Karen Gillan

Karen Sheila Gillan (born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress and filmmaker.

Karen Sheila Gillan was born in Inverness on 28 November 1987, 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 a 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.

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.

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).

In 2010, she won in the Entertainment category at the Young Scot Awards.

She also worked on the stage while in Britain, appearing in John Osborne's play Inadmissible Evidence (2011).

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.

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".

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.

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).

Karen Gillan reprised her role in the 2013 Christmas special "The Time of the Doctor", to coincide with Smith's departure as the Doctor.

The film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2013.

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 achieved international stardom for portraying Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).

She additionally was praised for her portrayals of Ruby Roundhouse in the action films Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Sam in the comedy film Gunpowder Milkshake (2021) and her double role in the sci-fi thriller film Dual (2022).

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.

Aside from acting, she garnered critical acclaim for her involvement as writer and director in the drama film The Party's Just Beginning (2018), which she also headlined.

She has been noted for her public image and activism, particularly towards suicide prevention.