The girl who waited need wait no longer for her birthday to arrive. Many happy returns to Karen Gillan!
Karen, who turns 29 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.
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 and Arthur Darvill’s farewell in The Angels Take Manhattan remains a suitably emotional send-off.
That wouldn’t be the last time we saw Karen in Doctor Who though. To help wave goodbye to Matt Smith, Amy Pond returned as a vision in The Time of the Doctor (2013). Meanwhile, Karen’s career beyond the show truly began to take off. After leaving, 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 Guardians of the Galaxy and its upcoming sequel. At present, Karen is filming the new Jumanji movie alongside Dwayne Johnson and Jack Black. Looking further ahead, things continue to look bright for the young star. Karen is due to make her directorial debut in 2017 with Tupperware Party.
Please join us in wishing Karen Gillan a very happy birthday. We hope you get to open up a Pandorica-sized box of goodies!
