Gillian Anderson talks about kissing X-Files co-star David Duchovny while sitting with her boyfriend at the 1997 Emmy Awards

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Gillian Anderson opens up about Emmy kiss with co-star David Duchovny (Image via Araya Doheny/Getty Images)

Gillian Anderson finally addressed the infamous kiss with her The X-Files co-star David Duchovny during the 1997 Emmy Awards.

The actress, who won an Emmy for her character as Dana Scully in The X-Files in 1997, leaned towards her co-star for a kiss as her boyfriend, Rodney Rowland, who was sitting next to her, looked on. It was only after her kiss with Duchovny that she kissed her boyfriend, which has baffled fans ever since.

Two decades later, Anderson finally addressed the incident in an Instagram video she shared on Friday, August 2.

She talked about the fan question in the video, jokingly saying:

"The fact is that David and I were actually living together and Rodney was my beard."

Shortly afterward, a pop of confetti could be heard in the background, and then Anderson said that she was just joking. The actress, who previously said that she is bisexual, continued on the video, saying:

"I don't know why I kissed him first. I guess because he was on the show with me and we were practically married because we spent more time with each other than we did with our loved ones."

The actress further noted in the video that they were at the event to "celebrate the series," so "maybe" that was the reason.

She also mentioned that her boyfriend was a good sport about the whole ordeal, adding that he was a "great guy" and that she didn't think it bothered him.

Also read: Where was Unstable season 2 filmed?


Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny had an "immediate connection" before their The X-Files casting

Even before the actors were cast as Dana Scully and Fox Mulder in the TV show, Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny had an "instant connection," which was most likely why they got the parts. The actor told People in June that they knew they could work together right when they were reading the script ahead of the auditions, adding:

"There was an immediate connection through the work that we could do, and that lasted for a long, long time."

They worked together in The X-Files for eight seasons before Duchovny left, eventually reprising his role when the show was revived for seasons 10 and 11. Gillian Anderson also has some great things to say about her former co-star.

She shared an Instagram video in July where she praised Duchovny's new podcast called Fail Better, saying:

"I listened to all of them yesterday while I was signing bookplates, and I thought, 'He's really good.'"

The actress also added that her favorite episodes from the podcast were those with Gabor Mate and Sean Penn, further encouraging her fans to listen because "they're really special."

Gillian Anderson, who was decked in a western attire and a cowboy hat in the video, was filming in Calgary at the time. She's currently working for the Netflix series The Abandons by Kurt Sutter.

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Edited by Prem Deshpande
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