Gillian Anderson on quitting X-Files: 'In my mind, it was just one more season, not a new series'

In what has been termed as the golden era of American television, revivals of iconic shows from the 90s has become a top trend . The path-breaking sci-fi show X-Files was no stranger to this, as the legendary FBI agents Mulder and Scully, played by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, had returned back to their roles in 2015 with a tenth season. [caption id=“attachment_2888718” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A still from The X-Files. Image Courtesy: Flickr[/caption] However, Anderson has now said that she has reached the end of road with the X-Files franchise. “I’m really serious. I have so much respect for these guys, and I have respect for Scully, and I have respect for David, and it’s really sad. But I’m finished, and that’s the end of that,” she said, as reported by Variety. Speaking at a panel at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour, on the second chapter of the X-Files revival, Anderson has made it clear she is not interested reprising her role for another season. “The minute they mentioned that they might be interested in doing another, I thought, do you know what? That didn’t feel like the right way to end it. It didn’t feel like I would necessarily have been happy if those six were how we said good-bye, and thought the way that the writers were talking about doing another season sounded more like a good ending to me. And so when I was asked to do another season, I agreed to do another season. It never occurred to me, nor was it discussed or suggested, that it was now a new series — that we were starting a new series. So I said, ‘Yes, I will do this.’ But in my mind, it had always been that it would just be one season. There’s lots of things that I want to do in my life and in my career, and it’s been an extraordinary opportunity and an extraordinary character, and I am hugely grateful. But there’s lots of other stuff I want to do, and I don’t really want to be tied down to months and months of doing any particular one thing that I feel like I’ve done,” she said, as reported by Variety. The series, which had ended after nine seasons and resulted in two feature films, was a fan favourite worldwide, so its return to the screen was much celebrated.