It's official: Gillian Anderson really is leaving The X-Files at the end of its upcoming season.
Anderson stunned long-time fans of the sci-fi franchise in October when she said that season 11 "will be the last" for her, although she quickly walked back the certainty of stepping away from the show for good.
With the launch of the new episodes only days away, Gillian is doubling down by telling TV Insider that she is now truly hanging up her FBI badge in order to devote more time to other projects, like American Gods and potentially even more of The Fall.
"I've said from the beginning, this is it for me," she said. "I was a bit surprised by people's [shocked] reaction to my announcement… because my understanding was that this was a single season."
This sad turn of events brings to mind the latter years of the original X-Files, which broke up the Mulder and Scully team thanks to David Duchovny quitting as a series regular.
Does the departure of Scully mean that The X-Files will be put to rest once again after the 11th season? At least according to creator Chris Carter, probably not.
What to Read Next
"There are a lot more X-Files stories to tell," Chris Carter has teased. "Whether we get to tell them is a question mark. The truth is out there."
The X-Files returns on January 3, 2018 on Fox in the US. Channel 5 airs the show in the UK.
Watch a behind-the-scenes look at the 11th, and potentially final, season of The X-Files below:
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
