Had the Fox Network gotten their way, the character of Dana Scully on The X-Files would have been radically different and, probably, pretty terrible. Rather than the no-nonsense professional doctor audiences came to love over the course of 11 seasons and 2 feature-length films, the character would have been a blonde sexpot.

Nearly three decades after its premiere, The X-Files remains one of the most popular science-fiction series in television history. The show focused upon a special office of the FBI tasked with investigating paranormal phenomena and two agents assigned to solve the so-called X-Files; believer Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and skeptic Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Over the course of the series, the two agents uncovered evidence of a conspiracy between alien invaders and a shadow government, even as they confronted other strange monsters.

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The importance of Dana Scully as a character in popular culture cannot be overstated. Gillian Anderson won multiple awards for playing the role, including an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and two consecutive SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series. The character also became renowned by fans for defying most of the cliches involving women in science-fiction series and Anderson has said that many women who work in STEM fields today credit her performance with inspiring them to become doctors and scientists. This makes it all the more stunning that the Fox Network originally wanted the character taken in an entirely different direction.

Sharon Stone and Pamela Anderson

When The X-Files first entered pre-production in 1992, Basic Instinct was the hottest film of the year and Sharon Stone was the queen of Hollywood. As such, executives wanted to capitalize on Stone's bombshell aesthetic and there was a push to cast busty blondes into as many prominent roles as possible in that year's crop of television pilots. Gillian Anderson would note years later that Fox wanted to offer the role of Dana Scully to Pamela Anderson and woo her away from her supporting role on Baywatch.

Luckily for the then-unknown Gillian Anderson, executive producer Chris Carter went to bat for her, saying she was the only actress who read for the role who he felt convincingly conveyed the integrity that Dana Scully possessed. The Powers That Be at Fox ultimately relented and television history was made. Today, Anderson is a respected star who has found success in multiple media, though she will always be remembered for her groundbreaking performance on The X-Files.

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