‘The X-Files’ Revival Is Just Like The Old Days, But That May Not Be A Good Thing For Gillian Anderson

Even as The X-Files embarks on the last leg of its six-episode run, Chris Carter can’t help but feeling that he has returned home again. Indulging himself in feelings of nostalgia, as the revival of The X-Files achieves some measure of success, Chris talks about what made him and cast members feel like they have essentially taken a step back in time and proven that, yes, you can go home again.

Meanwhile, actress Gillian Anderson, who plays Agent Dana Scully, agrees that The X-Files revival, also known as season 10, has been like reliving old times, but she adds that for her, it hasn’t been all joy and good laughs. Ms. Anderson is painfully reminded that she has always struggled to achieve equal status to her co-star, David Duchovny.

Chris Carter says coming back to The X-Files was just like the old days

Fans are eager to know what it was like for the cast and crew to be back together for The X-Files revival, assuming it might have been something akin to a 20-year high school reunion. Stars, producers, directors, and even the various unknown crew members celebrating the return of the series seem just what The X-Files fans expect, but nothing could be further from the truth. Carter says there was so much work to do in such a limited time frame that there wasn’t time for hugs and back patting.

“I’m telling you, we had so much work to do on that first day, that no one had a chance to even, I think, recognize that personal, ‘We’re back together after eight years apart.'”

Chris says that the story of Mulder and Scully has never left him and that, as a consequence of having worked on The X-Files for so many years, he can’t pick up a newspaper without considering what the two FBI agents might be doing at any given time. Carter also feels as though Fox and Dana went on, even when the cameras aren’t rolling. Though they were together as a couple at the close of 2008’s The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Chris feels their relationship would have hit some pretty big bumps along the way, which is why we find them apart, as The X-Files revival picks up.

Speaking of beginnings, endings, and the in between, the big question looming in the air is: will there be a season 11. Carter says that fans have already contacted him, not to thank him for making the revival happen, but to ask for more. Even the network has shown interest in a new season for The X-Files, but nothing official has been sent down the line and Carter feels everyone is hesitant to make any real decisions until the ratings for the entire six-episode run has been evaluated.

“We don’t want to tie up all the loose ends, it might suggest that we’re done with the show,” says The X-Files showrunner. “But I’ll leave it as a question: are we done, are we not?”

Gillian Anderson relives past inequalities and struggles as she returns to The X-Files

Between the close of The X-Files original run and the current revival series, 47-year-old Gillian Anderson has continued to build on a successful career with recurring roles on such series as Hannibal and The Fall, but returning to The X-Files, she reveals not much had changed, for better or for worse. The better includes reuniting with former cast members and creating new memories working on a series that she has always loved. For the worse, Gillian is reminded of the constant struggle for equal pay during The X-Files‘ original run, long before gender pay equality became such a hot topic in Hollywood and the media.

“It was shocking to me, given all the work that I had done in the past to get paid fairly, especially in this climate of women talking about the reality of unequal pay in our business.”

Faced with the same old struggle, Ms. Anderson confronted the issue directly. She refused to participate in the revival unless she received pay equal to that of co-star David Duchovny. Once producers and network executives realized that Anderson wouldn’t back down, they complied to her demands and granted her the same compensation package as was offered to her on-screen partner.

The next episode of The X-Files airs on Monday, February 8, on FOX.

[Image by FOX]