The X-FILES creator Chris Carter said the studio initially wanted “a bombshell like Pamela Anderson to play Scully”

The creator of The X-Files, Chris Carterrecently talked about his initial pitch for the sci-fi series and recalled how studio executives reacted to the kind of actress they wanted to see in the role of Agent Scully.

According to Carter, Fox executives were unhappy with Gillian Anderson being cast as Scully because they wanted “a bombshell like Pamela Anderson to play Scully”. Carter recalled studio executives asking him, “Where’s the sex appeal?”

He went on to say during an interview with Inverse: “Even though Gillian is beautiful, she wasn’t their idea of ​​sexy. Firstly because they didn’t understand what I was trying to do with the show. Her and she was a stranger, so that never helps.

My goodness. Luckily Carter ended up winning the battle to get Anderson right on the series because the show wouldn’t have worked without her! It was a perfect casting choice for Scully, and it’s hard to imagine a Pamela Anderson-type actress playing her.

Carter also talked about the new X-Files project currently in development Ryan Cooglersaying he has no reservations about letting someone else make their mark on his beloved franchise.

He said: “It’s interesting, people say, ‘Aren’t you possessive of it?’ And I’m like, ‘No, I can’t wait to see what someone else does with it.’” Carter also said he had a “really nice conversation” with Coogler when the reboot idea was pitched to Fox.

Carter explained, “I just asked him what his ideas were, and he told me, and I said, ‘They sound like good ideas.’ No matter what, he has hard work. Casting is hard work. Editing him is hard work. All the problems I faced will be his problems.

As for the possibility of Carter continuing the adventures of Agents Mulder and Scully, he previously said, “Oh, if David and Gillian wanted to do it again. Yeah, probably, then I’d be inspired.”

While Duchovny has said he’s always ready for more The X-Files, Anderson has said multiple times that he’s had enough. But she said she would be willing to return under the right circumstances.

Anderson said at the time: “It just seems like such an old idea. I did it, I did it for so many years, and it ended on a really unfortunate note,” referring to Scully’s pregnancy reveal. “To start having that conversation [about another season] there would need to be a whole new group of writers and the baton would have to be passed for it to feel new and progressive. So yeah, that’s very much in the past.

I’m just excited and curious about the future of the franchise. It will be interesting to see what Coogler comes up with. But I think it’s a long shot to see Carter return to do more with the original stars.