‘We Were Basically Married’: Inside Gillian Anderson’s Real-Life Love Life and the Truth About Her ‘X-Files’ David Duchovny Bond
Learn whether she and 'The X-Files' costar ever had an offscreen romance
Gillian Anderson will forever be known for her iconic role as the skeptical FBI Agent Dana Scully on The X-Files, and for decades, countless viewers have obsessed over her “will they or won’t they?” chemistry with her costar, David Duchovny, who played her supernaturally inclined professional partner, Agent Fox Mulder.
While Anderson and Duchovny were never actually an item, they’ve maintained a long friendship, and she did marry someone she met on the set of The X-Files. Following her divorce, she’s had other long-term relationships with her creative peers. Read on for a look at Anderson’s two marriages, her current partnership and what she’s said about her relationship with her signature costar.
Gillian Anderson’s ‘X-Files’ husband: Clyde Klotz
Gillian Anderson met her first husband, Clyde Klotz, on the set of The X-Files, where he was working as an assistant art director and helping to create the show’s spooky aesthetic. Anderson and Klotz married in 1994, and their daughter, Piper Maru, was born later that year.
Piper spent much of her childhood on the set of The X-Files, and an episode in the show’s third season was named after her. She now works as an artist and designer, and assisted in the art department when the show came back for its 11th season in 2018.
Anderson and Klotz’s relationship didn’t last nearly as long as the sci-fi series, as they divorced in 1997 after three years of marriage. At the time, she said, “I’ve outgrown him,” and admitted that the show’s demanding production schedule put pressure on their relationship.
Gillian Anderson’s second husband: Julian Ozanne
In 2004, Anderson married her second husband, documentary producer Julian Ozanne. They divorced in 2007, and shortly after the split, she told an Esquire journalist, “I can actually say the words, ‘my second husband‘ and that is so weird. I don’t feel like I’m old enough. And it didn’t work twice, so is marriage in and of itself part of my downfall? I liked the feeling initially. It felt wonderful and solid and wholesome. But you can only live for the moment and, based on the information that you have, do your best.”
The father of Gillian Anderson’s two sons: Mark Griffiths
In 2006, after separating from Ozanne but before the divorce was finalized, Anderson began dating businessman Mark Griffiths. They had two sons, Oscar and Felix (yes, like The Odd Couple, though she claimed she wasn’t inspired by the show!), both of whom are now pro bike racers.
Anderson and Griffiths never married, and broke up in 2012. While they were together, she credited him with helping her find balance, saying, “Mark is one of the kindest people I have ever met. He has a very good head on his shoulders and part of me was ready to be grounded. I recognized that in him. That is exactly what has taken place—a grounding for all of us. And really paying attention to what is precious.”
Gillian Anderson’s current partner: Peter Morgan
Anderson began dating screenwriter and producer Peter Morgan, who created the historical drama The Crown, in 2016. They’ve been together ever since then, save for a brief break in 2020. Anderson and Morgan were introduced by Vanessa Kirby, who appeared in The Crown’s first two seasons, and in 2020, Anderson joined the cast of her partner’s show to play Margaret Thatcher.
Anderson and Morgan keep a fairly low profile, as the actress said that they made a pact not to discuss The Crown outside of working hours, and they feel comfortable spending time apart. In a 2024 New Yorker interview, she revealed, “We do not live together. But, when I am not with my kids or on set, we are together. It’s perfect for us. We are both incredibly independent and workaholics, and need that space. Best of all worlds. I highly recommend it.”
Anderson has been candid about sexuality in recent years. Her research for her role as a sex therapist in the comedy series Sex Education inspired her to publish Want, a 2024 book compiling anonymously submitted sexual fantasies from women around the world, and she’s spoken about having relationships with women in the past, saying, “It’s just who I am. I have absolutely no issue with it whatsoever, and I don’t really care if other people have an issue with it.”
The star has said that Morgan is a private person, and just because she published a book about sex doesn’t mean she plans to discuss any intimate details of her own love life. She’s claimed that her approach to relationships has matured considerably, saying her current romance is “very different” from her previous ones because she’s now “more fully formed,” and has “taken time out of previous relationships to find [herself].”
Did Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny ever date?
Anyone who ever watched The X-Files knows that Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny made for a wildly charismatic onscreen pair, and while Mulder and Scully did finally hook up in the season 7, and their relationship was made more explicit when the show was revived in 2018, the actors never actually got together in real life.
There’s been speculation about whether Anderson and Duchovny have been intimate and when their signature characters would finally get together for nearly as long as the internet’s been around, and Anderson has said, “We’ve always had quite a complex relationship . . . When you work that intensely with somebody for such a long time… We were basically married to each other.”
Anderson and Duchovny have both spoken about experiencing tension in their relationship, and while filming the revival seasons, she said, “There’s something quite unique about the connection that David and I have on screen . . . I got why people are so obsessed with seeing them get together in some way,” and confessed that their vibe offscreen was platonic and professional, saying, “We get along well but in our daily communication, there’s no intimacy. We don’t see each other. Our kids have never met each other.”
In a video interview with Wired, Anderson quipped, “People have always been interested in David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson getting together personally, privately, intimately, as they were interested in Mulder and Scully getting together intimately. And it’s not gonna happen.”
Some may be disappointed to learn that Mulder and Scully weren’t a real-life couple, but it’s clear that after years of drama, Anderson has found her ideal personal and professional match with the creator of The Crown.
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