Going gay for Gillian.

“Sarah, sexuality is fluid, yeah.”

Not for me it isn’t. I enthusiastically applaud others who don’t subscribe to a binary choice but I’m straight—no seriously—I’m straight as they come.

I cannot stress enough how into men I am.

My adoration for the male form is such that I am part of a group chat called The Perverts. Ok, so the talk isn’t always about the blokes we fancy but the conversation is littered with screen grabs of new crushes—what am I—seventeen? Mentally, yes. So again, for the record, I like fellas. Ah! The lady doth protest too much, well, about that…

It’s been brought to my attention that some women really know how to turn a girl’s head.

And one such woman is Gillian Anderson.

The American-born, British-raised actor wields power to make straight women gay—or at the very least, bi-curious. It’s a real thing, an actual phenomenon. She has been asked about it in interviews (to which she laughs in her incredibly alluring, beguiling way).

You can now count me as one of the many women who would go gay for Anderson. I am so gay for Gillian that some days it’s hard to think of anything else, daily tasks are coloured by thoughts of her.

I knew of her way back when but I was never a regular viewer of the X-Files. But her impact on the show made her a bankable star (despite not getting paid the same as her sidekick, what’s his name again? David Duchovny, that’s it). 

It is true that she has always been a beauty but it wasn’t until she hit her 40s that I was like, “Oh, hi guurrllll!”.

It’s ironic that a series called The Fall made me fall for Gill.

That’s when I knew there could be no other woman for me. I didn’t even have a choice, my heart decided.

Every moment she’s on screen is a scene-stealer. You hardly notice the other actors when she’s talking—or not talking. Her face alone gets peoples’ attention but her attraction is so much more than good looks. She has swagger. She is quietly commanding. She has gravitas—a stately presence. She carries herself with a discreet dominant energy—it’s captivating—spellbinding—yes, I have it bad. And even when she plays a comedy role like the one in Sex Education, you can’t help but find her intoxicating.

There’s a particular scene in The Fall where she rescues a colleague from a pushy creep who’s not taking no for an answer. She sweeps in beside her and plants a kiss firmly on her lips, whilst apologising for being late. She then looks up at this guy and orders drinks—mistaking him—on purpose for the waiter. The bloke says he’s not staff to which she responds, “So why are you standing there?”. *Swoon* I defy any woman to watch that scene and not feel a twinge.

Hot people know they’re hot.

When John Lynch says to Anderson’s character in The Fall, “Do you have any idea of the effect you have on people?” he could have been talking about the actor herself. Gillian no doubt has enough self-awareness to know how people respond to her. If she doesn’t, the hordes of fans and admirers probably give her an inkling.

For a stunner on the tele, she’s unusual.

Her characters are so often independent thinkers. Stella (from The Fall) most certainly is but she’s also vulnerable and human, we actually like this woman. We don’t see her as a rival, she is someone we want to be like.

She plays characters that push her abilities as an actor—and she’s not afraid to look unsexy doing it (she played the iron lady, FFS). And that’s another thing, she doesn’t do obviously sexy, which only makes her sexier. Maybe that’s why so many women fancy her. She’s one of us. She isn’t there purely for the male gaze. And when you read about her, as I have, you find out she’s an ardent feminist, which makes perfect sense. She doesn’t conform to the conventions of romantic relationships. She is utterly comfortable in her own skin. Also, she dates women, so maybe, just maybe, I might be in with a chance?

Photo credit: Charlotte Hadden.

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