Line #39 Creator/KarenGillan


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5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dw_kg.png]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:[[Series/DoctorWho Amy Pond]] [[Music/FountainsOfWayne has got it going on!]]]]
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8	->"''Funny, clever, gorgeous and sexy. Or [[PatrioticFervor Scottish]], which is the quick way of saying it.''"
9	-->-- '''Creator/StevenMoffat'''
10
11	Karen Sheila Gillan (born November 28, 1987) is a Scottish actress and filmmaker from Inverness (thus, she is actually a Highlander). She gained nationwide recognition in the UK for playing Amy Pond, the first companion of Creator/MattSmith's [[Characters/DoctorWhoEleventhDoctor Eleventh Doctor]] in ''Series/DoctorWho'', and achieved international stardom for playing [[Characters/MCUNebula Nebula]] in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.
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13	On ''Doctor Who'', Gillan played Amy until season 7 of the revival. At the time of her departure, she was the single longest-lasting Companion on the 2005 revival of the show at 2½ seasons. As Amy, Gillan appeared in more televised stories (not episodes, stories), 28, than any other companion in the show's entire history at the time. (Both these records have since been eclipsed by Creator/JennaColeman.) In addition to this role, she previously appeared as a soothsayer in an earlier story, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii The Fires of Pompeii]]". She and Matt Smith are known to have gotten along like a house on fire, and Matt once described her on ''Series/TheGrahamNortonShow'' as "mad as a box of cats". Given the insanity, it's probably why they got along so well.
14
15	Post-''Doctor Who'', she's still quite active in the acting circuit, being part of the cast of ''Series/{{NTSFSDSUV}}'' as well as scoring several prominent movie roles, including Nebula in the MCU, Kaylie in ''Film/{{Oculus}}'', and Ruby Roundhouse in ''Film/JumanjiWelcomeToTheJungle''. She also starred in ''Series/{{Selfie}}'' for ABC, a sitcom based on ''Theatre/MyFairLady''.
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17	In 2018, she released her first feature film as a writer and director, titled ''The Party's Just Beginning''.
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19	She married ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' writer Nick Kocher in May 2022.
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21	No relation to comic writer Creator/KieronGillen or Ian Gillan of Music/DeepPurple, but she ''is'' the older cousin of Caitlin Blackwood, who played the "young" Amy Pond.
22
23	----
24	!!Selected Filmography:
25
26	* ''Film/NewTownKillers'' as Young Girl in Bus Station (2008)
27	* ''Series/DoctorWho'' as soothsayer (2008; episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii "The Fires of Pompeii"]]) and as Amy Pond (2010 -- 2013)
28	* ''Not Another Happy Ending'' (2013) as Jane Lockhart
29	* ''Film/{{Oculus}}'' (2013) as Kaylie Russell
30	* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse as [[Characters/MCUNebula Nebula]]:
31	** ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy\|2014}}'' (2014)
32	** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' (2017)
33	** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' (2018)
34	** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' (2019)
35	** ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]'' (2021) (voice)
36	** ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' (2022)
37	** ''Film/TheGuardiansOfTheGalaxyHolidaySpecial'' (2022)
38	** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3'' (2023)
39	* ''Film/InAValleyOfViolence'' (2016) as Ellen
40	* ''Film/{{The Circle\|2017}}'' (2017) as Annie Allerton
41	* ''Franchise/{{Jumanji}}'' as Martha / Ruby Roundhouse
42	** ''Film/JumanjiWelcomeToTheJungle'' (2017)
43	** ''Film/JumanjiTheNextLevel'' (2019)
44	* ''The Party's Just Beginning'' (2018) as Liusaidh. (She also wrote and directed the movie)
45	* ''WesternAnimation/SpiesInDisguise'' (2019) as Eyes (voice)
46	* ''Film/{{Stuber}}'' (2019) as Sarah Morris
47	* ''Film/{{The Call of the Wild\|2020}}'' (2020) as Mercedes
48	* ''Film/GunpowderMilkshake'' (2021) as Sam
49	* ''Film/{{The Bubble\|2022}}'' (2022) as Carol Cobb/Dr. Lacey Nightingale
50	* ''Film/{{Dual}}'' (2022) as Sarah and Sarah's Double
51	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (2023) as Maisie [=MacWeldon=]
52	----
53	!!Tropes associated with this actress include:
54
55	* ActingForTwo:
56	** There have been quite a few Other-Amys during her time on ''Series/DoctorWho''. Creator/CaitlinBlackwood takes some of the burden, but there are still Time Shifts and Teselectas. Special attention goes to "The Girl Who Waited", which featured both her current self and a very good makeup job that made her some thirty years older. [[NeverMessWithGranny With a sword.]]
57	** A fair bit of ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' has her playing more than one Nebula thanks to TimeTravel shenanigans.
58	** And yet again in the upcoming film DUAL where she ends up in a duel to the death [[ItMakesSenseInContext with her own clone]].
59	* ButtMonkey: All three members of the ''Who'' cast described their off-screen relationship as "Two big brothers teasing their younger sister." On ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ9U6kMXbVY Confidential]]'', she showed where Matt scribbled all over her set chair, including "Wide Load" in the seat.
60	* ConfusionFu: She participated in an All-Star Celebrity Bowling game against Chris Hardwick's Nerdist team while promoting ''Doctor Who'' on BBC America. Since bowling isn't all that popular in the UK, and since Karen can out-Klutz Creator/{{Matt\|Smith}} and Creator/{{Arthur\|Darvill}} at times, she shocked everybody when her "Throw, scream, and hope" approach to bowling actually ''worked'' and gave her one of the highest scores in the game.
61	* CopiouslyCreditedCreator: Karen wrote, directed and starred in ''The Party's Just Beginning''.
62	* DyeingForYourArt: She shaved her head for her role in ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' (even making the cut hair into a wig and wearing it in a few roles while her new hair was still growing back in) and had to keep in serious shape for ''Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle''.
63	* EnforcedMethodActing: At least two notable instances:
64	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E4TheTimeOfAngels The Time of Angels]]", she assumed that Matt wasn't going to actually bite her hand when he's trying to convince her it wasn't made of stone. He did.
65	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E5TheAngelsTakeManhattan The Angels Take Manhattan]]", she originally said she didn't want to cry during her departure scene, saying that Amy was acting spontaneously and wasn't letting what she was doing sink in. However, when it came to do the scene, she simply couldn't stop crying.
66	* FakeAmerican: She uses an American accent in ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', ''Oculus'', ''Selfie'' and ''Jumanji''.
67	* LegFocus: Famously, to the point that where the Doctor was riffing nicknames in the Oval Office, she was referred to as "The Legs" (along with "The Nose" and "Mrs Robinson"). Clara Oswald even lampshaded this when she sees a picture of Amy Pond. Also very much played up with her role as a video-game avatar played by a nerdy girl in ''Jumanji''.
68	-->'''Clara:''' Dear god, that woman is made of legs! That's the most legs on any living person!
69	* MsFanservice: ''Doctor Who'' often showed off her legs, and ''Jumanji'' gave her a midriff-baring outfit. She even had nude scenes in ''Not Another Happy Ending'' and ''The Party’s Just Beginning''.
70	* NonSingingVoice: An odd case. She can sing but rarely does so. For example, when asked to sing a few bars of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid\|1989}}'', she flat-out admitted she knows only one lyric and belted out "'''Forks!'''".
71	* PlayingAgainstType:
72	** As the villainous [[HeelFaceTurn (at first)]] [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014 Nebula]].
73	** And in a way, as a meek and shy girl in the body of a ThirdPersonSeductress in ''Film/JumanjiWelcomeToTheJungle''.
74	* PromotedFangirl:
75	** ''Film/{{Jumanji}}'' is one of Karen's top-three favorite films, [[http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/jumanji/269887/karen-gillan-on-how-jumanji-welcomed-her-to-the-jungle so she was excited when she was invited to play Martha/Ruby Roundhouse]] in [[Film/JumanjiWelcomeToTheJungle the standalone sequel]].
76	** Being a fan of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', she [[https://www.instagram.com/p/C0PFXaiOkGh/ considered it an honor]] to announce that she would be voicing Maisie, Groundskeeper Willie's childhood friend and love interest from Scotland.
77	* RealLifeRelative: Karen is a cousin to Creator/CaitlinBlackwood, the Scottish girl who played young Amelia Pond in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episodes "The Eleventh Hour", "The Big Bang", "Let's Kill Hitler" and "The God Complex". They had never met until they both showed up for the script table read, since Gillan's family had moved away before the younger girl was born!
78	* StatuesqueStunner: She's 5'11" barefoot, so when wearing almost any kind of shoes, she's at least 6'0" even. The ''Doctor Who'' prop department had to redesign the Daleks because of it (they were originally designed to match height with Creator/BilliePiper, who is 5'5".)
79	* UnfortunateNames: She's fully aware of what the name "Karen" has [[ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife come to symbolize]] in recent years, and has made [[https://twitter.com/karengillan/status/1221946454240944128 the appropriate joke]] about it.
80	* YouLookFamiliar:
81	** Would you believe that Karen was in ''Series/DoctorWho'' before being cast as Amy? She plays the priestess who follows the Tenth Doctor in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii The Fires of Pompeii]]". It becomes even funnier when you remember that Creator/PeterCapaldi is also in that episode!
82	** She was one of the models featured in the inaugural campaign of [[Music/GirlsAloud Nicola Roberts]]' makeup range, Dainty Doll. She can be seen in the documentary following Nicola's rehearsal directions.

Context Creator / KarenGillan