Though it may seem hard to believe given the actress' sex symbol status, it seems execs at Fox weren't initially convinced that Gillian Anderson had the right amount of sex appeal to play Dana Scully in The X-Files back in the day.
While speaking to Inverse about the upcoming reboot, creator Chris Carter recalled pitching Anderson and eventual co-star David Duchovny (Fox Mulder) as his leads back in the early '90s, and the studio being adamant that they wanted "a bombshell like Pamela Anderson to play Scully."
“Where’s the sex appeal?” Carter remembers being asked. “Even though Gillian’s beautiful, she wasn’t their idea of sexy. First, because they didn’t understand what I was trying to do with the show. And she was an unknown, so that never helps.”
Of course, Anderson ultimately landed the role and the rest is history - but is there a chance Mulder and Scully will return for the planned relaunch? Carter isn't actually involved with the reboot, but did have a "really nice conversation" with new showrunner Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) about what he has in store.
“It’s interesting, people say, ‘Aren’t you possessive of it?’ And I say, ‘No, I’m looking forward to seeing what somebody else does with it. I just asked him what his ideas were, and he told me, and I said, ‘Those sound like good ideas.’”
“No matter what, he’s got a hard job," Carter continued. "Casting is a hard job. Mounting it is a hard job. All the problems that I dealt with are going to be his problems.”
The X-Files originally aired on Fox from 1993-2001, before being revived at the network for two more seasons in 2016 and 2018. The show starred Duchovny and Anderson as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who found themselves investigating strange, unexplained and usually supernatural or extraterrestrial cases.
Details on the reboot are few and far between, but it's assumed that Coogler would develop (and possibly direct) the project under his five-year overall deal with Walt Disney Television, of with 20th Century TV is a part.
Are you looking forward to more X-Files? Do you think the original cast should return in some capacity? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section down below.
"Two F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts."