Karen Gillan

Karen Sheila Gillan (born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress and former model, known for her role as Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who.

Gillan is slated to play the lead role of Eliza Dooley in the upcoming U.S. comedy series Selfie. She also play the role of Nebula in the Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.

Early life
Gillan was born and raised in Inverness, Scotland, the only child of Marie (née Paterson) and John Gillan, a singer and recording artist.[1] She learned to play the piano when she was seven.[2] At a young age, she developed a love for acting, joining several local youth theatre groups and taking part in a wide range of productions at Charleston Academy.[2]

When she turned 16, Gillan moved to Edinburgh and completed an HNC Acting and Performance course at Telford College.[3] She moved to London at 18 to study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts drama school, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in acting.[4] [5]

Modeling career
While studying at Italia Conti, Gillan was scouted by a modelling agency,[6] and modelled in the launch party of Nicola Roberts' Dainty Doll Make-Up Range. This was shown in Roberts' episode of the documentary, The Passions of Girls Aloud,[7] which premiered on 4 April 2008. 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.[8]

Acting career
Gillan with Matt Smith, promoting Series 5 of Doctor Who in March 2010. 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, as well as celebrities such as Katy Perry and Angelina Jolie. She appeared in Channel 4's Stacked; she had the part of Ginny.[2] 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 then later also 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.[9]

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.[10] [11] [12] 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.[6]

Gillan made her first theatre appearance playing the role of Shirley in John Osborne's play Inadmissible Evidence along with Douglas Hodge.[13] The play debuted at the Donmar Warehouse on 16 October 2011.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Theatre_13-1">[13]

During an interview at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, Gillan revealed she would be returning to Doctor Who for its seventh series.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14">[14] On 15 December 2011, it was announced Gillan and Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) would be leaving Doctor Who during the seventh series in 2012.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15">[15] On 26 January 2012, Karen Gillan played the part of supermodel Jean Shrimpton in the BBC Four film We'll Take Manhattan, which told the story of Shrimpton's relationship with the photographer David Bailey.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16">[16] Gillan at the San Diego Comic-Con International on July, 2012In August 2011, it was announced Gillan would star in an indie Scottish rom-com called Not Another Happy Ending alongside Emun Elliott.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HappyEnding_17-0">[17] She was picked 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18">[18] Filming took place in July 2012,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HappyEnding_17-1">[17] though Elliott was replaced by Stanley Weber.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19">[19] Gillan told journalists that she was happy to be involved in a Scottish production that "isn't about drug use or fighting the English".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20">[20] The film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2013.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21">[21] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-We.27ll_take_manhattan_22-0">[22] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Romeo_.26_Juliet_23-0">[23]

Gillan starred in the supernatural horror movie Oculus in the lead role, filmed in Alabama and released April 2014.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24">[24] She revealed that she has been cast in comedian Charlie Brooker's TV series A Touch of Cloth.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25">[25] Gillan has also been cast in a film titled The List which began filming in Los Angeles in May 2013.

FHM magazine ranked Gillan #42 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women 2011.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26">[26] In 2012 they also ranked her #36.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27">[27] Gillan has also voiced advertisements for eHarmony and The Royal Bank of Scotland. In May 2013, Gillan was cast as Nebula in the superhero science fiction film Guardians of the Galaxy scheduled for release in August 2014. Gillan had her head shaved bald for the role.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28">[28]

Gillan joined the regular cast of Adult Swim's NTSF:SD:SUV:: for the show's third season in 2013.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bbcamerica_29-0">[29] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ign_30-0">[30] 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-31">[31]

Gillan is slated to star in Selfie, an American single-camera sitcom for ABC, which is produced by Warner Bros. Television and was greenlighted for the 2014-15 US television season. Gillan will play a social media obsessed socialite named Eliza Dooley, a modern day take on the main character from My Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle. This will be Gillan's first time starring in the lead role of an American television series.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32">[32] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bbcamerica_29-1">[29] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-radiotimes_33-0">[33]

Gillan has been cast in the film ' In a Valley of Violence' to be Directed by Ti West. She will join John Travolta, Ethan Hawke and Taissa Farmiga in the film, filming will begin June 2014.

Personal life
In 2011, Gillan helped promote Fashion Targets Breast Cancer (FTBC)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-34">[34] and the opening of Squirrel Ward in Great Ormond Street Hospital.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-35">[35] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-36">[36] During a 2012 interview on The Late Late Show, she confirmed that she now lives in Los Angeles, California.