I started looking into myself pretty young. I started meditating in high school. I started therapy at 14. But I’ve also chosen a lot of backtracks. I have a tendency to isolate, and not reach out to the people in my life. Sometimes I stop eating well. All the things I know lead to a crash, which tells me I need to start paying attention again. Meditation is a big thing for me. I try to do it every day, but I don’t. It’s the first thing I let slip, when it should be the last. It’s really important for me to have a bathtub in my life. To eat healthily. And to maintain connection and support with the people who are my tribe.

My relationship with my ex goes through stages. [Businessman Mark Griffiths, the father of her sons.] We seem to have a silent handshake that anything related to the boys, whether it’s Skype time or pick-up, never gets dragged into what other issues we may be having. Even if we’re not getting along at some particular moment, we don’t use the boys to get at the other. We never ignore the text.

As a romantic partner, I’m a challenge. I’m a doer. I’m strong-willed. I go to bed with my computer. I keep a lot of stuff to myself. I was brought up an only child. I don’t share my thoughts about what the plans are. I’m so used to comforting myself. Or reaching out to friends for support. I’m not lonely. It would take a very particular kind of man, to be able to handle my fierceness.

Gillian Anderson: “My end-date could be soon. There’s a sense of ‘Make hay while the sun shines.’“