X-factor

Rebecca Newman in The Telegraph Diary ("London Spy"), 27 May 2003:


Over here and having fun

Those Hollywood stars who brave "international terrorism" to visit Britain these days can seem a frosty lot when they arrive, but there's always the odd exception.

Take Gillian Anderson, whom Spy found letting her hair down in style at the Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival over the weekend. Pitching up at a bash to launch the new literary magazine Zembla in a pair of pink sunglasses, the former X-Files star at first kept herself to herself.

As the evening progressed, however, she decided that both she and the other guests needed to get more involved.

Marching up to the music system, she told the hapless DJ firmly: "We need something far more lively; something to get us going. I tell you what, you find me some vodka, and I'll find you some proper tunes."

Having swiftly procured an old Prince record, Anderson hit the dance floor with some zest, shouting: "Let's get this party moving; let's get these guys dancing."

Soon after, even gangly television chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall could be seen strutting his funky stuff.

"