Let's talk about: Karen Gillan

 Karen Gillan was born on November 28, 1987 in Inverness, Scotland, UK.

She is the only child. Her father, John Gillan, is a singer and recording artist. 

She developed a love for acting at a young age and attended several youth theater groups. 

She took part in many productions at her school, Charleston Academy. 

At 16 years old, Karen decided to pursue acting further and went to the Performing Arts Studio Scotland. 

She went on to the prestigious Italia Conti Academy in London. 

In her first year she got a role in the television show Rebus and then appeared in a variety of other television programs. 

Included in this was an appearance in the 2008 episode of Doctor Who called "The Fires of Pompeii", in which she played a soothsayer. 

Two years later she would be cast as Amy Pond, the Doctor's companion. 

 

  "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.

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."

I absolutely loved her in the role of Amy Pond. Amy is such a fun character and Karen played her so well. She was quirky, funny, and really well acted. 

Karen was voted Best Actress by readers of Doctor Who magazine for her stint on Doctor Who. 

 She was part of the youngest pairing of The Doctor and his companion on Doctor Who. The Doctor at the time (Matt Smith) was 26 and Karen was 21.

Karen has said that the first person she told when she learned that she had secured the role of Amy Pond was her mother. Her mom has always been a huge fan of Doctor Who. 

At one point during the show, a TARDIS flooding scene had to be cut due to Karen's lack of water experience. She has said that she doesn't swim or drive. 

 Recently Karen had a starring role as Eliza Dooley in the American television show Selfie. 

It was a pretty funny show but was cancelled. 

A lot of people have now seen Karen in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy although she is not instantly recognizable. 

She shaved her head completely bald to play Nebula. And, well, she is blue in the film. 

When she is not acting, Karen likes to play the piano. 

She is also a really good singer. 

Here she is singing on an episode of Selfie: 

 And a fun interview clip of her on Craig Ferguson: 

I think Karen is a lot of fun. 

She is responsible for me being very curious what it would be like to dye my hair red. I still haven't done it...but I love her hair so much. 

I didn't meet her at FanX this year but I did see her and get to sit in on the panel she did with Billie Piper and Matt Smith. 

From what I could see of her she seemed very kind, funny, and down to earth. 

It was a lot of fun to see how the three actors played off of each other and very obvious that they all like each other in real life as well. 

I think we will see a lot from Karen in the coming years. 

*Have you watched her as Amy Pond? 

*Have you seen her in anything else?