Gillian Anderson Knows 'The Salt Path' Controversy is 'Unfortunate'

The Salt Path was an indie movie success story in the Spring of 2024. Based on the memoir of Raynor Winn, the British drama starred Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs as a couple who walk the 600 miles-long South West Coastal Path after losing their home. It was a classic inspirational tale of love, nature, and beating the odds, with the Winns surviving on pennies a day and living in a tent as Moth struggled with the symptoms of a degenerative disease. Then, about two months after its UK premiere, a report from The Observer revealed that many elements of Winn’s story were lies.

Further reports by journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou have suggested that the Winns (real names Tim and Sally Walker) regularly stole money from family members and one of her employers, that details of their “inspiring” walk were made-up, and that Tim Walker’s health issues were, at best, misdiagnosed. To sum it up as quickly as I can: the Winns/Walkers claimed that they lost their home from a bad business deal with a scheming friend, but they actually lost it because they were unable to repay a loan of £100,000, which they had borrowed to repay £64,000 that Winn had been accused of embezzling from her former employer. She was later accused of stealing money from her own mother and her husband’s parents.

The full report is wild, noting how much of the story told in The Salt Path is probably not true. Even silly details seem to have been made up, like a moment where the Winns claim they saw a cafe worker quit his job on the spot after being verbally abused by his boss.

The investigation killed the movie stone dead. It received a tiny release in the USA this May but sank without a trace. For the film’s stars, it’s all been a bit awkward. Gillian Anderson was asked about the drama by Radio Times, and she said it was “very unfortunante.”

“The film was doing really well in the UK - beyond my expectations. I think we were about to sign with Sony Classics for the United States the week when the article came out, so it sucked, and continues to suck. A lot of people were enjoying it, regardless, and it is special in its own right. I hope people are able to experience it as its own entity, separate from what may or may not be true or whatever controversy there is.”

I do feel for Anderson. She thought she was signing up for an inspiring true story where she’d play a real hero, and now she’s forever associated with an alleged scammer who possibly robbed her own mother. She had a hit on her hands for a few weeks and then this happened. But I don’t buy the whole “experience it as its own entity” line. Having seen the film, I found it an odd watch before the report came out, but the investigation served to explain why so much of the narrative doesn’t work (I wrote about it for The AV Club.) Important details are skipped over because it’s clear that Winn’s version of events can’t compensate for reality. Moth’s illness and these moments of inspirational hope where he overcomes certain death rang false before, selling a narrative that you can “overcome” your disability if you try hard enough, and now they feel particularly insulting given the revelations.

Weirdly, the Observer’s report led to a boost in sales for Winn’s books. She has a new “memoir” coming out in 2028, released by Penguin. It will surely face a lot of scrutiny but hey, scandal sells and that’s all her publisher will care about. I doubt Gillian Anderson will be signing up for that sequel.