Gillian Anderson Says She Was on Crystal Meth During Teenage High School Arrest

Gillian Anderson is adding a startling new detail to the rebellious teenage story she has told for years, revealing that crystal meth was involved when she was arrested after breaking into her high school.

Gillian Anderson says she had taken crystal meth when she was arrested for breaking into her school as a teenager in Michigan. The actress revisited her punk-era youth in a recent interview, with The Telegraph reporting that Anderson said she was under the influence of methamphetamine during the incident.

The arrest itself has long been part of Anderson’s account of her teenage years. She has previously said she and friends broke into City High-Middle School in Grand Rapids around graduation in an attempt to glue the building’s locks, an episode that came after classmates had voted her “most likely to be arrested.”

Anderson has also spoken openly over the years about going through a rebellious phase after her family moved from London back to the United States. She adopted a punk look, experimented with drugs and alcohol and pushed against expectations before eventually finding a more constructive outlet in theater.

The latest admission arrives as Anderson promotes Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, the Jane Schoenbrun-directed slasher starring Hannah Einbinder. In recent interviews around the film, Anderson has reflected on her adolescence, sexuality and the ways her experiences as an outsider have informed the characters and projects she has chosen as an adult.

Her career ultimately moved in a dramatically different direction from those teenage years. Anderson became internationally known as Dana Scully on The X-Files and later earned acclaim for roles in The Fall, Sex Education and The Crown, while continuing to work across film, television and the stage.

Anderson has never tried to present the high-school arrest as a point of pride, previously acknowledging the damage involved in acting out as a teenager. The new detail about meth use gives additional context to an incident she has discussed for decades and underscores just how far removed that period is from the career that followed.