Biography for
Karen Gillan More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

28 November 1987, Inverness, Scotland, UK

Birth Name

Karen Sheila Gillan

Nickname

Kaz

Height

5' 10" (1.78 m)

Mini Biography

Karen grew up in Inverness, Scotland and developed a love for acting very early on, attending several youth theatre groups and taking part in a wide range of productions at her school, Charleston Academy.

At age 16, Karen decided she wanted to pursue her acting career further and, studied under the renowned theatre director Scott Johnston at the Performing Arts Studio Scotlond. She later attended the prestigious Italia Conti academy in London. During her first year, she landed a role in "Rebus" (2000) and soon appeared in a variety of programs including Channel 4's Stacked (2008) (TV) and "The Kevin Bishop Show" (2008). Karen also stars in the forthcoming film Outcast (2010), starring James Nesbitt.

When she's not acting, Karen likes to play the piano and loves rummaging through vintage clothes shops.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Questnl

Trade Mark

Red Hair

Energetic personality

Scottish accent

Trivia

Grew up in Inverness, Scotland.

Studied at Italia Conti academy in London.

Plays the piano.

Used the code word 'Panic Moon' (an anagram of 'Companion'), when auditioning for the role of the Doctor's assistant/companion.

Cousin of Caitlin Blackwood, who plays the younger Amy Pond.

Voted Best Actress by readers of "Doctor Who" magazine for her stint on the 2010 season of "Doctor Who" (2005).

Within days of the announcement of Karen's role as the Eleventh Doctor's companion, six appreciation groups were set up for her on Facebook.

Karen is part of the youngest pairing of Doctor and companion on Doctor Who. In 2009, the new Doctor, Matt Smith, is 26, and she is just 21. Their combined age will be younger than that of Jon Pertwee when he was playing the Time Lord in the 1970s.

Karen admitted the first person she told when she got the role of Amy Pond was her mother, who the actress said was a big fan of Doctor Who.

She is an only child.

At two and a half seasons, she had the longest run of any companion on the Doctor Who revival series.

She had previously appeared alongside the tenth Doctor (David Tennant) in the episode "The fires of Pompeii (Season 4, episode 2)".

Good friends with Katee Sackhoff.

The Daleks on the series had to be redesigned to match her height as she is half a foot taller than Billie Piper who was the first companion on the revival.

Lives in Los Angeles.

2 years before she was cast as Amy Pond in Doctor Who, Karen had a guest role in the 2008 episode "The Fires of Pompeii". She was cast as a soothsayer.

Became a big fan of the series ''Community'' after her flatmate told her about their ''Doctor Who'' parody "Inspector Spacetime".

Personal Quotes

Discussing Amy's relationship with the Doctor: She (Amy Pond) doesn't take his (the Doctor's) word as gospel and she's always happy to challenge him. If he tells her to do something then she won't necessarily do it, she might go off and do her own thing which can sometimes create a rift between the two of them! They are best pals though and it's a very up and down relationship because they are both very passionate people.

Matt Smith is an incredible actor and it is going to be so much fun to act alongside him. I just can't wait to get started.

After winning the role as Amy Pond, she announced: 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.