Gillian Anderson has praised young people for living in ways her generation might not consider “right or correct”.
The Sex Education star, 51, said she felt optimistic about the youth and that appearing in the Netflix show had taught her to understand why people use Instagram.
Speaking at the show’s season two premiere in London, she told the PA news agency: “It’s interesting because there are a lot of young people who are finding different ways of making their way in the world that do not necessarily resemble what my generation would consider to be the right or correct way.
“They are doing extraordinary things and really thinking outside the box, and making decisions that make them happy and seem to fulfil what their desires are, for how they want to shape their lives.
“There is the other side of it, which is that there are also a lot of very lost youth out there.
“I think that there is more of a trend for that generation to think very differently about how they want to see their lives unfolding. I feel optimistic. I do. Not for the planet, but I feel optimistic for the humans.”
Sex Education follows socially awkward high school student Otis (Asa Butterfield) and his sex therapist mother Jean (Anderson).
The first series was praised by viewers for its frank depiction of sex and teenage emotion.
Bafta-nominee Anderson, who attended the premiere with her boyfriend, The Crown creator Peter Morgan, said the show had carved out “another realm” of the teenage experience.
The X Files star said: “It almost feels like we are carving out another realm of it entirely because the show has taken things into such a different world.
“It feels like it is almost making its own path for that generation. I guess to a degree I feel more connected (with young people) than I did before because I think before I was of the mind of ‘What’s the point of Instagram? What’s the point of everybody all the time looking at their phones to learn stuff?’
“I feel a bit more part of the young generation.”
Season two of Sex Education launches on Netflix on Friday January 17.
