Gillian Anderson Weighs In on Ryan Coogler’s ‘X-Files’ Reboot

Fresh from his success with his first horror film, Sinners, Ryan Coogler is back to talking about X-Files. “That’s what’s immediately next,” he said on the Last Podcast On The Left. “I’ve been excited about that for a long time, and I’m fired up to get back to it. If we do our job right, it’ll be really [explicit] scary.”

When asked if he’d talked to Gillian Anderson, Coogler confirmed he had but didn’t give many details. “She’s incredible; fingers crossed there,” he replied. Luckily for him, Anderson has hinted that a return to X-Files is always a possibility.

She Admitted That She Wouldn’t Rule out Appearing in the ‘X-Files’ Reboot

In an interview with ITV1’s This Morning, Anderson elaborated on her conversation with Coogler. “I spoke to him, and what I said was, ‘If anyone were to do it, I think you’re the perfect person, and best of luck, call me,'” she said. “‘At some point, if the phone rings and… and it’s good, and it feels like the right time, perhaps.’ That’s what I said. But he’s amazing,” she added.

This isn’t the first time Anderson has spoken about a possible revival, although usually the response is ‘Nope.” At least it was, until a year ago. She told Today that she knew Coogler had approached X-Files creator Chris Carter about doing a reboot. “I cannot think of a better way around for a reboot to happen,” she said. “I think he’s a bit of a genius.”

But when pushed on whether she’d be involved with it, her response was noncommittal, but not an outright refusal. “There’s a chance it will happen, whether I am involved with it is a whole other thing,” she said. “But I’m not saying no, because I think he’s really cool, and I think if he did it, it’d probably be done incredibly well. And maybe I’ll pop in for a little something something.”

Anderson Revealed to Duchovny Why She Was Done With Scully

X-Files orginally ran from 1993 to 2002, with Gillian Anderson appearing as Dana Scully for all 9 seasons. There were also two feature films: 1998’s The X-Files, and 2008’s The X-Files: I Want to Believe. In 2016 both she and costar David Duchovny, who played Fox Mulder, returned for what would become seasons 10 and 11.

But before season 11 premiered, Anderson announced that she was done with Scully after that season. The announcement surprised everyone, including Carter and Duchovny. In 2024, she explained to Duchovny on his Fail Better podcast why she didn’t want to do anymore X-Files.

“I wasn’t really enjoying the direction it [X-Files] was heading. It didn’t feel… and yet, I didn’t have a voice in it,” she said.

“It felt like Scully’s trajectory was no longer one of strength and agency, it felt like it was beholden to an old idea of what a woman is,” Anderson continued. “That’s all she could talk about, literally all she could talk about was William. And finding William. That’s literally like a one-track song.”

Coogler has built a reputation as a writer who’s skilled at creating three-dimensional characters. Now that he’s creating something new with the X-Files, maybe he can give Anderson a story she’d come back for.