It's been many years since Gillian Anderson last played FBI agent Dana Scully on "The X-Files," but there's just something about that Fed look that she still can't get enough of.
Anderson is now the star of a new drama, "Crisis," and on her very first day of filming, she found herself amidst a group of actors decked out in G-Man jackets and felt a little left out.
"I think that scene was actually probably the first scene we shot for the series, and (I was) surrounded by FBI agents wearing those jackets," she said after a preview clip played on TODAY Friday morning. "At one point, I was like, 'Wait! Hang on a second. I'm supposed to have one of those on, right?!"
Alas, that wasn't the case this time. In "Crisis," it's Rachael Taylor, who plays Anderson's on-screen sister, who's the special agent. As for Anderson, she's takes on a far different role.
In the story about a mass kidnapping at a D.C. school, Anderson plays Meg Fitch, a powerful CEO whose daughter is among the captives.
"The kidnapper starts to use the parents to try to reach their ends," Anderson said of the plot that TODAY's Willie Geist called "scary but cool." "He's got a revenge mission on his mind, so he asks the parents to do things that they normally would not considering doing — (things) that are morally compromising or illegal."
Anderson's new role doesn't just mark an exciting turn in the career of the 45-year-old, it also continues an important trend for women in Hollywood.
"I think, over the last 10 years, there's been some pretty amazing TV shows that have had female leads of a certain age," she pointed out. "There's a lot of work out there, in TV, for women."
See more from Anderson when "Crisis" premieres Sunday night at 10 p.m. on NBC.