Birth Name: Karen Sheila Gillan
Nickname/Stage Name: Karen Gillan
Birth Date: November 28, 1987
Genres: Action, Horror, Superhero
Occupation(s): Actress, Filmmaker
Years Active: 2006 till Present
Net Worth: $2 million
Latest Film: Gunpowder Milkshake
Personal Life
Karen Gillan was born in Inverness, a city in the Scottish Islands. Even though she is from a Catholic background, she says she didn’t undergo baptism and does not practice any religion.
She began dating Patrick Green, a freelance photographer, in 2006. They went their separate ways in 2012. They kept their relationship private and were hardly seen in public together.
Gillan was rumored to have dated Doctor Who co-star Matt Smith but it was never confirmed. She was also photographed kissing actor Andrew Brook but again, nothing was confirmed.
Education
The actress attended Kinmylies Primary School and moved to Edinburgh when she was 16 to complete an HNC Acting and Performance course at Telford Collge.
Gillan further transferred to London at age 18 where she studied at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.
Career
She first appeared in several TV shows before getting a part in the sketch comedy series The Kevin Bishop Show. She made her first stage performance when she played the character of Shirley in the play Inadmissible Evidence.
Gillan was seen in the 2010 horror film Outcast after which she starred in the Scottish romantic comedy Not Another Happy Ending (2010).
She played the lead role in Oculus (2013) and in May 2013, was cast as Nebula in the Marvel superhero film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). She reprised the role in subsequent MCU movies.
Gillan’s other film roles include In a Valley of Violence, The Big Short, The Circle, the Jumanji movies, The Call of teh Wild, and Gunpowder Milkshake.
Awards
Cosmopolitan’s Ultimate Women of the Year Award (2010)
Young Scot Award (2010)
SFX Award (2011)
TV Choice Award (2011)
National Television Award (2012)
Detroit Film Critics Society Award (2014)
Nevada Film Critics Society Award (2014)
Empire Award (2015)
IFS Film Festival Award (2015)
London IFF Film Festival Award (2016)
FirstGlance Film Festival Award (2016)
Maui Film Festival Award (2017)
DTLA Film Festival Award (2018)
Philadelphia Film Festival Award (2018)
Quotes
“I am legitimately Scottish. I can officially say – yes. Yeah, I am from Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland.”
“I wasn’t horrifically bullied. There was some name-calling but nothing awful. All kids get teased about something. And this was quite an obvious feature. When you’re really tall and ginger and white at school, you’re going to get it.”
“I love horror films so much. I like being scared. I want to be in good films, obviously, rather than cheesy ones. And some horror films can be quite cheesy. I love watching them but I don’t necessarily want to be in them.”
Trivia
She loves playing the piano and going through old stuff.
She shaved her head completely to portray the character of Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel Studios subsequently turned her shaved hair into a wig and presented it to her as a gift which she still keeps to this day.
She has expressed her eagerness to play a character in a James Bond movie and she also wants to portray a female incarnation of DC’s The Joker.
Movies
Outcast (2010)
Oculus (2013)
The Big Short (2015)
Alex & the List (2017)
Stuber (2019)
The Call of the Wild (2020)
Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)