Fox tried to pay Gillian Anderson 'half' of what David Duchovny received to return to The X-Files

Fox offered Gillian Anderson way less than her costar.
(Image credit: 2016 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Ed Araquel/FOX)

On Sunday night, Fox will premiere the highly anticipated six-episode revival of The X-Files, with original stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny returning to their starring roles. But whatever mysteries The X-Files has in store, there's one nagging question that keeps coming up: Why does Fox keep trying to pay Gillian Anderson less than her male costar?

Anderson first disclosed the pay gap, which she says was "half" what Duchovny was offered to return, in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter. (According to their sources, Anderson was eventually successful in negotiating for equal pay.) She elaborated on the problem in The Daily Beast. "It was shocking to me, given all the work that I had done in the past to get us to be paid fairly," she said. "I worked really hard toward that and finally got somewhere with it."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Scott Meslow

Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.