Gillian Leigh Anderson (born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. Her film work includes The House of Mirth (2000), The Mighty Celt (2005), The Last King of Scotland (2006), and two X-Files films, The X-Files (1998) and The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008). In 2013, Anderson was cast as Hannibal Lecter's psychotherapist, Bedelia Du Maurier, on the television series Hannibal, and in 2014, she began starring in Crisis, which was cancelled halfway through its first season on May 9, 2014, with the final episode airing June 21.

Anderson has received five Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, winning one, and five Golden Globe Awards nominations with one win.