8 Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About Karen Gillan

Who is Karen Gillan? She should be known as the tall gorgeous ginger queen of Scotland that’s taking over Hollywood, but you probably found out about her first from Doctor Who. She played Amy Pond, the Doctor’s companion when Matt Smith was the Doctor. She has since reached even higher levels of fame by playing Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy and later on Avengers. But even though she’s basically a huge movie star now we bet there are a bunch of things you don’t know about Karen yet. So we’re here today to tell you some interesting facts about Karen Gillan.

1. She Saw The Loch Ness Monster

If you ever wondered where is Karen Gillan from – she’s from Inverness, Scotland. It’s a city in the Scottish Highlands, not far from Loch Ness, and Inverness actually means Mouth of the River in Gaelic. This is where Karen was born and grew up. She joked in many interviews that she’s seen the Lochness Monster or Nessy and it’s not a big deal to her. When Karen was 16 she moved to Edinburgh to study Acting and Performance at Telford College. Later on, at 18 she moved to London to study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts drama school.

2. She Wanted To Climb Into The TV

Karen did some modelling here and there, but the acting was always her main interest. Her father even said that when she was a little kid she used to point at the TV and ask “how do I get in there”. Karen jokes that she probably wanted to crawl into the television, but since she figured out it’s not possible she then decided to take the traditional route and become an actress.

3. She Was The Youngest Companion

Do you know how old Karen Gillan is? She’s only 31. But she was only 21 when she first started out as a companion on Doctor Who. Matt Smith was only 26 at the time and together they were the youngest Doctor Who pairing. Their age together was still younger than Jon Pertwee was when he played the Doctor in the 70s.