Award-winning actor Gillian Anderson is set to take on another exciting role on Netflix, as she joins the cast of Kurt Sutter’s new western series, The Abandons. Anderson, celebrated for her role in Sex Education and her Emmy, SAG Award, and Golden Globe-winning performance in The Crown, is all set to star alongside Lena Headey.
The Abandons was commissioned by Netflix in October 2022 and is shaping up to be a unique western drama set in 1850s Oregon. The storyline follows a group of outlier families pursuing their ‘Manifest Destiny’ while a corrupt force of wealth and power tries to evict them from their lands.
Netflix confirmed Anderson’s addition to the cast through a tweet which reads, “Gillian Anderson will star opposite Lena Headey in The Abandons, Kurt Sutter’s action drama set in 1850s Oregon. She’ll play Constance, matriarch of a wealthy family who — despite the town’s bias against women — formed a powerful web of allies through money, charm & ruthlessness.”
Portraying the affluent matriarch of the Van Ness family, Anderson’s character will leverage her wealth, charm, and ruthless demeanour to establish a network of political allies – exemplifying how power, wealth and lineage are the keys to survival.
The news follows an announcement that Anderson has signed an exclusive deal with the streaming giant. The actor, best known for her portrayal of Dana Scully in The X-Files, earned widespread acclaim for her depiction of Margaret Thatcher in Season 4 of The Crown, and her continued collaboration with Netflix on The Abandons should further showcase her incredible range and diversity as a performer.
The series has been given a 10-episode order by Netflix, with Kurt Sutter as the showrunner and executive producer, and Stephen Surjik and Otto Bathurst as directors and executive producers. Given Anderson’s track record on Netflix, her participation, along with the stellar creative team behind the show, only adds to the anticipation for the new series.