Gillian Anderson has built her career out of playing women who command space, whether it’s The X-Files’ skeptical scientist Dana Scully, Sex Education’s frank and fearless Jean Milburn, or her award-winning turn as Margaret Thatcher in The Crown. In every role, she brings a quiet, measured strength: women who question, challenge the status quo and persist in the face of adversity.
That same conviction runs through her life off-screen. As L’Oréal Paris ambassador, Anderson embodies the brand’s longstanding message of self-worth and empowerment, but she approaches it in her own authentic way. When we speak on the evening before she walked in the brand’s annual Le Défilé show in Paris last month, she reflects on what confidence really means—and why, for her, it’s always rooted in action.
“One of the ways that I learned through the years to feel empowered or to feel a heightened sense of self-esteem, was that I learned to do esteemable things,” she tells me. “For me, those esteemable things were charity work, activism of some kind and volunteer work,” she adds. “You walk the walk rather than just talking the talk—and if you’re actually taking action, not just talking about it, you feel a heightened sense of self-worth because it really feels good to be of service to other people.”
For Anderson, confidence is rarely a solitary pursuit. The same principles that define her sense of self naturally extend to her perspective on women as a whole. Empowerment, in her view, only reaches its full power when it’s shared.
(Image credit: Image Courtesy of L’Oréal Paris)
The bonds between women
Anderson has long been interested in the idea of collective strength. “I’ve been really interested in the idea of women as a global community making a concerted effort to support each other,” she says. “On one hand, that feels quite trivial or like an obvious thing, but it’s actually not.”
She reflects on the ways women are sometimes set against one another, particularly online. “There are so many examples where women get caught up in judgment or diminishing other women,” she says. “I think it’s really important that we support each other even more than ever, because if we don’t keep raising our voices and going after what we feel we’re worth, then who’s going to do it?”
Her vision of sisterhood isn’t abstract or decorative; it’s pragmatic, lived, and necessary—the connective tissue that lets women thrive in a world that forces us to thrive on competition.
Beauty and power
Throughout her career, Anderson has portrayed women who are rarely self-satisfied—they’re characters who explore their own power but often find themselves trapped in the systems that define it, becoming frustrated by the limitations set upon them. It’s a dynamic she also recognises in real life.
“There are characters that I’ve played that are aware of their impact on other people,” she says. “That’s one thing—when beauty is represented as a positive force. But we often focus so much attention on beauty and youth that it can have the opposite effect. When you’re striving for a certain level of perfection, it can actually be diminishing rather than empowering.”
“When we constantly feel like something needs to be fixed—that we’re not right as we are—it’s not coming from the inside out. It’s purely from the outside in.”
In an industry that often focuses on superficialities, Anderson’s stance feels refreshing. It’s an acknowledgment that beauty isn’t a goal or a guarantee of success. Finding self-worth, for Anderson, comes strictly from within and from connection to others who raise you up.
Rituals of gratitude
When I ask her what she does on the days she doesn’t feel confident, Anderson doesn’t recite an affirmation or a product. She talks about perspective. “I’ve always been advised, particularly in those times, to write a gratitude list,” she says. “It can actually shift perception—focusing not on what’s lacking, but on all the many things that are.”
“Very often, from one day to the next, nothing on the outside has changed,” she continues. “But by the time tomorrow comes, the shift inside me has happened enough that it feels like a new day.”
Her answer somehow captures the essence of Anderson’s kind of beauty: grounded, introspective and quietly rebellious.
(Image credit: Images Courtesy of L’Oréal Paris)
Beauty on her own terms
“For a long time, my rebellion was just to sleep with my makeup on,” she tells me. “As I’ve gotten older, part of self-care has meant accepting that I actually need to do things that are better for me than the choices I made in the past. But it’s had to come on my own terms—not because I was told to.”
It’s clear that Anderson insists on doing things her own way, in her own time, whether it’s owning a starring role or walking a Paris runway—and at Le Défilé, she wasn’t just representing L’Oréal Paris, but embodying the belief that authenticity and confidence are interconnected.
At ease in her own skin
When I ask Anderson when she feels her best self, she smiles and says, “Definitely when I’ve gotten enough sleep. Then it’s much easier to relax and feel like I’m making sense and being productive.”
Her answer catches me off guard—I didn’t expect something so relatable and honest. But that’s precisely where Gillian Anderson’s power comes from—not her surface beauty, but in her authenticity.
Gillian’s Beauty Edit
L’Oréal Paris
Age Perfect Collagen Expert Retightening Day Cream 50+
L’Oréal Paris
Color Riche Intense Volume Matte in Avant-Garde
L’Oréal Paris
Volume Million Lashes Panorama Mascara (various Shades)