Karen Gillan’s REAL Hairstory

With Guardians of the Galaxy dominating the world box office, it’s nice to see that Karen Gillan didn’t sacrifice her hair to play Nebula in vain. And, best of all, her hair isn’t really gone.

Turns out, the folks at Marvel had a plan: They made Karen a wig out of her own hair, and she wears it on her new sitcom, SELFIE. Said Karen: “They took it strand-by-strand and put it into a wig, so I’m going to be wearing that [on SELFIE].”

Karen said the story that circulated on the internet about her hair being woven into a wig for use in Star Wars: Episode VII was a “miscommunication.”

On SELFIE, which premieres Sept. 30, Gillan plays a self-obsessed woman who tries to transform herself in a modern twist on My Fair Lady. And her ginger locks are not the only “fake” thing about Karen on the show: She also uses an American accent, one she says she honed by watching American TV and by signing up for SoulCycle class and listening to her fellow exercisers.

Guardians of the Galaxy’s Gillan = Goddess

As if playing my favorite DOCTOR WHO companion for three years wasn’t enough, Scottish actress Karen Gillan will stake her claim to the title of Queen of the Universe by starring as bad-girl Nebula in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which opens today.

Allow me to help her make her case: Gillan also has a TV series debuting this fall, SELFIE, which is a modern twist on Pygmaion/My Fair Lady, and co-stars John Cho. She starred in the creepy flick Oculus and the rom-com Not Another Happy Ending. And she is also very (very) beautiful, as she proves in this month’s Esquire magazine. Here’s a sample:

When DOCTOR WHO executive producer Steven Moffat cast Karen as Amelia Pond, the 11th Doctor’s first companion, he said of her: “funny, talented, attractive… basically, she’s Scottish.” And I don’t think that assessment can be improved upon.

New Character Posters for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’

The baddies and supporting characters of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy are getting their chance to shine on a bunch of colorful character posters ahead of the Aug.1 release of the science-fiction action comedy.

 The villains include Lee Pace as Ronan, Karen Gillan as Nebula and Djimon Hounsou as Korath.

The supporting characters here are Michael Rooker as Yondu, John C. Reilly as Nova Corpsman Rhomann Dey and Glenn Close as his boss, Nova Prime:

GotG, directed by James Gunn, slams into theaters Aug. 1.

DOCTOR WHO’s Karen Gillan Stars in New U.S. Sitcom

Karen Gillan — best known right now for playing Amy Pond, the former companion of the 11th Doctor on DOCTOR WHO, but soon to be seen as the villainess in this summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy movie – has the lead role in the new sitcom SELFIE, coming to ABC this fall.

SELFIE is a rather broad retelling of My Fair Lady, but with Karen as Eliza Dooley who hires Henry Higgins (John Cho) to remake her image after a social media disaster. Take a look:

A Fun Peek at ‘Guardians’ Fight Rehearsal

Don’t panic. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is doing some reshoots — and even though the movie is due Aug. 1, this is not a sign that anything is wrong with James Gunn’s cosmic romp. In fact, it could be seen as a good thing. A very good thing.

Apparently, Marvel Studios wants to add to the movie, not take stuff out. More is good. And one of the things it wants more of is a big catfight girlfight fight between Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Nebula (Karen Gillan).

Saldana Tweeted this photo from the set and captioned it:

“@KarenGillan2 and I rehearsing our extended fight scene! Gamora and Nebula are gonna kick each other’s butts!”

Please, please, please let this “extended” fight sequence take up about… oh, 15 minutes or so. Is that asking too much?

When Is a Face Not ‘Just’ a Face? When It’s on DOCTOR WHO!

When Peter Capaldi was announced as the face of the 12^th Doctor last summer, his reception was almost universally hailed as brilliant.

There was, however, one teeny-tiny little potential fly in the ointment: The actor had already appeared on the series in a significant guest role — as Caecilius in “The Fires of Pompeii.” And, not only that, he had also shown up in all five episodes of the TORCHWOOD story “Children of Earth,” as John Frobisher.

This is not unprecedented, even for a Doctor; Colin Baker previously played Commander Maxil before donning the hideous garb of the Sixth Doctor. But back then, fans didn’t have instant access to clips of the actor’s previous appearance, nor did they have the Internet (as it currently exists) to discuss/agitate/troll about it. Nowadays, “recycling” an actor gets noticed.

Matt and Karen: Feels From the First Time

Yeah, because I like to torture myself, I decided to finally post this image of the former stars of DOCTOR WHO — Matt Smith and Karen Gillan — that was taken the first time they both appeared in character and in costume as the Doctor and Amelia Pond waaaaay back before series five began filming. Karen would later swap out the pale blue sweater for a brilliant red version as location shooting got under way for “The Time of Angels,” the very first episode they did together (though not the first broadcast). Oh, the feels…

Oculus Looks Creepy — But Also a Bit Clichéd

I don’t think there’s ever been a movie mirror as creepy as this Oculus thing — even that magic mirror in 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman. And to make that point, we have a new video clip and a some photos to go with the creeptastic Oculus trailer released earlier.

I Am Rogue has a selection of photos and the movie’s first poster. Not sure I would have gone with the “frightened children” motif, but…

Here, thanks to MTV Movie News, is a foreboding little clip:

Watch Karen Gillan’s Oculus Trailer

The horror film Oculus was Karen Gillan’s first big project after breaking hearts and leaving the beloved Amy Pond role on DOCTOR WHO, and the film’s first full trailer has just been released.

The flick looks very creepy — even if the clip does not make it clear what exactly the demonic mirror does. Apparently it makes you see things it wants you to see… but is the mirror possessed by a demon, or is it a prison for a demon — or is the looking glass itself evil?

Still, Karen gets to use her native Scottish accent, and the movie co-stars BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’s Katee Sackhoff, so how bad can it be? (Wait, don’t answer that… with horror films, the result can be quite terrible.)

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Trailer Aims for Funny Bone

Looks like director James Gunn decided to go for broke with Guardians of the Galaxy and do something different. Instead of making yet another epic “Marvel movie,” he decided to make a James Gunn film instead! After watching this trailer, my first impression is that he made the right choice.

This is the work of the guy who wrote and directed Slither; this is the work of the guy who wrote and directed Super. I like it.

You might miss former DOCTOR WHO companion Karen Gillan debuting her look as baddie Nebula. Look for her at about the 1:57 mark; she’s the blue chick deploying blades in each hand. She’s in the trailer for literally one second.