Latest news with #Gillian Anderson
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Gillian Anderson reveals how her decision to talk about sex and female pleasure has 'changed lives' as she reflects on the moving impact of her book Want
Gillian Anderson has revealed the moving impact of her book Want after the actress decided to open up the conversation on female pleasure and sex. Released in September, Want, which is inspired by Nancy Friday's 1973 classic My Secret Garden, compiles anonymous letters from women around the world revealing their deepest fantasies - including her own. And the impact of the book has surpassed anything the star had ever imagined as she confessed women have approached her in the street to tell her how the book has 'changed their life'. After reaching a new audience with her role as sex therapist Jean Milburn in Sex Education, the actress, 56, was approached by multiple publishers about doing a book. Speaking on the latest episode of Davina McCall 's Begin Again podcast she explained: 'I think what was remarkable about the book and the conversation that it's started, was because of the courage of the women who submitted the letters.' She continued: 'The bigger light bulb is, "if I'm not able to ask for what I want of the person I've been married to for 25 years, does that have any link to why I'm not able to ask for what I want in the work that I do? '"And the raise that I've been thinking about asking for? Or actually to assume that I might be talented at this other thing that I haven't gone after because I've been kind of wrapped up".' Discussing the book's reaction she added: 'I didn't expect the reaction that we've had and I didn't expect that these were the types of conversations that we'd be having. 'I've had women come up to me and say "this has changed my life." And at the end of the day we're talking about courage really.' Gillian explained: 'There's a lot of really, really touching writing in here and real touching honesty and part of that too which really moves me, was women writing about being seen. 'Yes there's a version of a fantasy where even in my mind I look a certain way and I'm imagining that they are desiring me as that way, but actually the thing that I really want is to be looked at adoringly for who I am, and how I look and for that to be the thing that my partner is desiring - not the perfect version of it, but actually you.' Gillian had 900 finished letter submitted after she reached out to the public to send in their writings through a portal. Speaking about general attitudes to sex in today's society the star explained: 'I had assumed that conversation around it or the concept of fantasy and desire and particularly women's desire was going to have properly moved on, and it hasn't as much as I would have thought that it would have. 'There's a lot still about, it's not just about shame, it's not just shame about you know the fact that we even have fantasies or even shame to admit that there is a fantasy that one might think about when either masturbating or having sex. She explained: 'I think what was remarkable about the book and the conversation that it's started, was because of the courage of the women who submitted the letters' 'But the biggest one for me was shame around the very idea of talking about it with one's partner or asking for what you might want in the bedroom.' Gillian recently confessed to enjoying having sex in 'uncomfortable tight quarters' after she cheekily admitted to being up for getting frisky in a tent or a car, when 'needs must'. The actress' latest project saw her star in Marianne Elliot's big-screen adaptation of Raynor Winn's 2018 memoir, The Salt Path, playing Raynor opposite Jason Isaacs as her husband Moth. And in response to one scene in the film that sees Gillian and Isaac's characters get intimate inside their small tent, The Sunday Times probed the X-Files star on whether she would recommend the location for an amorous encounter. A grinning Gillian affirmed: 'Well, sex in the back of a car, sex anywhere, I mean, yeah, why not? Uncomfortable, tight quarters, but needs must.' The Scoop actress also admitted that she doesn't feel any shame in discussing sex. She explained that it was through doing Sex Education, filming scenes speaking openly about topics like sexual pleasure, genitalia and sexual orientation, that she first realised how comfortable she felt and how vital the conversations were. She said: 'In playing Jean, having [sex] become a regular topic, I realised that I didn't have shame around it. 'Also, I suddenly realised the degree to which there still was so much shame around it and the degree to which the show helped many demographics blast through some of that.' Gillian lamented that having frank conversations about sex, was still regarded as tabboo and shameful, with even couples struggling to be open with each other about their desires. She said: 'In 2025 some of us seem to struggle to have that conversation with our partners. The conversation about "I prefer it like this" or "Can we take ten more minutes so I can actually get more pleasure out of this exchange?". 'Some of it is the fear that the partner might feel judged that they're doing something wrong, when actually that's not what you're saying.'
Daily Mail
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Sister of The Salt Path author's former boss tells how he was left 'heartbroken' over 'stolen' £64,000 - and that she's boycotting movie
It is the best-selling memoir turned major film adaptation mired in controversy after doubts were raised about the veracity of its storyline. Key elements of The Salt Path - billed as author Raynor Winn's 'unflinchingly honest' account of homelessness - have been called into question after the 2018 book was turned into a movie starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs. Winn's claims of losing her 17th century farm cottage when an investment in a childhood friend's business goes awry is false according to an investigation by a Sunday newspaper published last weekend. The Observer instead claims that Winn and her husband Moth lost their property in North Wales when it was repossessed after having stolen £64,000 from former employer, Martin Hemmings who ran an estate agents in the town of Pwllheli. The couple failed to repay a loan taken out with a relative to repay the stolen money - agreed on terms that the police would not be further involved - and so lost their house, the paper claimed. It is a view backed up by Mr Hemming's sister, Jill, who today spoke for the first time of her frustration that Winn 'spun many lines' to make a fortune from her book and the rights to the film of the same name. As The Observer stated, Miss Hemmings said her brother, who died in 2012, knew The Salt Path's protagonists, Raynor and Moth Winn by their less flamboyant legal names, Sally and Tim Walker. Speaking from her home in Dorset, Miss Hemmings told MailOnline: 'The book was triggered by Sally deceiving my brother, taking the money, stealing it away from him. 'And he was mortified. He was heartbroken by what happened. 'I'm glad it's out in the open at last. I hadn't known the whole story so some of it I'm learning about now and it's a sad that Sally needed to do that. 'But she and her husband brought it on themselves. I don't know all the ins and outs but I know that Sally worked for my brother, she was his secretary, and she took money from my brother and he was heartbroken. 'He said he couldn't understand why there never seemed to be any money in the account and then he found out it was her. 'He was such a lovely person he didn't want to prosecute. He just wanted everything to settle down really, which is why the matter never went to court.' Asked if she had read the book or intended to watch the film, Ms Hemmings said: ' I have two copies of the book and I had a ticket to go to the film yesterday but I didn't go - I boycotted it. 'What I'm interested in is whether the publishers of the book and the film-makers looked into the situation? If they'd really looked into the situation I'm sure they would've found the truth really of what had been going on. 'If you talk to the people of Pwllheli, they support Martin absolutely. He was a very good and well respected man and was always honourable. 'All this happened a good few years ago but I must say that I got very upset this week because it brought back my brother's death which was a tremendous sadness. 'This weighed heavily on him before he died. He was very upset that someone who'd he been very generous to, very helpful to, had abused him like that. He couldn't believe it.' The memoir detailed the journey Winn and her husband took along England's South West Coast Path - familiarly known as The Salt Path - after they lost their home in 2008 which coincided with Moth receiving a terminal health diagnosis of Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD), a rare brain progressive brain disease. Neurologists and researchers have expressed scepticism that someone could have survived for so many years with CBD, which has a life expectancy of around six to eight years. And Miss Hemmings said: 'I think it's important that people have a clearer idea of what the truth is - i don't know what the whole truth is - but I'm suspicious that Moth could walk that coastal path. It's crazy stuff. 'I'm intrigued with the debate about his illness and what's she made of that but it did seem to be quite outrageous that if he was that ill she'd set off walking with him like that. It seemed to be beyond the pale, I couldn't understand why she'd do that because it didn't seem like a particularly loving action. 'I feel sorry for my sister-in-law in North Wales because she's got a difficult path now, she's probably pleased that some of the truth is out but lawyers will be probably delving into it. She's on her own but she's a very stoic and special lady. 'My brother lived very simply, had a small holding and the fact that Sally was not banking the money that was there was bloody sh** not to put a too finer point on it ! 'They've made a lot of money selling their book and now the film. I've no idea why she said what she said. I would say Raynor spun a lot lines. 'Still, they have to live with themselves. I wonder if they sleep at night. Winn this week issued a stern rebuke to the claims made in The Observer, chief among them the allegation she stole or embezzled money from Mr Hemming's company. She wrote: 'I worked for Martin Hemmings in the years before the economic crash of 2008. For me it was a pressured time. It was also a time when mistakes were being made in the business. Any mistakes I made during the years in that office, I deeply regret, and I am truly sorry. 'Mr Hemmings made an allegation against me to the police, accusing me of taking money from the company. I was questioned, I was not charged, nor did I face criminal sanctions. 'I reached a settlement with Martin Hemmings because I did not have the evidence required to support what happened. 'The terms of the settlement were willingly agreed by both parties; Mr Hemmings was as keen to reach a private resolution as I was. A part of that settlement was that I would pay money to Mr Hemmings on a 'non-admissions basis'. 'Among the Observer's many accusations, the most heart breaking is the suggestion that Moth has made up his illness. This utterly vile, unfair, and false suggestion has emotionally devasted Moth, who has fought so hard against the insidious condition of Corticobasal Syndrome. 'The effect of the suggestion that Moth has made up this condition has been absolutely traumatising for him. Suggestions made by people, who do not know him, have never met him, and have never seen his medical records.'
