ISSUE Nº19: INTERVIEW KAREN GILLAN
JANUARY 20, 2025
Karen Gillan: Entering a New Era
By SIMI KAUR BAIDWAN
“I think I would like to really get my teeth into some more dramatic roles. Because that’s what I sort of set out to do when I started on this whole journey and I was doing theatre classes in Inverness, Scotland.”
- Karen Gillan
With a career spanning in blockbuster franchises, indie gems, and critically acclaimed British tv roles, Karen Gillan has established herself as one of Hollywood’s most versatile talents.As she steps into an exciting new chapter – both personally and professionally – Gillan is embracing roles that challenge her artistry in unexpected ways. In this exclusive feature, she opens up about her upcoming film projects, her evolution as an actor and filmmaker, and how life beyond the spotlight is shaping her creative journey. From super hero epics to sci-fi dramas, Karen Gillan is redefining what it means to be a modern leading woman in Hollywood.
Simi Kaur Baidwan: Correct me if I’m wrong, but you originally moved to the US in 2013 to pursue a career in Hollywood. Is that correct?
Karen Gillan: Oh, gosh! I have absolutely no idea what year it was, but I know I was 24 years old when I did it.
SKB: So what was that move like for you? And what made you do it?
KG: The move was extremely exciting. I was very accustomed to moving to different places, because I’m from the Highlands of Scotland, and wanted to pursue a career in acting, so that meant I had to be consistently taking a very long train to get to a city to be able to even audition for things. I moved out when I was 16, to go to college in Edinburgh and Scotland. And then, when I was 17, I moved to London to go to drama school, so like there wasn’t much fear around moving to the US. It was kind of start a fresh start. So yeah, it was really fun. And what inspired me to do it was I was cast in a horror film called Oculus, with Mike Flanagan, and they sort of brought me over to America. And I was like, “Oh, I could technically just stay here”. So I did that film in Alabama, and then packed up my suitcase and moved to LA. I didn’t even
have an apartment sorted out. I was just kind of like figuring it out as I went. But yeah, it was so fun.
SKB: Would you consider LA home now? Are you fully acclimated to the LA lifestyle?
KG: I don’t think I am. It’s always sunny. I’m a ginger Scottish person that’s not built for this at all. So I still struggle with the summers sometimes. It is really nice. But I’m homesick all the time, but there are really good parts to it. So, I don’t know if I’m fully acclimated. But maybe one day.
SKB: So you’ve transitioned into Hollywood, for example with the Marvel franchise. And then you also delve back into few British movies and shows. In your experience, what are the main differences between Hollywood and British television and film industry.
KG: I would say that the main differences are budget levels. There’s a much bigger budget in Hollywood. That’s not to say that that results in better quality material, though. You see all the time like giant budget movies that don’t deliver.
And indeed, tiny things that over deliver and vice versa. So, you know the budget’s bigger. But really, that doesn’t have an effect on things other than you know. From my perspective, it’s just like you get more free food at a slightly
nicer trailer. And it’s nice that the director has a little bit more creative freedom if they have more budget. But sometimes even that isn’t a good thing, because constraints can be very valuable in creative situations to make you get really creative. So I would say, those are the main differences. But ultimately it doesn’t
feel that different to me, because as soon as I hear the word action and I have to just do a scene, whoever I’m playing, whether it’s in space in a Hollywood film, or you know, a real person in a low budget. With British TV shows, like the job is still the same. I need to sort of deliver the lines in a in a truthful way and make it believable.
SKB: So speaking of high budget films, for your role of Nebula in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and the Marvel franchise movies you acted in about, I’d say 6 marvel movies, right?
KG: Is it six?
SKB: Yeah, I counted.
KG: Yes, you’re right!
SKB: And this was from 2014 to 2023. In the Marvel movies you play Nebula. And Nebula is the adopted daughter of Thanos. She’s the estranged sister of
Gamora. She’s been abused relentlessly by her father, whose essentially turned her into this fighting cyborg warrior. What did it take for you to do this role?
KG: What did it take? A lot of training to be able to fight, so much of it was physical training. When I got the role, I felt that I could nail the emotional part of this character. And the bit that really intrigued me about her, even before I had the role, was that she was the scapegoat sibling with a psychopathic father.
And you do see this in family dynamics, where there’s like a golden-child and a scapegoat child who are siblings, and they’re both treated completely differently. And I was like, this is fascinating, so I never really viewed her as a villain. I was like this girl is the biggest victim in this entire family. And so that’s how I
approached the role when I was screen testing.
I wasn’t going in and playing a villain at all. I was playing the scapegoat-sibling, and it was an emotional screen test. I remember Nebula was crying and everything and that bit was like really interesting. And I was like, “Yeah,
I’ve got this”, but then they [Marvel team] were like, “Oh, you have to show us what you can do with your fighting technique”. And it left a lot to be desired, that’s all I’ll say. It wasn’t my strongest suit. And they were like, “Okay, we want you to play the role, and we are going to make you train every single day so that you can get better at the fighting side of things” - and that’s what I did. I would just go in every day, was working with the best people, which was cool and kind of got from terrible to like okay. And then with each movie I got a little bit better. And now actually, I’ve done so many of action sequences that I feel like I’m maybe quite good at doing this now, which I never thought would happen.
SKB: Speaking of the emotional element you brought a lot of humanity and positive development, positive character development into Nebula. You were able to display some great human emotions while essentially playing a cyborg, or essentially playing this machine that your father had built. How did you do that? How did you build that character, build that emotional development?
KG: I think it was starting with, you know, her position within the family dynamic of scapegoat sibling and kind of really diving into what that feels like. I’m an only child, so I’ve never experienced that. But I know people who have experienced that, and it’s possibly one of the worst things that can happen to a person. Because you’ve got this figure in your life that is supposed to be a caregiver. And you’re looking for your own survival and instead of providing care for you, they are pushing you down and trying to make you feel inadequate so they can make themselves feel better. And they’re pitting siblings against each other. So that was where I started. And with that comes so many emotions that you can play with. I mean, how does that feel to have for it to happen to you? Is it going to manifest in anger? Yes, probably a lot of resentment. It’s an interesting mix of hatred towards this father figure, and desperation for the love and approval that you never got. So, you really need to sort of play around with those two contrasting emotions that exist within a person at the same time.
SKB: You wrapped up production on comedy Let’s Have Kids. Can you please tell me something about the new movie and your role?
KG: Yes, so it’s about two best friends who decide that they would like to get pregnant at the same time. So they tried to sync up their pregnancies. And the other girl is played by Zoë Chao. She gets pregnant straight away, and my character has a much harder time getting there. And it’s a really interesting position for my character to be in. It’s such a fun film. And it does take a look at issues like fertility and all of these things, but in a sort of it’s also going to be like a really fun night out type of film and dealing with some of the heavier issues as well. I think I think a lot of women will relate to this.
SKB: Your latest upcoming movie is Mike Flanagan’s Life of Chuck. It’s an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. You’re acting alongside Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Jacob Tremblay. But what I noted is the interesting coincidence is that with Tom and Chiwetel have all played roles in Marvel cinematic universe. But none of you guys have shared a scene together. So, what has it been like acting with them in Life of Chuck?
KG: Oh, you’re right. I guess we’ve never shared a scene together.
SKB: Yeah, Tom Hiddleston played Loki. Chiwetel was in Doctor Strange, but none of you three had a scene in Marvel.
KG: Oh, my God. That’s so funny! I never realized that. All my scenes were with
Chiwetel, so actually not with Tom Hiddleston. So, I’m still yet to check that box of being in a scene with him. But working with Chiwetel was amazing. He is one of the most extraordinary actors. He’s just such a proper actor. And he’s so elegant and well spoken. And just such a gentleman as well. I just had such a good time working with him. And I’ve been such a fan of him for so long. It was like a little bit in awe when I was in the scenes with him.
SKB: What can the audience expect from the new movie?
KG: It is one of the more experimental original films I’ve ever seen. It has an interesting structure that I’ve never seen before. It’s all a sort of big, beautiful metaphor for something that I won’t give away. But it’s just so original. I’ve never seen anything like it. I can’t even compare it to something, because it just feels
like it’s almost new. It’s in sort of some new territory which is exciting. It follows the story of Chuck and his life. And it’s in three phases within his life. And it explores kind of dealing with the end of your life as well.
SKB: You said it’s experimental, but how so? What makes it experimental?
KG: It’s hard to describe. It feels so different to anything I’ve seen. It sort of takes these three chunks of Chuck’s life. And these three sort of important, poignant moments. And it’s done in such a sort of visually spectacular way at certain points. It’s hard to describe it. It’s just very different. It’s new.
SKB: Are there any projects out there, or any roles that you have your eye on? Or have on your bucket list? Or something you’d like to conquer?
KG: Oh, good question! There are so many things I want to do. I would love to play in the dramatic space a little bit more. I love doing comedy. And I love doing all the genre stuff that I’ve done. And being in space is fun. But maybe being a human in a more dramatic scene might be next on my bucket list. I did get to do that in this TV show in the UK called Douglas is Cancelled, and it was so much fun for me to just be a human in a room talking and not running away from some life-threatening monster. I think I’d like to do some more of that. Actually, and I have a bunch of things I want to do. I would like to do a cool horror film. I’d like to direct more. There are so many things I’d like to do.
SKB: Is there anything in particular that you’re passionate about right now, outside of acting?
KG: I’m getting really passionate about getting bad chemicals out of my household.
SKB: What do you mean?
KG: Like going through everything, and just sort of realizing how unhealthy everything is. And how everything’s sprayed with fire, resistant chemicals that are causing all kinds of health issues for people. And I recently got rid of all my cleaning products that were normal cleaning products and replaced them all with healthy alternatives. I’m getting really into it. When I have time off I start nesting and just want to make the living space as healthy and as safe as possible. And that’s just something I’m really interested in. And I sometimes will post about it on social media to try and make other people more aware as well that if you’re like burning these scented candles you’re breathing in some really bad chemicals. I’m everyone’s annoying auntie at this point.
SKB: I completely get that. Have you gone plastic free yet?
KG: Oh, I’ve been plastic free for a long time. Yeah, I don’t have any plastic. It’s all glass.
SKB: Then you are so LA! You sound so LA!
KG: I know maybe I have acclimatized.
SKB: What’s your vision for your career within the next 5 to 10 years?
KG: My gosh! This feels like a really good exercise for me to do so I can figure this out.
SKB: We’ll do it together.
KG: Yes, this is great. I’m going to figure this out in real time. I think I would like to really get my teeth into some more dramatic roles. Because that’s what I sort of set out to do when I started on this whole journey and I was doing theatre classes in Inverness, Scotland. It was the dramatic roles I really liked. But I love the other genres as well. So it’s just I’ve done the other genres more. I want to find these amazing killer roles that I can get my teeth into that are just really hard going. I enjoy it when it’s hard going and it’s tough. So I think I’m just looking to do more of that. And that is basically my strategy.
SKB: What do you mean by dramatic? What’s your definition of dramatic.
KG: I guess maybe more on the serious side. And getting my teeth into some scenes that feel quite emotionally demanding, or something that would be cool.
SKB: Is there anything else that you like to tell us or add to our amazing audience?
KG: You’re all amazing. You’re living up to the name.
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