“And then, basically, he milks her,” says Gillian Anderson. (Context incoming!) The OBE and Emmy winner is gleefully reciting one of the most “extraordinary” entries in her groundbreaking new book, Want, in which she continues the iconic legacy of Sex Education’s fierce Dr. Jean Milburn by exploring the “complexities” of female sexuality.

Inspired by Nancy Friday’s My Secret Garden, the book collects the desires, fantasies and kinks of countless anonymous women around the world, with entries touching upon BDSM, infidelity, shame, voyeurism and – in one case – the insatiable need to receive the “big cocks” of a group of “incredibly attractive biker men” (same!).

What makes Want even more innovative is its inclusivity, with letters from queer women, trans women and non-binary people. After all, this is the woman who blazed a much-needed bi-conic trail with her badass DCI Stella Gibson on The Fall and inspired the “Dana Scully Made Me Gay” movement. And then there’s Dr Jean Milburn, sex therapist supreme. “MOTHER!” applies to all of the above, by the way, especially Gillian.

“I wanted to make sure we didn’t go three or four letters without representation from a different race, gender or sexual preference, and that it felt like we were constantly shaking it up,” Gillian tells GAY TIMES. “It was important to have that diversity.”

Below, Gillian Anderson reflects on the creation of Want, whether the success of the book means we’re finally due for a cultural shift in the perception of female pleasure and which entry she “cackled” at the most. Spoiler alert: it’s the quote we started with from a self-described “HuCow”.