Gillian Anderson, who finally gets her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year, has made no bones about the fact that she’s not okay with the way the entertainment industry often treats its men a whole lot better than its women. Female-directed films like Wonder Woman are still a rarity, and the issue of unequal pay is one that Anderson has herself contended with.
Headlines were made last year when Anderson revealed that she was initially offered half of what David Duchovny was to return to “The X-Files,“ which was a pretty clear cut example of the gender inequalities in the business. After all, Anderson and Duchovny are unquestionably of equal importance to the FOX series that they together made famous.
Thankfully, Anderson was eventually paid the same as Duchovny for the revival.
Now she’s fighting a different but related battle, taking to Twitter to express her frustration with the recent news that FOX has put together an all-male team of writers to pen the upcoming 11th season of “The X-Files.” The writing staff includes series vets Glen Morgan, Darin Morgan and James Wong, as well as newcomers Gabe Rotter, Benjamin Van Allen and Brad Follmer.
Anderson tweeted today, calling out the show’s overall lack of female involvement…
Yes, out of the 200+ episodes of “The X-Files” that have aired since 1993, only 2 were directed by women. The first female-directed episode of the show, Season 7’s ‘all things,’ was helmed by Gillian Anderson herself, while Michelle MacLaren directed Season 9’s ‘John Doe.’
Production on Season 11 begins later this summer ahead of an early 2018 launch.