Karen Gillan

Karen Sheila Gillan (born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress, director, screenwriter and model. She is best known for playing the part of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series, Doctor Who.

Karen Gilan
Karen Gillan in 2019
Born	Karen Sheila Gillan (1987-11-28) 28 November 1987 (age 37) Inverness, Scotland
Nationality	Scottish
Occupation(s)	Celebrity, Director, Screenwriter, Model
Years active	2006 – present
Spouse	Nick Kocher ​ (m. 2022)​

Early life

Karen Sheila Gillan was born on 28 November 1987 in Inverness, Scotland. She learned to play the piano when she was seven.^[1] She started acting when she was very young. She joined several local youth theatre groups. She also acted at her school, Charleston Academy.^[1] When she was sixteen, Karen Gillan went to Edinburgh's Telford College to study acting. Later, she studied at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts drama school in London.^[2] Karen Gillan moved to London when she was 18 to study at drama school.^[3]

Her cousin, Caitlin Blackwood, played the part of the young Amy Pond in at least three episodes of Doctor Who.^[4][5][6]

Career

Karen Gillan in Dr.Who

Modelling

Before Karen Gillan started acting on television, she worked in a London pub. She had had left Italia Conti for a television programme, but was hired by a modelling agency.^[7] Karen Gillan worked as a model in London Fashion Week, in 2007. She worked for designer Allegra Hicks' show.

Acting

Karen Gillan began acting on television doing small parts, on several drama series. Her first larger role was as a part of the ensemble cast of the sketch comedy series The Kevin Bishop Show. She worked for the series for two years. On the programme, she played many different characters. She also played celebrities such as Katy Perry and Angelina Jolie. She was on Channel 4's 'Stacked'. She played the part of Ginny.^[8] Karen Gillan also was on TV in a main part in a horror programme The Well. It was broadcast as a series of short movies, on BBC Two. It was later shown on the internet.

Karen Gillan was cast as Amy Pond on the British sci-fi series Doctor Who in May 2009. Her first episode as Amy Pond was shown on 3 April 2010. Gillan had been in Doctor Who once before in the 2008 episode "The Fires of Pompeii" as a different character.^[7]

Karen Gillan also acts in theatre. She first role was as Shirley in John Osborne's play Inadmissible Evidence^[9] at the Donmar Warehouse on 16 October 2011.^[9]

At the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, Karen Gillan said she will be on Doctor Who for its seventh series.^[10] On 15 December 2011, it was said that Gillan and Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) would only be on the early part of seventh series, in 2012.^[11]

After leaving Doctor Who, Karen Gillan has appeared in 2013 horror film Oculus and 2014 Marvel superhero science fiction film Guardians of the Galaxy. Both of films received positive reviews from critics, while Guardians of the Galaxy became a critical and commercial success, grossing over $774 million worldwide. Also in 2014, she was cast as the main character in ABC's sitcom Selfie.

In May 2015, it was announced that Karen Gillan was cast in the Adam McKay-directed drama film The Big Short alongside Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell and Melissa Leo.^[12] She directed her first short film, Coward, which won several awards and screened at the 2015 Edinburgh Film Festival.^[13][14] Later that year, in September, Karen Gillan was cast as one of the main characters, Annie, in the movie The Circle alongside Emma Watson, Tom Hanks and John Boyega. The film is directed and written by James Ponsoldt and is based on the novel written by Dave Eggers.

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	New Town Killers	Girl at bus station
2010	Outcast	Ally
2013	Not Another Happy Ending	Jane Lockhart
2013	Oculus	Kaylie Russell
2014	Guardians of the Galaxy	Nebula
2015	The Big Short	Evie
2016	The Circle	Annie	Filming[15]
2017	Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle	Ruby Roundhouse

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Rebus	Teri Cotter	Episode: "A Question of Blood"
2008	Stacked	Ginny Turner	TV movie
2008	Doctor Who	Soothsayer	Episode: "The Fires of Pompeii"
2008	Harley Street	Holly	Episode 1
2008 – 2009	The Kevin Bishop Show	Various characters	Main role (12 episodes)
2008	Coming Up	Anna	Episode: "Thinspiration"
2009	The Well	Coll	4 episodes
2010 – 2013	Doctor Who	Amy Pond	Series 5, 6, 7 (33 episodes) "The Time of the Doctor" (cameo)
2010 – 2011	Doctor Who Confidential	Herself	26 episodes
2012	We'll Take Manhattan	Jean Shrimpton	TV movie
2012	In Love with Coward	Laura	3 episodes
2013	NTSF:SD:SUV::	Daisy	Main role (9 episodes, season 3)
2014	A Touch of Cloth	Kerry Newblood	2 episodes
2014	Selfie	Eliza Dooley	Main role (13 episodes)
2015	Seven Days in Hell	Lily Allsworth	TV movie

Theatre

Year	Title	Format
2011	Inadmissible Evidence	Play

Video games

Year	Title
2010	Doctor Who: The Adventure Games: City of the Daleks
2010	Doctor Who: The Adventure Games: Blood of the Cybermen
2010	Doctor Who: The Adventure Games: TARDIS
2010	Doctor Who: The Adventure Games: Shadows of the Vashta Nerada
2011	Doctor Who: The Adventure Games: The Gunpowder Plot
2010	Doctor Who: Evacuation Earth
2010	Doctor Who: Return to Earth
2010	Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time

Awards

List of awards and award nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2010	TV Quick Awards	Best Actress	Doctor Who	Nominated	[16]
2010	Cosmopolitan "Woman of the Year" Awards	Best Actress		Won	[17]
2011	SFX Awards	Best Actress		Won	[18]
2011	TV Choice Awards	Best Actress		Won	[19]
2011	Scream Awards	Best Sci-Fi Actress		Nominated	[20]
2012	National Television Awards	Best Drama Performance: Female		Won	[21]
2012	Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards	Favourite UK Actress	Herself	Nominated	[22]
2012	Scottish Fashion Awards	Scotland's Fashion Icon	Herself	Won	[23]
2013	National Television Awards	Best Drama Performance - Female	Doctor Who	Nominated	[24]
2014	Fright Meter Awards	Best Actress	Oculus	Nominated	[25]
2015	Empire Awards	Best Female Newcomer	Guardians of the Galaxy and Oculus	Won	[26] [27]