If you're casting a dark, troubling television crime drama, you can't do much better than signing Gillian Anderson.

Between BBC's "The Fall," in which she plays a detective investigating serial murders in Northern Ireland, and NBC's "Hannibal," where she portrays Hannibal Lecter's psychiatrist and accomplice, the "X-Files" veteran brings more than a touch of class to the grim and gory.

She also happens to be returning to her signature role of FBI agent Dana Scully on Fox's revival of "The X-Files," which will hit TV screens in January. Since Anderson is so busy with several other projects, it took her a while to get excited about the new episodes, she told Speakeasy in an interview. But now that she and co-star David Duchovny, series creator Chris Carter and the rest of the crew are at work in Vancouver, she added, "I'm actually really excited."

Anderson also talked about how she and "Hannibal" co-star Mads Mikkelsen have forged their unique brand of onscreen chemistry and whether she identifies with "The Silence of the Lambs" character Clarice Starling. An edited transcript follows.

It's hard to tell whether Bedelia is Hannibal's prisoner or if she's actually playing him in a way. Where do you think his head is at once they settle into Florence and Hannibal has begun to kill again?