Karen Sheila Gillan (/ˈɡɪlən/; born 28 November 1987) 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). Her early film roles include the thriller Outcast (2010) and romantic comedy Not Another Happy Ending (2013). She also worked on the stage while in Britain, appearing in John Osborne's play Inadmissible Evidence (2011).
Karen Sheila Gillan was born in Inverness on 28 November 1987,[1] the daughter of Marie and Raymond John Gillan. Her father is from Sunderland in North East England.[2] Although she comes from a Catholic background, she says that she was not baptised and does not practise a religion.[3]
When she turned 16, Gillan moved to Edinburgh and completed an HNC Acting and Performance course at Telford College.[4] She moved to London at age 18 to study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.[5][6] While there, she was scouted by a modelling agency.[7] 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.[8]
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.[9][10]
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.[11] In 2008, she starred in the Channel 4 television film Stacked.[citation needed]
In 2011, Gillan made her first theatre appearance playing the role of Shirley in John Osborne's play Inadmissible Evidence along with Douglas Hodge.[18] The play debuted at the Donmar Warehouse on 16 October 2011.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20] Filming took place in July 2012,[19] though Elliott was replaced by Stanley Weber.[21] 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".[22] The film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2013.[23][24][25]
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.[26]
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.[27] She was also cast in the third season of A Touch of Cloth, which was co-created by Charlie Brooker.[28] Gillan joined the regular cast of Adult Swim's NTSF:SD:SUV:: for the show's third season in 2013.[29][30] She moved to the United States in 2013 and landed her first leading Hollywood role in the supernatural horror movie Oculus.[31] It was filmed in Alabama and premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival[32][9] to critical success.[33][34] 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."[35] She earned a Fright Meter Award nomination for Best Actress.[36]
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.[37][38][39] The series was cancelled by ABC on 7 November 2014 after seven episodes;[40] the remaining six episodes were made available on Hulu starting 25 November 2014.[41]Selfie still has a dedicated following of fans years after its broadcast[42] especially in China.[43][44][45] In May 2013, Karen Gillan was cast as Nebula in the Marvel superhero science fiction film Guardians of the Galaxy,[46] which was released in August 2014.[47] Gillan had her head shaved bald for the role, which Marvel turned into the wig that Gillan wore during the production of Selfie.[48] 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.[49] She also appeared in TV on the Radio's "Happy Idiot" music video, released on 3 October 2014.[50]
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.[51] She wrote and directed her first short film, Coward, which screened at the 2015 Edinburgh Film Festival, and was nominated for several awards.[52][53] Later in the year she wrote, directed, and starred in another short film called Conventional.[54] She won in the Best Female Newcomer category at the 20th Empire Awards for Guardians of the Galaxy and Oculus.[55] In the same year, she was cast in an HBO pilot titled, The Devil You Know.[56][57]
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' indiedrama 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.[58][59] The title of the film was later changed to The Party's Just Beginning.[60] The film was nominated for Best Feature Film at the British Academy Scotland Awards.[61]
In 2022, she starred in the sci-fi thriller Dual alongside Aaron Paul,[76] which is filmed entirely in Tampere, Finland.[77][78] She played a double role, and earned acclaim for her performance.[79] Critic consensus from review aggregatorRotten 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."[80] At the 3rd Critics' Choice Super Awards, she was nominated for Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie.[81]
In 2023 she appeared in Late Bloomers,[82] for which Damon Wise of Deadline Hollywood praised her "engaging and refreshingly vanity-free performance".[83] Also in 2023, she began filming Sleeping Dogs in Australia with Russell Crowe[84] 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.[85] She was critically praised for her acting.[86]Lucy Mangan of The Guardian said her "magnificent performance keeps all the possibilities in play."[87] Nick Hilton of The Independent believed "Gillan is totally convincing as a woman whose beauty distracts from her brains."[88]
Gillan appeared in The Life of Chuck, reuniting with filmmaker Mike Flanagan, with whom she last collaborated on Oculus,[89] which premiered in September 2024 at TIFF.[90] She will also be playing the role of Queen Mary Tudor in the upcoming film Fools.[91]
Other ventures
Advocacy and philanthropy
In 2011, Gillan helped promote Fashion Targets Breast Cancer (FTBC)[92] and the opening of Squirrel Ward at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.[93]
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.[94] 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.[95][96]
In 2024, Karen Gillan was among British film and TV creatives who donated to an auction to crowdfund for humanitarian relief in Gaza.[97][98]
^Macleod, Calum (26 March 2010). "Who's that girl?". Inverness Courier. Scottish Provincial Press. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
^"Karen Gillan on Instagram". Instagram. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017. That's a wrap on Tupperware Party! I am so amazed by every single one of our cast and crew. We had a bloody good laugh and made something really special. Thanks to everyone involved. #tupperwarepartymovie #filmmaking @malielfman @clairey1111
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