Why does Gillian Anderson have an English accent? Is Gillian Anderson English or American?

Famous actress, Gillian Anderson is an American national by birth, however, when she was roughly two years old, her family relocated to London so her father, Homer Anderson, could attend the London Film School.

She has an English accent because she lived most of her childhood in Crouch End and Haringey, North London. They only returned to the United States when she was 11 years old.

Anderson shared that she was mocked as a child when she moved to America because of her English accent so she was forced to adopt a Midwestern accent and began to switch between American and English accents freely.

“I’ve been asked whether I feel more like a Brit than an American and I don’t know what the answer to that question is. I know that I feel that London is home and I’m very happy with that as my home. I love London as a city and I feel very comfortable there. In terms of identity, I’m still a bit baffled,” she shared in an interview in 2013.