Gillian Anderson gives Ryan Coogler’s The X-Files reboot her stamp of approval
After reading Ryan Coogler’s The X-Files reboot script, Gillian Anderson has had her say — but will she be part of it?
In a new chat with Entertainment Tonight, Gillian Anderson said she’s actually read the pilot script for Ryan Coogler’s take on The X-Files — and she didn’t hold back. Calling Coogler “extraordinary,” she said the script surprised her by feeling fresh without losing the show’s DNA.
“I cannot think of a better person to take the helm. I cannot wait to see it, because I think that he's extraordinary. And I've read the script that he wrote, and it's brilliant. I was impressed by how different and yet how quintessentially like an X-File it was.”
Pressed on whether she’ll pop back in as Dana Scully, Anderson got coy. She joked she wouldn’t spill the “E-Tea,” and steered the conversation back to keeping an open mind about Coogler’s approach rather than hinting at a cameo or return.
Inside the reboot
Coogler has written the pilot and is directing the first episode, with Jennifer Yale serving as showrunner. Instead of revisiting Mulder and Scully, the story follows two new FBI agents — played by Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel — as they step into the long-dormant X-Files unit.
The creative team has signaled a darker, scarier tone than recent revivals, aiming squarely for the franchise ’s creepiest instincts. And they’re doing it on familiar ground: the pilot has already wrapped in Vancouver, the city that gave the original series much of its 1990s chill.