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Gillian Anderson Fights To Be Paid Equally For ‘The X-Files’ Miniseries

By Niki Cruz
Published on: 07:45 PST, Jan 22, 2016

Here’s another for wage disparity between men and women. The X-Files star Gillian Anderson was reportedly offered half the amount of money that her co-star David Duchovny was despite the fact that they’re co-stars and are “billed” equally on the cast list.

This offer was first made to Gillian when the two were in talks to return to the series for FOX. Anderson let the cat out of the bag in an exclusive interview with the Daily Beast about the early negotiations for The X-Files miniseries.

Anderson said that the gender wage gap issue is an important one, and it’s also something that still puzzled Anderson. Not because it happened years and years ago but because it happened again when she negotiated for the new season of The X-Files with David Duchovny. It’s quite surprising, as Anderson points out, because of where she is as an actress.

“I think it’s important that it gets heard and voiced. It was shocking to me, given all the work that I had done in the past to get us to be paid fairly. I worked really hard toward that and finally got somewhere with it.”

“Even in interviews in the last few years, people have said to me, ‘I can’t believe that happened, how did you feel about it, that is insane.’ And my response always was, ‘That was then, this is now.” And then it happened again! I don’t even know what to say about it.'”

That said, Anderson and Duchovny were eventually paid the same amount of money for their work on the upcoming season of The X Files. All of that considered, there doesn’t seem to be any ill will towards Duchovny. In fact, he and Anderson are supposedly really close friends, and some even believe there’s something even more cooking up between the two of them.

All of that considered, it wasn’t always like that between the two. As the Inquisitr reported, the two started off at odds with each other. In an interview with the New York Post, David Duchovny said that they were avoiding each other in the beginning if they weren’t filming a scene together. The star, who portrayed Mulder to Anderson’s Scully, said that it was mostly due to their overnight success.

“Back in the day, there were times we [Duchovny and Anderson] couldn’t stand each other. We went through a hugely turbulent time. We became famous together. We got careers together. I think we lost our minds a little bit. I think we went a little crazy.”

He continued, “Having gone away for a while, we both appreciate each other and forgive each other for what happened. It’s like a real friendship with real history.”

Anderson told Variety that their relationship has really turned into the “proper friendship” over the years.

“I think we’re more on each other’s side. We’re more aware of the other’s needs, wants, concerns, and mindful to take those into consideration – and just sharing more about our experiences in the moment, under the sudden realization that we’re both in this together, and wouldn’t it be nice if it were a collaboration?”

As for the gender wage gap, it’s been a subject of huge talk among Hollywood. Late last year, actress Jennifer Lawrence penned an essay about what it felt to earn less than her male co-stars in American Hustle, and other actresses followed suit to support her. Frequent co-star Bradley Cooper even said that he would step in to negotiate with women before he signs on the dotted line.

What are your thoughts on Gillian Anderson fighting to get equal pay?

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

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Gillian Anderson David Duchovny
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