The X-Files revival mini-series is finally premiering with returning stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny.
Advertisement
Actress Gillian Anderson says she was offered half of David Duchovny’s salary for the highly anticipated new X-Files series.
“I can only imagine that at the beginning, they wanted me to be the sidekick”, Anderson told the Daily Beast.
She said: “Especially in this climate of women talking about the reality of [unequal pay] in this business, I think it’s important that it gets heard and voiced”. It was just like, ‘Let’s fucking get it right before we run out of posters, because then it’ll look like shit and I’ll feel bad’. That’s about the only nice thing I can say about it.
Advertisement
While Anderson is reported to have since successfully negotiated equal pay, she is among a number of Hollywood actresses to protest the industry’s gender pay gap. It wasn’t until she was told to walk behind him on camera, and never stand to his side, however, that sent her over the edge. “I don’t know how long it lasted or if it changed because I eventually said, ‘F**k no!” It’s too complicated to appeal to X-Files newcomers, but too “been there, done that” for hardcore fans. “And my response always was, ‘That was then, this is now.’ And then it happened again!” In terms of visuals, Carter’s imagery is continuously engaging, if similarly not particularly thoughtful, but the story is so boring and ludicrous in the same measure that even the kind of masterful visual rhythms of The Knick, Hannibal, or Better Call Saul would save it. That the pilot of the series’ tenth go-around is such a astounding misfire is startling and sad, but it’s all the more bewildering to know that, having seen what follows, the series somehow regains its footing after this.
