Gillian Anderson recently opened up about an “illicit” relationship she had with “an older girl in high school.”
The actress shared in a new interview that she never thought of herself as gay, because she’d “had a couple of boyfriends” and also “didn’t have the language” to describe how she felt.
The confession from Gillian Anderson, who tends to keep her personal life private, sheds new light on her journey toward self-acceptance.
Gillian Anderson was just eleven years old when she relocated from London to Michigan, an abrupt transition made more challenging by her striking punk rock aesthetic.
Growing up in the conservative environment of Grand Rapids, her bold choices in self-expression heavily alienated her from her peers.
“I was a punk in a conservative town. There wasn’t a single other person who had a nose ring and a mohawk. I was very self-conscious, with low self-esteem,” Anderson recalled in a recent interview with The Sunday Times.
Thrust into this unfamiliar culture, she found herself navigating complex feelings when she grew attracted to an older girl. However, the social climate forced the relationship into secrecy.
“It felt secretive and illicit and wrong, and we had to hide,” she recalled of the romance. Now 58, the acclaimed star of “The Crown” and “Sex Education” admits that she simply lacked the terminology to process her identity at the time.
“I definitely felt I didn’t have the language for it,” she explained. “Even later on when I had other relationships [with women] I’m not sure I ever thought of them as being potentially forever.”
Despite her relationships with women, Anderson said she didn’t think she was gay because she’d “had a couple of boyfriends.”
The Actress’s Revelation Sparked Small Chatter Online
On social media, Anderson’s remarks have raised eyebrows, with many seemingly stunned by her remarks, which aren’t even necessarily new.
One individual on X said, “Only when their public relations people can get no interest generated in an actor or actress do they come out with this stuff.”
Another noted, “Her entire life she dates & marries only men, but now she feels compelled to tell us about our teenage years with another girl. Very strange. Maybe she’s looking for work?”
However, amid the criticism, Anderson also received praise for her candid comments, with many thanking her for being open about her sexuality.
Gillian Anderson Recalls Sneaking Into Gay Bars
Anderson recalled an adolescence marked by rebellion and a fierce striving for independence, which always put her in the way of her mother.
“I was getting into gay bars and dancing at 12 with a fake ID,” she reminisced. “I had the conversation with my mum about the things that were allowed. I was such a strong-willed child she would say there was no telling me, and she’s right.”
But the rebellion didn’t stop there. “Next was a boyfriend who was so much older; I was 15, and he was 24,” she continued. “We were together for three years.”
The Actress Previously Talked About Her Romance With Women
The actress has previously opened up about the “inappropriate behavior” during her youthful days. In a 2012 interview with Out Magazine, she reflected on her high school relationship and the eyebrow-raising choices she made.
“I was in a relationship with a girl for a long time when I was in high school,” she said at the time. “Then I was in a relationship with a punk rock drug addict. And then I was in a relationship with somebody who was way, way older than me.”
“Everything that that kind of anarchistic attitude brings, the inappropriate behavior it leads to, was how I chose to be in the world at that time, which was, you know, not what people did.”
She added, “Based on how I chose to look, dress, behave, you know, the relationships I was in at the time were freaking people out.”
Gillian Anderson’s Past Marriages
Anderson has been married twice. She tied the knot with her first husband, Clyde Klotz, who was the “X-Files” assistant art director, in 1994. They had a daughter together, and then divorced in 1997.
She got married a second time to documentary filmmaker Julian Ozanne, from 2004 to 2006. She also has two teenage sons, Oscar, 19, and Felix, 17, with her ex, businessman Mark Griffiths, whom she dated from 2006 to 2012.
Since 2016, Anderson has been romantically linked to “The Crown” creator and screenwriter Peter Morgan, whom she considers her “life partner.”
“The person I consider my life partner happens to be male,” she said during her chat with The Times. “But I think I would feel the same way if it were a woman.”
