Born: 28th November 1987 (as Karen Sheila Gillan)
Episodes Broadcast: 2008, 2010-2013

Karen Gillan was born in Inverness, Scotland and aspired to be a jazz singer from a young age. Struggling with her confidence on stage, she decided to take up acting; she was soon involved with the Eden Court through both their youth theatre and dance programs. When she was seventeen, Gillan won a place at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. During her studies there, she won a role in a 2006 episode of Rebus, only to learn that the Academy would not grant her a sabbatical in order to accept the job. Gillan chose to drop out and take the part, after which she worked as a bartender and a model. She was soon cast as a regular on The Kevin Bishop Show, and made her movie debut with a small part in the 2008 crime drama New Town Killers. The same year, Gillan could be seen in Doctor Who, playing a soothsayer in The Fires Of Pompeii. She was one of just a handful of actors to travel to Italy alongside the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, for filming at the historic Cinecittà Studios.

The next couple of years saw appearances in The Well on the small screen, and a return to cinemas in the horror movie Outcast. But Gillan's big break saw her return to the orbit of Doctor Who, now playing companion Amy Pond. The “Girl Who Waited” accompanied Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor for two and a half seasons, starting with 2010's The Eleventh Hour. On several occasions, she worked with her cousin, Caitlin Blackwood, who appeared as a young Amy; ironically, the two had never previously met in person. Gillan made history during her time on Doctor Who, not only becoming the first companion to get married during her residency in the TARDIS -- to fellow time traveller Rory Williams, played by Arthur Darvill -- but also the first to become pregnant and give birth. She and Darvill left Doctor Who together in 2012's emotionally-charged The Angels Take Manhattan.

Gillan shaved her head for the role of Nebula in Guardians Of The Galaxy

Gillan was soon back on the silver screen, first in Not Another Happy Ending and then in the American thriller Oculus. She returned to Doctor Who for a cameo appearance at Christmas 2013, helping Smith bow out in The Time Of The Doctor. Her trademark ginger tresses were now a wig, as Gillan had shaved her head for the role of Nebula in the blockbuster Guardians Of The Galaxy, a 2014 entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now based out of Hollywood, she won a leading role in the short-lived sitcom Selfie, and also had a small part in Adam McKay's critically-acclaimed 2015 movie The Big Short. The same year, Gillan was the star, writer, director and producer of the short film Coward. It was followed in 2018 by her first feature, the comedy-drama The Party's Just Beginning. In addition to several further movie appearances as Nebula, Gillan's other credits on the silver screen during the 2010s included The Circle with Emma Watson and Tom Hanks, plus a starring role opposite Dwayne Johnson in Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle and its sequel.

Gillan continued to make regular movie appearances during the Twenties, with credits including the Harrison Ford version of The Call Of The Wild and the action film Gunpowder Milkshake. In 2022, she married comedian Nick Kocher.