She's best known as sceptical FBI Special Agent Scully, who applied science and logic to 'supernatural' investigations with sidekick Mulder in cult TV show The X-Files.
But now actress Gillian Anderson, who shot to fame in the series alongside David Duchovny, has revealed how her character has inspired generations of girls to get into STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) - and that she has even met female scientists who said they owed their careers to her.
Dubbing it the 'Scully effect', Ms Anderson, 56, has admitted she gets 'emotional' when she bumps into female fans of the sci-fi series inspired to follow science careers because of her on-screen persona.
'I've run into scientists who have literally said, 'I am now a practising scientist and work in a lab because of Scully'.
'I always find that incredibly moving,' said Ms Anderson, also an ardent women's rights activist, whose adventures with Duchovny spanned nearly a decade from 1993 to 2002 and were later reprised.
Actress Gillian Anderson , who shot to fame in the series X-Files alongside David Duchovny, has revealed how her character has inspired generations of girls to get into STEM
Dubbing it the 'Scully effect', Ms Anderson, 56, has admitted she gets 'emotional' when she bumps into female fans of the sci-fi series inspired to follow science careers because of her on-screen persona
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson's tense working relationship on the set of X-Files prompted the show creator to suggest the two attend couples therapy; the duo pictured season one
'When I played Scully, there was this thing about the 'Scully effect' where young girls were getting into science after being inspired by my character,' she told The Daily Telegraph.
'Any time I come face to face with a young woman who got into STEM because of Scully is the best fan interaction. Every once in a while, I run into someone who still says that.'
Anderson made the comments after her co-star David Cuchovny last month revealed that the pair endured a tense working relationship on the set of X-Files, prompting the show creator to suggest the two attend couples therapy.
On the latest episode of Duchovny's Lemonada Media podcast, Fail Better, the actor recounted how their 'butting heads' prompted creator Chris Carter to pitch an unusual solution.
Anderson, 56, was a guest on the episode and while she did not recall that particular conversation, she did remember their tenuous working relationship at the time which saw them not speak off camera for weeks at a time.