The Duchess of Windsor is played by Gillian Anderson.
Since her famous portrayal of Dana Scully in The X Files television series (and two films), for which she won an Emmy, Golden Globe and two Sag Awards, Gillian's film credits have included The Mighty, with Kieran Culkin; Playing By Heart, with Sean Connery and Angelina Jolie; Edith Wharton's classic The House of Mirth (for which she won the Best Actress award at the British Independent Film Awards and The Village Voice Film Critics' Poll for Best Performance); The Mighty Celt (winning her the Irish Film and Television Audience Award); the hilarious Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, for Michael Winterbottom, with Steve Coogan and Jeremy Northam; The Last King of Scotland, with James McAvoy and Forrest Whitaker; How To Lose Friends and Alienate People, with Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst and Jeff Bridges; and Boogie Woogie, alongside Stellan Skarsgaard, Danny Huston and Amanda Seyfried.
In the BBC mini-series adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic Bleak House, Gillian starred as Lady Dedlock, and the critically-acclaimed performance earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the British Academy of Film and Television Awards in 2006 and at the Emmys. She also provided the voice of Queen Vorkana in the animated comedy short Robbie the Reindeer in Close Encounters of the Herd Kind for BBC One and the voice of Helene Hanff in the BBC Radio 4's adaptation of 84 Charing Cross Rd.
Gillian made her London stage debut in Michael Weller's What The Night Is For in 2002 and then went on to continued success and critical acclaim in the Royal Court's production of Rebecca Gillman's play The Sweetest Swing in Baseball in 2005. In 2009 Anderson portrayed Nora in Zinnie Harris' adaptation of A Doll's House at London's prestigious West End theatre, The Donmar Warehouse for which she was nominated for an Olivier.
Upcoming projects include Elizabeth in Michael Barker's Moby Dick alongside Ethan Hawke and William Hurt, The Crimson Petal and The White and Johnny English 2 with Rowan Atkinson and Dominic West.
Over the last 15 years Gillian has been strongly involved in many charity organisations, as a board member of Artist for a New South Africa, a spokesperson for Neurofibromatosis Inc., a founding member of Off the Street Kids and a patron of the Alinyiikira Junior School in Uganda, among many many others.
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