# In 2014, Gillian Anderson played an “impossible” role. Not once did she believe she could pull it off

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-2014-gillian-anderson-played-an-impossible-role-not-once-did-she-believe-she-could-pull-it-off/
- Published: 2026-11-02T14:15:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T01:27:59+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/in-2014-gillian-anderson-played-an-impossible-role-not-once-did-she-believe-she-could-pull-it-off/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Anderson thought the role might be physically impossible.
- She played Blanche DuBois at the Young Vic in 2014.
- The revolving set echoed the characters’ entrapment.

## Summary

Gillian Anderson has described playing Blanche DuBois in the 2014 Young Vic production of *A Streetcar Named Desire* as one of the most demanding roles of her career. Although she initially thought she could not manage it physically, she continued performing, and the production became a notable stage interpretation of Tennessee Williams’s play.

Directed by Benedict Andrews, the production ran for more than three hours and used a large revolving platform as its apartment set. Anderson said the first performance left her feeling as if “a truck had hit” her. The stage began to turn when Blanche first drank alcohol, reflecting how the characters become caught in a situation they cannot escape.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.