Gillian Anderson talks 'A Streetcar Named Desire'

LONDON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Gillian Anderson is currently involved in a London production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

The 46-year-old actress is best known for her role as Agent Dana Scully on The X-Files, but began her career on stage and has extensive experience in theater. Anderson was cast as Blanche DuBois opposite Ben Foster as Stanley Kowalski in the Young Vic production, and told the LA Times she is thrilled to have the role.

"I've wanted to do Streetcar for many years," she revealed. "It's kind of the next thing I needed to do before I aged myself out of the role. I had a conversation with [director] Benedict Andrews, and he was interested. It was a matter of finding a theater."

Actresses such as Jessica Tandy and Vivien Leigh have brought the aging southern belle to life on stage and screen, but Anderson said she wasn't intimidated by her predecessors.

"It wasn't really part of the equation," she shared. "It was my identification with her in the small time I had with the text when I was younger. I don't feel like I began to understand her until I started her with rehearsals."

Fans outside of London will have the opportunity to see Anderson's performance on screen. The National Theatre Live series will bring the play to movie theaters worldwide beginning September 16. The actress also mentioned she hopes to bring the production to New York.

Anderson will appear in films The Curse of the Buxom Strumpet and Robot Overlords later this year.