Gillian Anderson gets stage fright!

Gillian Anderson suffers panic attacks when on the stage.

The X Files actress who has previously appeared in The Vagina Monologues and A Doll’s House in London’s West End is keen to return to the theater but finds the experience terrifying.

“I’m constantly thinking about doing more theater, particularly when I see a good play,” she said.

“I have a couple of ideas but I like to wait two years between parts because that’s all I can handle.

“I have to park my fear. I find it absolutely terrifying, have panic attacks and wonder why the hell I’m doing it. It’s almost as if you’re never left off the hook: panic lingers over my shoulder.”

Despite her fears, the 42-year-old actress is happy to do it because she thinks is no better feeling when the job is done well.

“There’s nothing like it. I can walk on a stage and I feel so emotional I start crying,” she said.

“I don’t know why. It’s not ego. It feels like the antithesis. Ego is squashed all the time. But I’ve ever been worried what people think of me. Well, I don’t think I have.”