Gillian Anderson turns 49 on August 9, 2017, and we’re taking the day off to celebrate her existence on planet Earth. Why? Here are the first 49 reasons we could think of on such short notice.

Gillian once dated Chewbacca

You read that right. Gillian loves Chewie as much as we do, even going as far as choosing "ChewiesGirlfriend" as her Tumblr username. Yes, she has a Tumblr -- more about that later.

She was SO MANY CHARACTERS on American Gods

Season 1 of American Gods was stunning, and a huge part of that was due to Gillian totally pulling off classic characters like Lucy, Marilyn Monroe, and David Bowie in her role as Media. She's a chameleon.

She is so damn gif-fable

Whether it's a patented Scully eye roll or a silly face, there's a Gillian gif for any reaction you might feel. There's no need to be embarrassed, Gillian, we find it adorable.

She lied about her age to get on The X-Files

Gillian wasn't 100% truthful when auditioning for The X-Files. Instead of lying to make herself younger, she made herself older in order to get the role. That's a Hollywood first.

Gillian remembers (some) birthdays

If she can remember to say Happy Birthday, then we should pay her the same courtesy. Without the face lick, though.

Did we mention that Gillian has a favorite emoji?

She does, and it's a puffer fish. Deal with it.

She's brilliant in The Fall.

You might know Gillian best from The X-Files, but she's also a crime-fighting badass in BBC's The Fall, where she expertly tracks down a serial killer while flipping her hair and drinking wine.

She's got that authentic English accent

Gillian has an English accent that sounds like she's an English professor who just wants you to reach your full potential by working hard and reading more. Spoiler: Her accent is the real deal, so that makes it way cooler.

She doesn't hesitate to call out The X-Files when they need it

Whether it's a pay inequality or the lack of female writers and directors on the show, Gillian calls out The X-Files on their s**t.

Great ratio of dog pics

Plenty of internet "friends" post copious amounts of dog pics on their social media, but Gillian seems to take the "less is more" approach -- only posting the most curated photos of her French bulldog Nelson.

She's such a Twitter flirt

Speaking of social media, she has mastered the art of Twitter flirting better than most dudes I know. Wonder if she'd give lessons?

Gillian wrote us a book of advice

Because we often ask ourselves WWGD?, she wrote it all down in a book for us to read called We.

She loves to read

Just check out her reading to this cardboard cutout of Ryan Gosling as proof. Although, we *wouldn't* do this?

She was super creepy on Hannibal

Hannibal was a strange show, but Gillian's Bedelia was something else. She so slowly and carefully ate and drank her food while staring at other houseguests. Not cool cannibal house behavior.

That one time you could see her thong and she did not care

She's probably cries while listening to "Landslide" just like us

Gillian confessed that "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac was her "home" song, and we're pretty sure that it means she's sobbed to

She basically started Pantsuit Nation

Dana Scully pretty much invented Pantsuit Nation way back in 1993, and Gillian can still rock the pantsuit to this day.

Gillian knows how to make fun of herself

No matter how ridiculous, Gillian never hesitates to make fun of herself and make sure not to take herself too seriously. Because how could you when there's a photo of you like this.

She doesn't understand Facebook Live either

One time Gillian tried to figure out how to do a Facebook Live chat, and honestly thank goodness she tried, because we had no idea how it worked either.

She's totes a Ravenclaw

It was so obvious, but Gillian confirmed her Hogwarts House by taking the sorting quiz, which correctly put her in Ravenclaw.

She always takes time to give back

In the oftentimes upsetting world we live in, Gillian takes time to support charities, which is a sign that she actually cares about making the world a better place in case the aliens want to live here too.

She wears t-shirts to troll fans at conventions

Gillian knows what the fans want and goes above and beyond to make them freak out by wearing suggestive and playful t-shirts at fan conventions. Then she auctions them off for charity (read above).

She is also a proper theatre actress

The theatre! She may have made it big on television, but Gillian is also a theatre actress, recently starring in A Streetcar Named Desire -- taking on a whole new challenge in which she obviously excelled.

That time she broke her foot but still slayed the red carpet

It happened. It sucked. She overcame.

Somehow every hairstyle seems to work on her

Scully was a redhead, but Gillian has gone through a variety of hairstyles through the years, somehow defying the laws of style to make every single one work out for her. What a great track record.

She got excited about the new Doctor as much as we did

Living in England, Gillian clearly knew about the hugely popular sci-fi show Doctor Who, but she was about as psyched to finally have a female Doctor as the rest of us.

She loves chocolate.

Enough said.

She has a photo with Meryl Streep.

Enough said.

She played a wolf

Gillian voiced a wolf in the Studio Ghibli film Princess Mononoke. Would've been cool if she voiced a Fox amirite ;) She also has an upcoming TV series with the company.

Those glasses tho

She started rocking glasses for what we assume is a need to, you know, see. But luckily they also just look perfect.

David Duchovny does whatever she says

While raising money for charity she was challenged to get David Duchovny on the phone. He sent her a selfie proving that when Gillian asks for a charity selfie you must oblige.

She listens to Beyoncé

And uses lyrics (in)appropriately to answer fan questions. Ten points for Ravenclaw!

She sweats like us mere mortals

WTF is it with "glistening"?! We sweat when it's hot, and Gillian does too, and she's not afraid to admit it.

She loves all of the creative fan stuff

From suggesting she should be the next James Bond to photoshopping David Duchovny into photos, she loves the creativity of fans. But honestly, this playlist is the best.

All of the cursing

She can't seem to help herself, and we love to curse too, so thank f***ing goodness.

She wrote and directed an episode of The X-Files

"All Things" is the episode of The X-Files that Gillian wrote and directed, which finally gave more insight into Scully's love life pre-Mulder. IMAGINE THAT.

One time she took a selfie with me

This is a thing that happened.

She knows how to sigh and mean it

From The X-Files to The Fall, Gillian is tired of dealing with your crap.

She has not aged

I know we said we're celebrating her birthday, but has she actually aged at all in 20 years?! Maybe she does have some alien DNA.

She's all of our moms when it comes to technology

Just like mom, she tries so hard to do Twitter and Instagram Stories, but ultimately it's endearing watching her try to figure out how they work. Just like being home for Christmas.

She marched in the Women's March

All the way from London Gillian showed support by marching in the Women's March on January 21.

She reminds us of all of those '90s fashion mistakes we made

There are so. many. terrible. photoshoots. Gillian doesn't mind showing us some of her past fashion "don'ts" on Twitter. Can you even believe she did these in the first place?!

She's got the eye-roll on lock

Dana Scully was all skepticism and eye rolls, which Gillian has down pat. Probably has plenty of practice rolling her eyes at the real world these days.

Kate McKinnon loves Gillian too

Remember this old picture of Kate McKinnon dressed as Agent Scully? Yet another reason to celebrate Gillian's existence, because it gave us this photo.

Honesty is her policy

Gillian is up front about what's going on in her life, as evidenced by her frank discussion about menopause in Lenny Letter. The truth is out there.

She jumped on stage with a tambourine

Gillian made a surprise appearance at David Duchovny's concert in New York City in 2015. She jammed with him dancing and playing the tambourine. She might just be the most supportive friend ever.

She's a God

Okay, so she just played one on TV, but after 47 reasons listed let's just admit what we all already knew.

Scully!

While she's done so much in the last 25 years, we'll always celebrate the brilliant, skeptical scientist who first introduced us to Gillian. Scully, it's me.

Because there's so much more to come

We're celebrating Gillian Anderson's birthday because she was given as a precious gift to this world and we better appreciate her.