Since X Files ended in 2002 Gillian Anderson has been trying hard to get away from the character of Dana Scully that made her famous.

But now, six years later, Anderson is back playing the iconic role, in The X Files: I Want to Believe. So, what was it that made her return and what happened to the dreams of this different career.

Anderson told us: “I think that I have always made it pretty clear no matter what has been rumoured at various times in the press, that were we to come together in order to do a film, that I would be happy and willing and hopefully able to participate, and so I just assumed, that it would just be a matter of time.”

It's the second X-Files movie and it's been suggested by David Duchovny that the franchise could now go on as a movie series. “I think that is something that has been discussed for a long time,” says Anderson. “That’s something that we have all been interested in and if we are able to do one that appeals to a mass audience that perhaps we might even do another one after this.”

Anderson first stepped into the role at the age of 24 – although she told producers she was 27 to get the part – and is now back again as Scully at age 39. Coming back into a role which has been such a big part of her life wasn't quite as easy as she thought stepping back into Scully's shoes.

“You know I wasn’t so much cocky about it but I was really confident that it was going to be really easy on the first day, and I wasn’t afraid at all,” she says “And then for the first couple of days it sucked. It was horrible. I’ve spent such a long time trying not to do anything that even remotely resembled Scully whilst working, so when I was inviting her back again my brain was going “No, no, this isn’t supposed to be happening.”'

The character of Scully changed over the series as did her relationship with David Duchovney's character of Fox Mulder but in the film it's five years since we last saw her. “I think what’s been important is to not have her change a lot.