Karen Gillan

Background

Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress whose talents and dedication to acting have set her apart. She’s a Sagittarius, born on November 28, 1987, in Inverness, Scotland. Her parents are Marie and Raymond Gillan. Gillan is of English and Scottish descent and she comes from a Catholic background. At 16, Gillan moved to Edinburgh, where she completed an acting course at Telford College. By 18, she moved to London to study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and got scouted by a modeling agency. In 2007, she premiered at London Fashion Week as a model.

Gillan’s acting career began with minor appearances in productions like “Rebus” (2006), “Harley Street” (2008), and “Coming Up” (2008). That year, she made her movie debut with “Stacked” (2008), where she played the starring role. She was also part of the ensemble cast of “The Kevin Bishop Show,” in which she appeared in 12 episodes. In 2009, she got cast as Amy Pond in the “Doctor Who” series. After playing Ally in “Outcast” (2010), Gillan made her debut theater performance in the play “Inadmissible Evidence” (2011) as Shirley. In 2013, she starred in the supernatural horror movie “Oculus.” The following year, she played the lead in the sitcom “Selfie” and Nebula in “Guardians of the Galaxy.” In 2015, Gillan made her directorial debut with a short movie she also wrote and starred in called “Coward.” She has directed four more movies since then. In 2017 she starred alongside Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, and Kevin Hart in “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.” She reprised this role in the 2019 sequel. Gillan reprised her role as Nebula in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” (2019), “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018), “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), and “Thor: Love and Thunder” (2022).

Gillan has been in a plethora of projects and movies. The actress, whose career involves being in front of the camera, keeps her personal affairs behind the scenes. She is married to comedian Nick Kocher, and she shares her success with friends and family.