Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress and filmmaker. She gained recognition for her work in British film and television, particularly for playing Amy Pond, a primary companion to the Eleventh Doctor in the science fiction series Doctor Who (2010 – 2013), for which she received several awards and nominations. Her early film roles include Ally in the thriller film Outcast (2010) and Jane Lockhart in the romantic comedy film Not Another Happy Ending (2013). She also worked on the stage while in Britain, appearing in John Osborne‘s play Inadmissible Evidence (2011).
Gillan made her transition to Hollywood starring as Kaylie Russell in the horror film Oculus (2013), her first commercial success in the United States, and thereafter played the lead in the ABC sitcom Selfie (2014). She achieved international stardom for portraying Nebula in several films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (2014–2023), which is one of the highest-grossing media franchises, and Ruby Roundhouse in the action films Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). She also garnered critical acclaim for writing and directing the drama film The Party’s Just Beginning (2018), which she also starred in. She has since played Sam in the comedy film Gunpowder Milkshake (2021), a double role in the sci-fi thriller film Dual (2022), and Louise in the coming-of-age film Late Bloomers (2023). She returned to British television playing Madeleine in the series Douglas Is Cancelled (2024).
Gillan’s accolades include an Empire Award, a National Television Award, a Teen Choice Award and nominations for a British Academy Scotland Film Award, a Critics’ Choice Award and a Saturn Award. She has been noted for her public image and activism, particularly towards suicide prevention.
Years active: 2006–present
Born Age: 28 November 1987, 36 years old and 11 months, Inverness, Scotland
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Red
Height: 5′ 10¾″ – 1.80 m
Measurements: 34-26-34 in – 86-66-86 cm
Bra size: 32B US – 70B EU
Karen Gillan - THE BUBBLE (2022)
Karen Gillan - THE BUBBLE (2022)
Karen Gillan - DUAL (2022)
Karen Gillan - THE PARTY'S JUST BEGINNING (2018)
Karen Gillan - 7 DAYS IN HELL (2015)
Karen Gillan - 7 DAYS IN HELL (2015)
Karen Gillan - 7 DAYS IN HELL (2015)
Karen Gillan - SELFIE (2014)
Karen Gillan - SELFIE (2014)
Karen Gillan - SELFIE (2014)
Karen Gillan - THE KEVIN BISHOP SHOW (2008)
Karen Gillan - THE KEVIN BISHOP SHOW (2008)
Karen Gillan - THE KEVIN BISHOP SHOW (2008)
Karen Gillan - THE KEVIN BISHOP SHOW (2008)
Karen Gillan - THE KEVIN BISHOP SHOW (2008)
Karen Gillan - DOCTOR WHO
Karen Gillan - SLEEPING DOGS (2024)
actress Karen Gillan
Early life
Karen Sheila Gillan, the daughter of Marie and Raymond John Gillan. Her father is from Sunderland in North East England. Although she comes from a Catholic background, she says that she was not baptised and does not practise a religion.
When she turned 16, Gillan moved to Edinburgh and completed an HNC Acting and Performance course at Telford College. She moved to London at age 18 to study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. While there, she was scouted by a modelling agency. Prior to her acting career, she worked as a model, premiering at London Fashion Week in 2007. Karen Gillan has said she would not give up her acting career to return to modelling, stating that while she enjoyed modelling, acting had always been her main interest and goal.
Career
2006–2012: British film and television
Gillan’s early television acting career included guest appearances on several television shows, with her first role being in an episode of ITV crime drama Rebus, a role for which she had to drop out of school.
Gillan undertook a two-year stint as a member of the ensemble cast of the sketch comedy series The Kevin Bishop Show, in which she played multiple characters including celebrities such as Katy Perry and Angelina Jolie. Karen Gillan also appeared on TV in a leading role in a horror project entitled The Well, which was broadcast as a series of episodic short films on BBC Two and later as a web series on BBC.co.uk. Part of the BBC’s multimedia “switch” programming, the short episodes interconnect with online games that further explore the environments presented in the series. In 2008, she starred in the Channel 4 television film Stacked.
Gillan went on to portray Amy Pond, companion to the Eleventh Doctor (portrayed by Matt Smith), on the British sci-fi series Doctor Who. Before being cast in the role in May 2009, she had previously appeared on Doctor Who in Series 4 episode “The Fires of Pompeii” in the role of a soothsayer. She made her first on-screen appearance as Amy in “The Eleventh Hour” with her cousin Caitlin Blackwood portraying a younger version of the same character. In 2010, she won in the Entertainment category at the Young Scot Awards. She appeared in the sixth series in 2011 and the first five episodes of the seventh series in 2012, after which her character and Rory Williams (portrayed by Arthur Darvill) left the series. Karen Gillan reprised her role in the 2013 Christmas special “The Time of the Doctor“, to coincide with Smith’s departure as the Doctor.
In 2011, Gillan made her first theatre appearance playing the role of Shirley in John Osborne‘s play Inadmissible Evidence along with Douglas Hodge. The play debuted at the Donmar Warehouse on 16 October 2011. After making an appearance in Outcast, it was announced that Karen Gillan would star in an indie Scottish romantic comedy called Not Another Happy Ending alongside Emun Elliott in August 2011. She was selected by director John McKay because he came to know her during the production of We’ll Take Manhattan, which he also directed, as “a very bubbly, vibrant, energetic, funny, slightly clumsy person” who was a perfect fit for the character. Filming took place in July 2012, though Elliott was replaced by Stanley Weber. Karen Gillan told journalists that she was happy to be involved in a Scottish production that “isn’t about drug use or fighting the English”. The film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2013.
In 2012, Gillan appeared in the television film We’ll Take Manhattan playing the part of supermodel Jean Shrimpton, which told the story of Shrimpton’s relationship with the photographer David Bailey.
2013–2019: Hollywood breakthrough
In November 2013, Gillan appeared on Broadway in a play called Time to Act, one of the plays included in “The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway” to benefit the non-profit Urban Arts Partnership. She was also cast in the third season of A Touch of Cloth, which was co-created by Charlie Brooker. Gillan joined the regular cast of Adult Swim‘s NTSF:SD:SUV:: for the show’s third season in 2013. She moved to the United States in 2013 and landed her first leading Hollywood role in the supernatural horror movie Oculus. It was filmed in Alabama and premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival to critical success. Brian Tallerico writing for RogerEbert.com believed the film was effective “thanks largely to a game performance from Gillan. She renders Kaylie as a driven woman on the edge of sanity herself.” She earned a Fright Meter Award nomination for Best Actress.
In February 2014, Gillan was cast as the lead in Selfie, an American single-camera sitcom for ABC produced by Warner Bros. Television which was greenlit for the 2014–2015 US television season. Gillan played a socialite named Eliza Dooley, a modern-day take on Eliza Doolittle, who is obsessed with social media. This was Gillan’s first time in the lead role of an American television series. The series was cancelled by ABC on 7 November 2014 after seven episodes; the remaining six episodes were made available on Hulu starting 25 November 2014. Selfie still has a dedicated following of fans years after its broadcast especially in China. In May 2013, Karen Gillan was cast as Nebula in the Marvel superhero science fiction film Guardians of the Galaxy, which was released in August 2014. Gillan had her head shaved bald for the role, which Marvel turned into the wig that Gillan wore during the production of Selfie. In May 2014, Karen Gillan was cast in the Western film In a Valley of Violence directed by Ti West, opposite John Travolta, Ethan Hawke and Taissa Farmiga. Karen Gillan portrayed Ellen, the older sister to Farmiga’s character. She also appeared in TV on the Radio’s “Happy Idiot” music video, released on 3 October 2014.
In 2015, Gillan had a bit part in the drama film The Big Short directed by Adam McKay, alongside Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell and Melissa Leo. She wrote and directed her first short film, Coward, which screened at the 2015 Edinburgh Film Festival, and was nominated for several awards. Later in the year she wrote, directed, and starred in another short film called Conventional. She won in the Best Female Newcomer category at the 20th Empire Awards for Guardians of the Galaxy and Oculus. In the same year, she was cast in an HBO pilot titled, The Devil You Know.
On 2 November 2016, it was announced that Gillan would write, direct and star in her directorial feature film debut with Burbank-based development and production company Mt. Hollywood Films’ indie drama project titled Tupperware Party. Set in her home city of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, filming began in January 2017 and wrapped in the following month. The title of the film was later changed to The Party’s Just Beginning. The film was nominated for Best Feature Film at the British Academy Scotland Awards.
In 2017, Gillan reprised her role as Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, this time becoming a member of the film’s eponymous team, and co-starred in The Circle, alongside Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, and John Boyega. The latter film, released in April, was directed and written by James Ponsoldt, and was based on the novel by Dave Eggers. Also in that year, Karen Gillan played the lead female role, Ruby Roundhouse, in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the third instalment of the Jumanji franchise, starring alongside Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Nick Jonas. She reprised her role as Nebula in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), which were filmed back-to-back. Filming for the two films began in January 2017 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia and ended in January 2018.
In 2019, aside from her leading role in Avengers: Endgame, she co-starred in the films Stuber and Spies in Disguise, and starred in All Creatures Here Below. Also in 2019, she reprised her role as Ruby Roundhouse in Jumanji: The Next Level and appeared in a short film titled Neurotica.
2020–present: Mainstream success
In 2020, Gillan appeared in the adventure drama The Call of the Wild, based on the Jack London novel. The following year, she starred in the action film Gunpowder Milkshake alongside Lena Headey, Angela Bassett, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh and Paul Giamatti. For the role, she was nominated for Best Actress in an Action Movie at the 2nd Critics’ Choice Super Awards.
In 2021, Disney Branded Television announced that Gillan would star on the upcoming Disney Television Animation and 20th Television Animation series Rhona Who Lives by the River as the titular character, Gillan would act as executive producer for the series alongside series creator Emily Kapnek and series composer Danny Elfman.
In 2022, she starred in the sci-fi thriller Dual alongside Aaron Paul, which is filmed entirely in Tampere, Finland. Critic consensus from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes described the movie as “well-led”, and John DeFore for The Hollywood Reporter said that “Karen Gillan, who has spent much of her post-Doctor Who decade playing cyborgs, computer avatars and a thinly imagined assassin, has a barely more human role to play here; to the extent that she makes either Sarah worth rooting for, it’s an achievement.” At the 3rd Critics’ Choice Super Awards, she was nominated for Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie.
In 2023 she appeared in Late Bloomers, for which Damon Wise of Deadline Hollywood praised her “engaging and refreshingly vanity-free performance”. Also in 2023, she began filming Sleeping Dogs in Australia with Russell Crowe which earned a 2024 release and received mixed reviews. Better received was the ITVX comedy drama series Douglas Is Cancelled, which was released in June 2024 and marked Gillan’s return to British television. She was critically praised for her acting. Lucy Mangan of The Guardian said her “magnificent performance keeps all the possibilities in play.” Nick Hilton of The Independent believed “Gillan is totally convincing as a woman whose beauty distracts from her brains.”
Gillan’s next film is The Life of Chuck, reuniting with filmmaker Mike Flanagan, with whom she last collaborated on Oculus, which is set for release in September 2024 at TIFF. She will also be playing the role of Queen Mary Tudor in the upcoming film Fools.
Other ventures
Advocacy and philanthropy
In 2011, Gillan helped promote Fashion Targets Breast Cancer (FTBC) and the opening of Squirrel Ward at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
In 2018, Gillan visited the Mikeysline crisis support centre in Inverness after presenting her film The Party’s Just Beginning. The film is about the high suicide rate in the Scottish Highlands, and Gillan made a public pledge to support the mental health charity. In September 2020, the Inverness Courier reported that a student from Inverness was selected in a competition inspired by The Party’s Just Beginning to go to New York Fashion Week, held by Mikeysline and Fashion Week Online, in a contest meant to create awareness for World Suicide Prevention Day.
In 2024, Karen Gillan was among British film and TV creatives who donated to an auction to crowdfund for humanitarian relief in Gaza.
Media
Gillan has voiced advertisements for eHarmony and The Royal Bank of Scotland.
Personal life
Cousin: actress Caitlin Blackwood.
In May 2022, Gillan married Nick Kocher, an American comedian of the sketch duo BriTANicK, in a ceremony at Castle Toward in Dunoon, Scotland. In September 2024, at the Toronto International Film Festival, she revealed she is expecting her first child.
Trivia
Shaved her head completely bald to play Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Marvel Studios subsequently turned her shaved hair into a wig and presented it to her as a gift which she still keeps to this day.
Gillan shaved off her hair during Guardians of The Galaxy (2014). She revealed this during Comic-Con 2013. During the conference, she wore a wig then took it off to surprise fans.
Went on record that she would like to play a female Bond antagonist in a future James Bond movie and that she wants to play the female incarnation of The Joker in a future Batman movie.
The Daleks on the series had to be re-designed to match her height, as she’s half a foot taller than Billie Piper, who was the first companion on the revival.
Cousin of actress Caitlin Blackwood, who plays the younger Amy Pond on Doctor Who.
Karen is part of the youngest pairing of Doctor Who and companion on Doctor Who (2005). In 2009, the new Doctor, Matt Smith, is 26, and she is just 21. Their combined age will be younger than that of Jon Pertwee, when he was playing the Time Lord in the 1970s.
Karen admitted the first person she told when she got the role of Amy Pond was her mother, who the actress said was a huge fan of Doctor Who (1963).
Became a huge fan of the situation comedy Community (2009), after her flatmate told her about their Doctor Who parody, “Inspector Spacetime”.
Two years before she was cast as Amy Pond on Doctor Who (2005), Karen had a guest role in the episode, The Fires of Pompeii (2008). She was cast as a soothsayer.
Used the code word ‘Panic Moon’ (an anagram of ‘Companion’), when auditioning for the role of Doctor Who’s assistant/companion.
Voted Best Actress by readers of “Doctor Who” magazine for her stint on the 2010 season of Doctor Who (2005).
Auditioned for Game of Thrones (2011) just before being hired for Doctor Who (2005).
She is a skilled pianist.
Good friends with actress Katee Sackhoff.
Attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London, England.
When she’s not acting, she likes to play the piano and loves rummaging through vintage clothes shops.
One of her golden rules of life is a minimum 8 hours of sleep per night.
Her father John is English and her mother Marie is Scottish and one of eight siblings.
Is the only child and daughter of John Gillan of Clan Macnab and wife Marie Paterson of Clan Paterson, considered part of Clan MacLaren or of Clan Farquharson.
Funko released Pop! vinyls of Karen Gillan’s characters Amy Pond from Doctor Who and Nebula from the Cinematic Marvel Universe.
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