Gillian Anderson on her ‘compelling’ role opposite a killer in ‘The Fall’

TORONTO – Gillian Anderson says she had never seen a character like Stella Gibson before she read the script for “The Fall.”

Gibson is a driven, talented detective who travels from London to oversee an investigation into a series of murders in Belfast. She has a strong understanding of the killer, even painting her nails red — as he does to his victims — to catch his attention during her televised press conferences.

“I think she’s very good at her job and she places herself in the mindset of the killer in a sense,” Anderson said in a telephone interview from the U.K.

“I also think she’s acutely aware of and intrigued by what is the same amongst human beings, the aspects that we all share with people that are not that far removed except for that one thing. That is intriguing for audience… and it’s also intriguing for the detective.”

“The Fall” returns for a second season Friday on Bravo. The series has a unique structure for a detective drama: from the very first episode, the audience knows the killer’s identity — Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan) — and he is as much a lead character as Gibson.

While Gibson doggedly pursues clues to track the killer down, the viewer also sees Spector lead a relatively ordinary life with his wife and children while sneaking away to stalk and kill young, professional women.

“I think at first there was a question of whether it would be as interesting and as tense when you knew who the killer was all along. But that’s also part of the appeal of it,” said Anderson.

“The tension is in the hunt and not knowing obviously what he’s going to do next, because he has such a normal and therefore disturbing life outside of his stalking and kills. It compels the audience in a very provocative and compelling way.”

Gibson is a deeply private, independent woman, who early in the first season has a one-night stand with a male detective and then chides him for seeking emotional attachment. Asked whether she thought this depiction of female sexuality — so rarely shown on screen — marked a step forward, Anderson said not exactly.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say that it was a step forward as much as an accurate portrayal of the complexity of female desire, which is not as categorical as it is often portrayed. And that there are many different versions of how sexuality plays itself out in the world,” she said.

“I’m often shocked at how shocked people are by this one thing that she does in what was 2013 that is honestly no different than what men commonly do in life all the time. It was just astounding to me that it continued to be a through line in questions and remarks about the show — that it was the thing that stood out.”

Anderson has portrayed her fair share of powerful women, beginning with her iconic role as Agent Dana Scully in “The X-Files.” Currently, she also plays Hannibal Lecter’s therapist Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier in NBC’s “Hannibal,” set to return for a third season next year.

But she said she doesn’t see Du Maurier as a “strong” female character.

“She is a very complicated character that we are still learning about what her modus operandi is and where she stands in all of it, but I wouldn’t necessarily use her as an example (of a strong female character),” she said with a laugh.

The 46-year-old actress speaks with a hint of an English accent, as she spent part of her childhood in the U.K. and returned after “The X-Files” wrapped in 2002.

She praised her co-star in “The Fall,” Dornan, an Irish actor who will star as titular character Christian Grey in the hotly anticipated “Fifty Shades of Grey” next year.

“Jamie’s a great guy, really grounded and funny and personable and lovely to everybody and works very hard,” said Anderson. “He gets an opportunity in the second season to show how good an actor he is. I think that was an effort on (writer-director Allan Cubitt’s) part to create some meatier stuff.”

Gibson and Spector’s twin narratives came to a dramatic crescendo at the end of the first season. The second season will be more “thrilling and disturbing in psychological ways,” promised Anderson.

“I think it’s fantastic. I think what Allan has created, and he directed this, which is no small feat, to write, produce and direct something. I think he’s done an extraordinary job.”

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