Gillian Anderson Unable to Commune With Ghost of Margaret Thatcher
The problem with post-Emmy interviews is that eventually you run out of living people to ask about
Gillian Anderson won an Emmy last night for her portrayal of the late British prime minister/big-toothed union buster Margaret Thatcher in The Crown. After receiving the award, she went back to the press room to answer questions about her win, including but not limited to “Can you talk to ghosts?”
Tanya Hart from American Urban Radio Networks asked the X-Files actress, “Just to continue with the whole Margaret Thatcher thing, first question, have you talked to her about this role at all?”
Anderson politely searched for an answer before saying, “I have not spoken to Margaret.” She then stammered her way to the next part of the question, which was about how the United States has had no women presidents despite “what Margaret did in the UK.”
Presumably, if Anderson had spoken to Thatcher, the Prime Minister would have said something like, “Just don’t make me look like a proper cunt, luv,” which is an impossible task I would not wish on anyone.
The true shame here is not that Anderson cannot talk to ghosts, but that her British upbringing forced her to stay calm instead of saying, “What in the bloody hell are you talking about, the ol’ bat’s been dead for eight years!”
To the reporter’s credit, it’s not completely unheard of for an actress to commune with the spirit of a dead British leader in preparation for a role. Recently, Kristen Stewart was asked about her portrayal of Princess Diana in the upcoming film Spencer, and said, “I felt some spooky, spiritual feelings making this movie. I felt like there were moments where I kind of got the sign-off.” Now there is an actress who is not afraid to do the work. I guess if I had the option of talking with a spirit, I’d pick the spooky presence of Diana over beans on toast with the ghost of Maggie every time.
