Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the long-running and widely popular series The X-Files, ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies' film The House of Mirth (2000), and Lady Dedlock in the successful BBC production of Charles Dickens' Bleak House. Among other honours, Anderson has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

After beginning her career on stage, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully on the American sci-fi drama series The X-Files for all nine seasons (1993–2002). Her film work includes the dramas The Mighty Celt (2005), The Last King of Scotland (2006), Shadow Dancer (2012) and two X-Files films: The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998) and The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008). Her other notable television credits are Any Human Heart, The Crimson Petal and the White, portraying Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (2011) and Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier on Hannibal. In 2013, Anderson began starring as DSI Stella Gibson on the critically acclaimed BBC crime drama television series The Fall. She has been serving as an executive producer from its second series.

Aside from film and TV, Anderson has taken on the stage and has received both awards and critical acclaim. Her stage work includes Absent Friends – for which she won a Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer, A Doll's House – that earned her a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, and a portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire – for which she won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress and received her second Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress.Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the long-running and widely popular series The X-Files, ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies' film The House of Mirth (2000), and Lady Dedlock in the successful BBC production of Charles Dickens' Bleak House. Among other honours, Anderson has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

After beginning her career on stage, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully on the American sci-fi drama series The X-Files for all nine seasons (1993–2002). Her film work includes the dramas The Mighty Celt (2005), The Last King of Scotland (2006), Shadow Dancer (2012) and two X-Files films: The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998) and The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008). Her other notable television credits are Any Human Heart, The Crimson Petal and the White, portraying Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (2011) and Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier on Hannibal. In 2013, Anderson began starring as DSI Stella Gibson on the critically acclaimed BBC crime drama television series The Fall. She has been serving as an executive producer from its second series.

Aside from film and TV, Anderson has taken on the stage and has received both awards and critical acclaim. Her stage work includes Absent Friends – for which she won a Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer, A Doll's House – that earned her a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, and a portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire – for which she won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress and received her second Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress.