Gillian Anderson confirms she has spoken to director rebooting The X-Files

US actress Gillian Anderson has confirmed she has spoken to filmmaker Ryan Coogler about rebooting The X-Files.

The Sex Education star, 56, shot to fame playing Dana Scully in the American sci-fi series, which originally ran between 1993 and 2002 before being revived in 2016 with another series airing in 2018.

There were also two feature films.

Earlier in the month, Coogler, 38, who has directed films including Black Panther and Creed, told true crime podcast The Last Podcast On The Left that he was “working on The X-Files” and had “spoken to the great Gillian Anderson”.

Anderson told ITV’s This Morning: “I spoke to him, and what I said was, ‘If anyone were to do it, I think you are the perfect person and best of luck, call me’.

“At some point, if the phone rings and it’s good and it feels like the right time, then perhaps.”

In 2016, Channel 5 revealed The X-Files had become the highest rating drama to ever air on the channel, at the time.

The show, also starring David Duchovny, has a cult following and follows medical doctor Scully and Duchovny’s character Fox Mulder as they investigate unsolved FBI cases linked to the paranormal.

Anderson appeared on the show to discuss her role in forthcoming film The Salt Path, also starring Jason Isaacs, based on the 2018 memoir of the same name, which tells the story of a couple who lose their home and later discover the husband has been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Anderson said she was “completely blown away” by the audiobook and added that it had “really shifted” her perspective “about people who end up homeless”.

“It’s beautifully written, incredibly poetic and an extraordinary story, in many ways, about resilience and endurance and a love story, a testament to their relationship”, she said.

“But also, it’s an even more unsettling time for people right now than it was even back then.”