http://gaws.ao.net Gillian Leigh Anderson was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 9th, 1968. Soon after her birth, the family relocated to Puerto Rico for 15 months and then moved to England. Gillian spent the next 9 years of her childhood growing up in London's North End. First in Stamford Hill, then later in Crouch End, while her father Edward was studying film production at the London School of Film Technique in Covent Garden for 2 years. Eventually the family moved back to the States and settled in Grand Rapids. After graduating from City High School in 1986, Gillian studied acting at the prestigious DePaul University's Goodman Theater and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts. Upon obtaining her degree, Gillian headed to New York at the age of 22 to pursue a career in acting. Gillian's first big break came she landed a role in the off Broadway play 'Absent Friends.' It was for her performance in this production that Gillian won a Theater World Award in 1991. In 1993, Gillian auditioned for a TV pilot on a newly formed Fox Network called The X-Files, in which she auditioned for the role of Special Agent Dana Scully. 'I couldn't put the script down,' Gillian remembers. During the auditions, there was a bit of behind the scenes action. The executives at Fox wanted someone with less radiance and more sex-appeal cast in the role of Scully, but Chris Carter insisted that Gillian had the no-nonsense integrity that the role required. Gillian landed a guest appearance in the short lived TV series 'Class of 96' (the title of the episode that she guest starred in was 'The Accused,' and was episode number 8) In 1997 Gillian took home the 'actor' at the SAG Awards as Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She was also honored by the Foreign Press with a Golden Globe in the category of Best Actress in a Television Drama for 1997.
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