Karen Gillan (born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress, director, screenwriter and model. She played the role of Amy Pond, companion to the Eleventh Doctor, in the BBC One science fiction series Doctor Who (2010-2013). She has received wide recognition for portraying Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and its untitled sequel (2019), and also played Ruby Roundhouse in the box-office hit Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017).
In 2018, she released her first feature film as writer and director, titled The Party's Just Beginning.
Video Karen Gillan
Early life
Gillan was born and raised in Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, the only child of Marie (née Paterson) and Raymond Gillan, a singer and recording artist. 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 drama school, Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.
While studying at Italia Conti, Gillan was scouted by a modelling agency. Gillan has said she would not give up her acting career to return to modelling, stating that she enjoyed modelling but acting was always her main interest and goal.
Maps Karen Gillan
Career
Television
Gillan's early television acting career included guest appearances on several drama series, with her first role being in an episode of Rebus, a role she obtained while still at Italia Conti. Gillan then 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. 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.
She was cast for the role of the Eleventh Doctor's first companion, Amy Pond, on the British sci-fi series Doctor Who in May 2009. She made her first on-screen appearance as Amy Pond in "The Eleventh Hour" with her cousin Caitlin Blackwood portraying a young Amelia (Amy) Pond. In 2010, she won in the Entertainment category at Young Scot Awards, which she accepted via video link as she was filming abroad and unable to attend the ceremony. She appeared in the following sixth series in 2011 and the first five episodes of the seventh series in 2012. She reprised the role in a cameo appearance in the 2013 Christmas special "The Time of the Doctor". Gillan had appeared in Doctor Who once before in the series four episode "The Fires of Pompeii" in the role of a Soothsayer.
During an interview at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, Gillan revealed that she would be returning to Doctor Who for its seventh series. On 15 December 2011, it was announced Gillan and Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) would be leaving Doctor Who during the seventh series in 2012.
She was cast in comedian Charlie Brooker's TV series A Touch of Cloth, portraying Kerry Newblood. Gillan joined the regular cast of Adult Swim's NTSF:SD:SUV:: for the show's third season in 2013.
In February 2014, Gillan was cast as the lead in Selfie, an American single-camera sitcom for ABC, which is produced by Warner Bros. Television and was greenlit for the 2014-15 US television season. Gillan played a social media-obsessed socialite named Eliza Dooley, a modern-day take on the main character from My Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle. This was Gillan's first time starring 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.
Film
She appeared in the Channel 4 film Stacked, playing the role of Ginny.
In August 2011, it was announced that Gillan would star in an indie Scottish romantic comedy called Not Another Happy Ending alongside Emun Elliott. 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. 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.
Gillan starred in the lead role in the supernatural horror movie Oculus, which was filmed in Alabama and released in April 2014.
In May 2013, 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.
In May 2014, Gillan was cast in the Ti West-directed Western film In a Valley of Violence opposite John Travolta, Ethan Hawke and Taissa Farmiga. Gillan portrayed Ellen, the older sister to Farmiga's character.
In 2015, Gillan appeared in the Adam McKay-directed drama film The Big Short alongside Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell and Melissa Leo.
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 that year, Gillan played the lead female role in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, a sequel to 1995 film Jumanji, starring alongside Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Nick Jonas.
Gillan reprised her Nebula character in Avengers: Infinity War and its untitled, upcoming, sequel, which were filmed back-to-back. Principal photography began in January 2017, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia.
Theatre
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.
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.
Selected other work
Gillan has also voiced advertisements for eHarmony and The Royal Bank of Scotland. Gillan also appeared in TV on the Radio's "Happy Idiot" music video, released on 3 October 2014.
Gillan wrote and directed her first short film, Coward, which screened at the 2015 Edinburgh Film Festival, and nominated for several awards. Later in the year she wrote, directed, and starred in another short film called Conventional.
On 2 November 2016, it was announced that Gillan will write, direct and star in her feature directorial 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 next month. The title of the film was later changed to The Party's Just Beginning.
Personal life
In 2011, Gillan helped promote Fashion Targets Breast Cancer (FTBC) and the opening of Squirrel Ward in Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. During a 2012 interview on The Late Late Show, she stated that she had relocated to the US to star in the film Oculus.
She has stated that, though her family is Catholic, she was never baptised and is not religious, instead agreeing with the statement that, "we're just minuscule dots in the vast cosmic emptiness of the universe".
Filmography
Feature films
Short films
Television
Video games
Stage
Awards and nominations
References
External links
- Karen Gillan on IMDb
Source of article : Wikipedia
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