The girl who waited need wait no longer for her birthday to arrive. Join us in wishing many happy returns to Karen Gillan!
Karen, who celebrates her 30th birthday today, is best known to the world as Amy Pond, fiery redhead companion to The Eleventh Doctor. But before joining the TARDIS, she had formerly worked as a model. Karen had also appeared on TV in The Kevin Bishop Show as part of its sketch comedy ensemble. In fact, Amy Pond wasn’t even the first character she played in Doctor Who. Previously she had appeared as a soothsayer in Series 4’s The Fires of Pompeii. Famously, it was this episode that also first introduced Peter Capaldi to the world of Doctor Who before becoming The Twelfth Doctor.
In 2010, Karen made her debut as Amy Pond in Series 5 opener The Eleventh Hour. She stayed on as The Doctor’s companion for two and a half series, before leaving in 2012. During her time on the show, she went on many extraordinary adventures in time and space with the madman and his box. And it wasn’t just extra-terrestrial threats like Daleks and Weeping Angels that she had to contend with, either. Amy Pond also juggled family life with TARDIS life – she got married, had a child, and grew old with the man she loved. Her departure in The Angels Take Manhattan remains a suitably emotional send-off.
“Raggedy man… good night”
That wouldn’t be the last time we saw Karen in Doctor Who though. To help wave goodbye to Matt Smith in 2013, Amy Pond returned as a vision in the final scene of The Time of the Doctor. Meanwhile, Karen’s career beyond the show truly began to take off. After leaving Doctor Who, she starred in TV’s We’ll Take Manhattan and films Not Another Happy Ending and Oculus. She later got an especially big Hollywood break playing Nebula in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies. You can next see Karen on the big screen in December’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle alongside Dwayne Johnson and Jack Black. Further ahead, things continue to look bright for the young star – a starring role in Avengers: Infinity War, for a start!
