Early life

Gillan was born and raised in Inverness, the only child of Marie (née Paterson) and John Gillan, a singer and recording artist.

When she turned 16, Gillan moved to Edinburgh and completed an HNC Acting and Performance course at Telford College. She moved to London at age 18 to study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts drama school, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in acting.

Modelling

While studying at Italia Conti, Gillan was scouted by a modelling agency and modelled in the launch party of Nicola Roberts' Dainty Doll Make-Up Range. Gillan has said she would not give up her acting career to return to modelling, stating that she enjoyed modelling but acting was always her main interest and goal.

Acting

Gillan's early television acting career included guest appearances on several drama series, with her first role being in an episode of Rebus, a role she obtained while still at Italia Conti. Gillan then undertook a two-year stint as a member of the ensemble cast of the sketch comedy series The Kevin Bishop Show, in which she played multiple characters including celebrities such as Katy Perry and Angelina Jolie. She appeared in the Channel 4 film Stacked, playing the role of Ginny. Gillan also appeared on TV in a leading role in a horror project entitled The Well, which was broadcast as a series of episodic short films on BBC Two and later as a web series on BBC.co.uk. Part of the BBC's multimedia "switch" programming, the short episodes interconnect with online games that further explore the environments presented in the series.

She was cast for the role of the Eleventh Doctor's first companion, Amy Pond, on the British sci-fi series Doctor Who in May 2009. She made her first on-screen appearance as Amy Pond in "The Eleventh Hour" with her cousin Caitlin Blackwood portraying a young Amelia (Amy) Pond. She appeared in the following sixth series in 2011 and the first five episodes of the seventh series in 2012. She reprised the role in a cameo appearance in the 2013 Christmas special "The Time of the Doctor". Gillan had appeared in Doctor Who once before in the series four episode "The Fires of Pompeii" in the role of a Soothsayer.

Gillan made her first theatre appearance playing the role of Shirley in John Osborne's play Inadmissible Evidence along with Douglas Hodge. The play debuted at the Donmar Warehouse on 16 October 2011.

During an interview at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, Gillan revealed that she would be returning to Doctor Who for its seventh series. On 15 December 2011, it was announced Gillan and Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) would be leaving Doctor Who during the seventh series in 2012. On 26 January 2012, Karen Gillan played the part of supermodel Jean Shrimpton in the television film We'll Take Manhattan, which told the story of Shrimpton's relationship with the photographer David Bailey.

In August 2011, it was announced that Gillan would star in an indie Scottish rom-com called Not Another Happy Ending alongside Emun Elliott. She was selected by director John McKay because he came to know her during the production of We'll Take Manhattan, which he also directed, as "a very bubbly, vibrant, energetic, funny, slightly clumsy person" who was a perfect fit for the character. Filming took place in July 2012, though Elliott was replaced by Stanley Weber. Gillan told journalists that she was happy to be involved in a Scottish production that "isn't about drug use or fighting the English". The film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2013.

Gillan starred in the lead role in the supernatural horror movie Oculus, which was filmed in Alabama and released in April 2014. She also revealed that she has been cast in comedian Charlie Brooker's TV series A Touch of Cloth. Gillan has also been cast in a film titled The List which began filming in Los Angeles in May 2013.

FHM magazine ranked Gillan number 42 on their list of the 100 Sexiest Women 2011, and in 2012, they also ranked her number 36. Gillan has also voiced advertisements for eHarmony and The Royal Bank of Scotland. In May 2013, Gillan was cast as Nebula in the Marvel superhero science fiction film Guardians of the Galaxy, which was released in August 2014. Gillan had her head shaved bald for the role.

Gillan joined the regular cast of Adult Swim's NTSF:SD:SUV:: for the show's third season in 2013. In November 2013 Gillan appeared on Broadway in a play called Time to Act, one of the plays included in "The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway" to benefit the non-profit Urban Arts Partnership.

In February 2014, Gillan was cast as the lead in Selfie, an American single-camera sitcom for ABC, which is produced by Warner Bros. Television and was greenlighted for the 2014-15 US television season. Gillan played a social media-obsessed socialite named Eliza Dooley, a modern-day take on the main character from My Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle. This is Gillan's first time starring in the lead role of an American television series. The series was cancelled by ABC on 7 November 2014 after seven episodes; the remaining six episodes were made available on Hulu starting 25 November 2014.

In May 2014, Gillan was cast in the Ti West-directed Western film In a Valley of Violence opposite John Travolta, Ethan Hawke and Taissa Farmiga. Gillan will portray Ellen, the older sister to Farmiga's character. Gillan also appeared in TV on the Radio's "Happy Idiot" music video, released on 3 October 2014. BuddyTV ranked her number six on its list of "TV's 100 Sexiest Women of 2014". In 2015, Gillan appeared in the Adam McKay-directed drama film The Big Short alongside Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell and Melissa Leo.

Gillan wrote and directed her first short film, Coward, which went on to win Best Independent Short at the Independent Film-makers Showcase at the Beverly Hills Film Festival 2015. The film also screened at the 2015 Edinburgh Film Festival.

In October 2015, Gillan completed filming The Circle in which she was cast in a main role alongside Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, and John Boyega. The film was directed and written by James Ponsoldt, based on the novel by Dave Eggers.

Marvel have announced that a sequel of Guardians of the Galaxy will be set to come out in March 2017, with most of the original cast members reprising their respective roles, including Gillan's character Nebula. The director of the films James Gunn said that he will be exploring more into Gillan's character's past. Filming is expected to start around February or March 2016.

Writing, directing, and producing

Gillan made her debut in writing, directing, and producing with her short film, Coward, in 2015. Later in the year she wrote, directed, and starred in another short film called Conventional.

Personal life

In 2011, Gillan helped promote Fashion Targets Breast Cancer (FTBC) and the opening of Squirrel Ward in Great Ormond Street Hospital. During a 2012 interview on The Late Late Show, she stated that she had relocated to the U.S. to star in the film Oculus and confirmed that she now lives in Los Angeles, California.

She has stated that, though her family is Catholic, she was never baptized and is not religious, instead agreeing with the statement that, "we're just minuscule dots in the vast cosmic emptiness of the universe".

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	New Town Killers	Young girl at bus station
2010	Outcast	Ally
2013	Not Another Happy Ending	Jane Lockhart
2013	Oculus	Kaylie Russell
2014	Guardians of the Galaxy	Nebula
2014	Bound for Greatness	Maeve MacDonough	Short film
2015	Warning Labels	Mindy	Short film
2015	Coward	N/A	Short film; director and screenwriter
2015	Conventional	Rachel Milligan	Short film; also director and screenwriter
2015	List, TheThe List	Lily
2015	The Big Short	Evie
2016	In a Valley of Violence	Ellen
2016	The Circle	Annie Allerton	In post-production
2017	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	Nebula	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Rebus	Teri Cotter	Episode: "A Question of Blood"
2008	Stacked	Ginny Turner	Television film
2008	Doctor Who	Soothsayer	Episode: "The Fires of Pompeii"
2008	Harley Street	Holly	Episode 1
2008-09	Kevin Bishop Show, TheThe Kevin Bishop Show	Various characters	Main role (12 episodes)
2008	Coming Up	Anna	Episode: "Thinspiration"
2009	Well, TheThe Well	Coll	4 episodes
2010-12, 2013	Doctor Who	Amy Pond	34 episodes (Series 5, Series 6, Series 7, "The Time of the Doctor" )
2010-11	Doctor Who Confidential	Herself	26 episodes
2012	We'll Take Manhattan	Jean Shrimpton	Movie
2012	In Love with Coward	Laura
2013	NTSF:SD:SUV::	Daisy	Main role (9 episodes, season 3)
2014	Touch of Cloth, AA Touch of Cloth	Kerry Newblood	2 episodes
2014	Selfie	Eliza Dooley	Main role (13 episodes)
2015	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Herself	Episode: "Karen Gillan Wears A Black and White Striped Pullover and Coral Skirt"
2015	7 Days in Hell	Lily Allsworth	Movie
2015	Robot Chicken	Anastasia Steele	Voice Episode: "Zero Vegetables"

Video games

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

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Venue
2011	Inadmissible Evidence	Shirley	Donmar Warehouse
2013	Time to Act	Karen	Broadway

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2010	TV Quick Awards	Best Actress	Doctor Who	Nominated
2010	Cosmopolitan "Woman of the Year" Awards	Best Actress		Won
2011	SFX Awards	Best Actress		Won
2011	TV Choice Awards	Best Actress		Won
2011	Scream Awards	Best Sci-Fi Actress		Nominated
2012	National Television Awards	Best Drama Performance: Female		Won
2012	Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards	Favourite UK Actress	N/A	Nominated
2012	Scottish Fashion Awards	Scotland's Fashion Icon	N/A	Won
2013	National Television Awards	Best Drama Performance - Female	Doctor Who	Nominated
2014	Fright Meter Awards	Best Actress	Oculus	Nominated
2014	Detroit Film Critics Society	Best Ensemble	Guardians of the Galaxy	Won
2014	Nevada Film Critics Society	Best Ensemble Cast		Won
2014	Phoenix Film Critics Society	Best Cast		Nominated
2015	Central Ohio Film Critics Association	Best Ensemble		Nominated
2015	Empire Awards	Best Female Newcomer	Guardians of the Galaxy and Oculus	Won
2015	Hang Onto Your Shorts Film Festival	Best Actress in a Short Film (Long)	Bound for Greatness	Nominated
2015	IFS Film Festival	Best Actress in a Short Film		Won
2015	IFS Film Festival	Best Independent Short	Coward	Won
2015	Edinburgh International Film Festival	Best Short Film		Nominated
2016	London IFF Film Festival	Best Lead Actress in a Short Film	Bound for Greatness	Won
2016	FirstGlance Film Festival	Best Actress in a Short Film		Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]