film business that I can be less umm, restricted, uh than Scully is.

TONY: Right, are you looking to uh, jump over to the movies Gillian at this point, or...

GILLIAN: Umm, yeah, casually I've been umm in that process..

TONY: And what kind of things do they, is it all spooky stuff that they send you?

GILLIAN: No, no fortunately it's not, uh, fortunately there's been a very wide range of scripts and roles and umm, big films, little films.

TONY: Right, now there's been a bit of talk about the X-Files movie. I know a lot of people have been asking us to mention that to you. Is it going to happen, or?

GILLIAN: It, it is going to happen, I have no idea when, I, I don't know how far along Chris is in writing a script or, or when they plan on shooting it. But, uh, it will happen.

TONY: All right, and uh, what about uh upcoming episodes of the X-Files? Is there another series uh, on the production line there?

GILLIAN: Yep! We're, we're going back to shoot a fourth season in uh, mid July.

TONY: Can you tell us anything that's going to happen, I mean..

GILLIAN: I wish I knew! (laughter) I honestly don't know, I, I don't even know what's happening in the first episode of the fourth season.

TONY: I'm imagining uh, Mulder's uh, going to get hit over the head. Uh, that seems to happen a fa.. How many times has he been hit over the head in that show?

MARTIN: I can't recall. (laughter)

GILLIAN: Quite a few times. And usually he loses his gun at exactly the same time(laughter).

TONY: Trapped on a train, knocked on the head, uh, losing the gun. I notice his character's changed a little bit. I watched the first episode of the X-Files recently on video, and he was much more wise-cracking

GILLIAN: Yep

TONY: in the earlier episodes, whereas now he's sort of more uh, straight down the middle. But it seems the less he does, the more interested people are in him. Uh, how has your character uh, changed since those early episodes?

GILLIAN: Well I think that umm, that you know, while I was trying to figure out who Scully was and, and uh, at the same time that, that we were filming, umm, I think that in the beginning she was quite two dimensional on paper and also in my performance of her and I think that as I, I have gotten to learn more about her, and, and experienced her more, I think that she's getting more three dimensional.

TONY: When you were doing those very early episodes, did you think that it was going to get to this stage? Did you think that you'd be doing an X-Files movie, that you'd be doing five seasons,

GILLIAN: No

TONY: Everone'd be going mad?

GILLIAN: No

TONY: No?

GILLIAN: No, no I don't think any of us did..

TONY: When was the first vibe you got for it? When did you start saying

GILLIAN: Well it's

TONY: hang on. We're onto something here?

GILLIAN: It started to pick up umm, from purely a cult perspective. Umm, umm, pretty early on, but it was pretty small, the response. The amount of people who were interested was pretty small. And then just gradually I think mostly through word of mouth and through the publicity by Fox, it just started to pick up, and pick up, and pick up. You know, like right now Fox is putting out two episodes of Tooms on uh video with another video, "Secrets Of The X-Files" and some trading cards and, and..

TONY: And do you have much say in that kind of merchandising? Have they tried to spring stuff on you, go "Uh, we've got a doll, Scully doll"?

GILLIAN: There was only one time when I umm, when either David or I said no, we were not happy with something, so they changed it.

TONY: Ah huh. And what was that, what was that?

GILLIAN: That was the cover of the CD, actually . The cover of the CD was different to begin with, and we both weren't very pleased with it, and so they stuck an alien on the front. M/M: Oh okay...

TONY: .. And Gillian Anderson's uh, stuck with us for another break. Uh, Gillian, the X-Files dance mix. Do you put it on at your house? Do you jive away?

GILLIAN: I actually just uh heard it for the first time yesterday.

TONY: Do you watch your own show? Do you sit down and go "Ooh, it's Tuesday night" and go "Almost time for the X-Files, get yourself comfy, let's have a look"?

GILLIAN: Well we, we usually shoot about 14 hours to 16 hours a day, so the chances of me being in a comfortable spot on my couch at that time of night is highly unlikely. But umm, I'll usually tape it, or get a copy of the tape and watch it over the weekend.

TONY: Right, now, now we were reading something about you and that is that when uh, the show was first starting, some of the executives felt uh, that you weren't sexy enough for the role. Is that true, I mean uh,

GILLIAN: Well I think, I mean, they've talked about the fact that umm, that I wasn't the first choice and I felt that when I first went in. I think umm, you know, Fox had a formula that you see in things like Melrose Place, 90210, of umm, babes wearing tight clothing, umm, umm, as leads and that would draw in the audience. And so, Chris I think, stepped up to the plate and said "that's not who this character is, we don't want somebody like that because it would be wrong" and so then..

TONY: Yes, you don't want to see Pamela Anderson running about in a long coat and a torch.

MARTIN: I don't want to see Tori Spelling on the X-Files unless it's the subject of an investigation.

TONY: Well exactly.

GILLIAN: Enter her Dad.

MARTIN: (laughing) yeah! (laugh) Possibly.

GILLIAN: (laughing) No, I, it was a question, I was putting that question to you.

MARTIN: (laughing) I think we're all on the same team here, Gillian.

TONY: Gillian, in your street, where you live, say, in Vancouver, do your neighbours come to you with stories of the paranormal and say, "You can use that on your show"? Do you get any of that?

GILLIAN: You know, I, I have gotten a couple of scripts put in the mail...

TONY: Have you?

GILLIAN: ... from neighbours. The difficulty is that umm, were we to actually read scripts, there could be some ensuing law suits.

MARTIN: Oh, I see,

GILLIAN: You know, because if any scripts were to come up, or episodes were to come up that appeared to be similar to what they had written, even they may not have had any relation to it at all, you know..

TONY: It'd be Gillian Anderson versus uh, Mr Thompson from across the road who reckons that he thought up the stretchy uh, liver eating, long armed bloke.

GILLIAN: Well, it might actually be Chris Carter or Fox against him, the uh, man.

TONY: And uh, how much of this do you buy into yourself? Are you someone who believes in UFOs and all the subjects you see on the programme, or are you fairly cynical?

GILLIAN: I'm cynical about some things. I'm more cynical than I think I admit to being. But umm, there are some things, some aspects of the paranormal that I'm interested in.

TONY: But when you get the script for the coming episode of the X-Files, are you blasé about it or do you raise an eyebrow when you see lipo-suction vampire bloke this week

GILLIAN: Umm, I think that we've been through so much with the show that I don't raise an eyebrow anymore, so that there's nothing really that shocks me.

TONY: And do you get any contact from member of the CI.. we actually spoke with Chris Carter last year, and he said that he often runs into people from the CIA.

GILLIAN: You mean FBI?

TONY: Or the FBI, you know, yeah, we're Australian's, it's all the same to us, I'm afraid. (laugh) Them blokes in the suits. And, and saying that you've got too close and that you're pretty on the mark with that plot line.

GILLIAN: I think by coming up to us and saying that we've gotten close, is admitting something that they're not willing to admit to. But I know that there has been some contact between FBI agents and Chris Carter at some point or another.

TONY: Oh, I see. He's going to be audited some time in the future, no doubt.

GILLIAN: Yeah

TONY: All right, Gillian. Well thanks for talking to us today. And there's so much written about you on the Internet, and in magazines, and in newspapers, can you tell us something that uh, nobody knows about you, just before we go?

GILLIAN: I have size seven feet.

TONY: (applause ) There you go ladies and gentlemen!

MARTIN: You heard it here on Martin Malloy. Thanks for talking to us today, Gillian Anderson.