Gillian Anderson has opened up about a secret same-sex romance she kept hidden during her teenage years.
The ‘Sex Education’ star, 56, revealed in a recent interview with the Sunday Times that she dated “an older girl in high school” after moving from London to Grand Rapids, Michigan at age 11. She spoke candidly about how the relationship felt forbidden at the time and the lasting impact it had on her understanding of her own sexuality.
“It felt secretive and illicit and wrong and we had to hide,” Anderson explained to the publication regarding the covert nature of their teenage romance. The romance was kept under wraps due to fears about how people would react, and the secrecy eventually took its toll when a subsequent boyfriend discovered the truth and ended their relationship.
Despite her intense feelings for the girl, Anderson said she struggled to process what the relationship meant. “But I definitely felt I didn’t have the language for it,” she said. “Even later on when I had other relationships [with women] I’m not sure I ever thought of them as being potentially forever.”
Anderson’s reflections extended to how she viewed relationships with women throughout her younger years. “When I was younger, there were parts of my brain that thought [women] were temporary,” she confessed. She added that her perspective has since evolved significantly, noting that her current life partner happens to be male but that gender would not determine her capacity for commitment.
“The person I consider my life partner happens to be male, but I think I would feel the same way if it were a woman,” she continued in the Sunday Times interview. “I’d feel, ‘This is my life partner.'”
The ‘X-Files’ alum also delved into her broader rebellious streak during adolescence, describing herself as something of a wild child. She recalled sneaking into gay bars with a fake ID at just 12 years old, dancing and exploring spaces far beyond what her age would typically allow.
This rebellious energy carried over into her dating life in ways that would raise serious concerns today. After her hidden romance with the older girl, Anderson became involved with a 24-year-old man when she was only 15. The age gap and her young age at the time would be viewed very differently in the current climate.
Anderson has previously touched on her deliberately provocative behavior as a teenager. In a 2012 interview, she described choosing an anarchistic path and deliberately dating people who would shock her local community in Grand Rapids. She explained that this attitude naturally led to inappropriate behavior, and she acknowledged that her unconventional lifestyle choices and various rebellious relationships were effective at “freaking people out.”
The actress has been romantically linked to playwright Peter Morgan, though the pair have never formally confirmed their relationship status. Her approach to love today is notably more fluid than the rigid categories she felt constrained by in her youth.
In the viral moment that prompted this renewed attention, Anderson’s candor about her teenage years stands in stark contrast to the secrecy she once felt compelled to maintain. The revelation of her hidden same-sex romance, her early visits to gay bars, and her later relationship with a significantly older man paint a picture of a young woman pushing against boundaries in a conservative Midwestern environment. The actress’s willingness to revisit these experiences now, decades later, offers a window into both the constraints of that era and her own personal evolution.
Anderson currently stars in Jane Schoenbrun’s ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,’ which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and opens in theaters on August 7.