The two central characters of “The X-Files” are Agent Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Mulder was the true believer who took every psychic phenomenon and alien conspiracy to be totally true, whereas Scully was the skeptic and devil’s advocate, always there to point out that even strange-looking things had a rational explanation. Making their dynamic more complex, Mulder was an atheist, while Scully was a practicing Catholic. In real life, it’s Duchovny who is more skeptical of the paranormal, and it’s Anderson who feels a little more excited about the possibilities of the unseen world. 

Anderson shares a story of how, prior to filming a scene wherein he character is shot, she dreamed of the very gun that would be used. Prognostications are most certainly a common phenomenon on “The X-Files,” and Anderson was taken aback by the experience. While on the set, Anderson was quoted: 

“I had a dream about a week ago, a nightmare where I was shot at point-blank range. And it was really weird ’cause I couldn’t say anything. When we were doing the scene just now where I get shot, I remembered (the weapon in my dream) was a very similar gun. It was really scary. Often when I read the scripts I get freaked out, creeped out.”

But, Anderson says, exploration of the fringe still appeals to her, saying that “Psychokinesis appeals to me. ESP, telling the future, I love that stuff.” Anderson, it seems, would have been a fan of “The X-Files” even if she weren’t on “The X-Files.”