Karen Sheila Gillan (born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress and former model who is best known for her current portrayal of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who.
Gillan has taken part in numerous modelling events including 2007's London Fashion Week for designer Allegra Hicks' autumn/winter catwalk show. She has also modelled for the launch party of Nicola Roberts' Dainty Doll Make-Up Range. This was shown in Nicola's episode of the documentary, The Passions of Girls Aloud[citation needed] which premiered on the 4 April 2008.
Gillan was born and brought up in Inverness, Scotland. Her father, Raymond John, a Day Centre Manager, and mother, Marie, live in Kinmylies. At age 16, she decided to pursue her interest in acting, studying the craft at Edinburgh's Telford College. Later, she secured a place at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts drama school in London on the BA (Hons) Acting degree course.
Her cousin Caitlin Blackwood has portrayed the young Amy Pond in three episodes of Doctor Who.
Gillan's early TV acting career included guest appearances on several TV drama series, with her first ongoing role being 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, as well as celebrities such as Katy Perry and Angelina Jolie. Gillan also appeared on TV in a leading role in a horror project entitled The Well, which was broadcast as episodic short films on BBC Two, and then later also 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 early 2009. She made her first on-screen appearance as Amy Pond in "The Eleventh Hour", which first aired on 3 April 2010. She was confirmed in Issue 420 of the Doctor Who Magazine to be appearing in the 2011 series. Gillan had appeared in Doctor Who once before in the episode "The Fires of Pompeii" in the role of a Soothsayer.
Gillan will play model and actress Jean Shrimpton in We'll Take Manhattan, as well as Juliet in a re-working of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet penned by David Baddiel.
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