Gillian Anderson has publicly identified as pansexual, opening up about her past relationships with women and the evolving understanding of her sexuality.
The actor, best known for her roles in The X-Files, Sex Education and The Crown, discussed her sexuality in an interview with The Australian, published on 10 September 2026. In the profile, writer Nikki Gemmell describes Anderson as pansexual, attracted to people of all genders.
“In my younger years I was in relationships with women,” Anderson shared, reflecting on experiences that she had previously discussed publicly. The actor had already spoken about her relationships with women in a 2012 interview with Out magazine, but her latest comments offer a more specific understanding of how she identifies today.
Anderson had previously questioned whether pansexual or bisexual best described her sexuality. In a 2024 interview with The New Yorker, she reflected on the language available to describe her experiences, asking herself whether she might be pansexual or bisexual.
Her recent comments also touch on how her understanding of intimacy has developed over time. Anderson explained that although the person she currently considers her life partner is a man, she believes she would feel the same connection if that person were a woman.
The actor has linked her growing openness about sexuality to her work as Jean Milburn, the sex therapist in Netflix’s Sex Education. The role inspired her to explore women’s desires and sexual experiences through her books Want (2024) and More (2026), which collect anonymous contributions about sexuality and fantasy.
At 58, Anderson has spoken about feeling greater autonomy, empowerment and comfort with herself. Her identification as pansexual adds a new chapter to a conversation about sexuality that she has been having publicly for more than a decade.
Image: Gillian Anderson at Fan Expo Dallas, 2015. Photo by Gage Skidmore. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
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