Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress and former model, best known for her role as Amy Pond in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who. In film, she has starred as Jane Lockhart in Not Another Happy Ending, Kaylie Russell in the horror film Oculus, and Nebula in the Ma...
Charleston Development Academy, Edinburgh's Telford College, Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts
Nationality
United Kingdom
Parents
Marie Gillan, Raymond John Gillan
Nicknames
Karen Sheila Gillan , Kaz
Awards
Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer, National Television Award for Outstanding Drama Performance (Female)
Movies
Guardians of the Galaxy, Oculus, Jumanji, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Not Another Happy Ending, The Big Short, In a Valley of Violence, The Circle, We'll Take Manhattan, 7 Days In Hell, New Town Killers, Outcast, Warning Labels, Bound For Greatness, Doctor Who: Space and Time, Stacked, Coward, U...
TV Shows
Selfie, NTSF:SD:SUV::, The Kevin Bishop Show, Harley Street, Doctor Who, The Well
Star Sign
Sagittarius
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Trademark
1
Towering height
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Scottish accent
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Energetic personality
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Red Hair
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Quote
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[on Michael Haneke's movies] I like his films because I like big films as well but they're far more manipulative, like we're going to make you feel sad at this point, then the music kicks in and you know what you're supposed to feel, and they're telling you what to feel, but Haneke's stuff is just this really unbiased view of events, and you choose how to feel about it, which is fun for me.
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[asked about some directors she'd like to work with] I want to work with Michael Haneke, the Austrian director, more than anything in the world. Can you make that happen for me? I love his films so much. He's my favourite director in the world.
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[on Oculus (2013)] I love horror films so much. I like being scared. I want to be in good films, obviously, rather than cheesy ones. And some horror films can be quite cheesy. I love watching them but I don't necessarily want to be in them.
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I wasn't horrifically bullied. There was some name-calling but nothing awful. All kids get teased about something. And this was quite an obvious feature. When you're really tall and ginger and white at school, you're going to get it.
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He's just really unlikely as a hero - which makes him so brilliant, I think, because he's like this mad professor. (On The Doctor)
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To be honest, I wasn't really a huge follower of Doctor Who (1963) before I got this part. I mean I knew it was huge, but ... I was nothing like my mum, who's a proper diehard Whovian. She's got a Tardis money-bag, and Dalek bubble-bath. But having read the first episode I was utterly smitten, and with the character. Amy's a sassy lady, funny and passionate, and her relationship with the doctor has a really interesting dynamic.
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I am legitimately Scottish. I can officially say - yes. Yeah, I am from Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland.
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I got a recall to come in and read with Matt [the eleventh Doctor] and that was quite funny, actually, because, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone that I was auditioning, what I was auditioning for, not even the people in the reception of the place that I was going to. So I had to give them a code name of 'Panic Moon'. It was fun but it was actually an anagram for 'companion' which is quite clever.
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[on winning the role as Amy Pond in Doctor Who (2005)] I am absolutely over the moon at being chosen to play the Doctor's new companion. The show is such a massive phenomenon that I can't quite believe I am going to be a part of it.
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Matt Smith is an incredible actor and it is going to be so much fun to act alongside him. I just can't wait to get started.
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[discussing Amy's relationship with the Doctor] She (Amy Pond) doesn't take his (the Doctor's) word as gospel and she's always happy to challenge him. If he tells her to do something then she won't necessarily do it, she might go off and do her own thing which can sometimes create a rift between the two of them! They are best pals though and it's a very up and down relationship because they are both very passionate people.
Became a big fan of the series Community (2009), after her flatmate told her about their "Doctor Who" parody, "Inspector Spacetime".
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2 years before she was cast as "Amy Pond" in Doctor Who (2005), Karen had a guest role in the 2008 episode, _"Doctor Who" (2005) {The Fires of Pompeii (#4.2)}_ (qv". She was cast as a soothsayer.
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Lives in Los Angeles.
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"The Daleks" on the series had to be redesigned to match her height, as she is half a foot taller than Billie Piper, who was the first companion on the revival.
Karen admitted the first person she told when she got the role of Amy Pond was her mother, who the actress said was a big fan of Doctor Who (1963).
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Karen is part of the youngest pairing of "The Doctor" 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.
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Voted Best Actress by readers of "Doctor Who" magazine for her stint on the 2010 season of Doctor Who (2005).
$2 Million
