Dress by MONSE
(Co-creative directors: Laura Kim & Fernando J Garcia)
Jewelry by AGMES JEWELRY

The Scottish star of Doctor Who, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Avengers: Endgame and The Life Of Chuck is so ready for her next breakout role.

By Richard Pérez-Feria / Photography by Mike Ruiz

When one sits and takes stock and realizes just how many acclaimed television series and movies I’ve seen and loved Scottish actor Karen Gillan in, one fact jumps out: She’s been in everything and has co-starred with everyone. But, above all, the thing I love most about her unforgettable performances is how she disappears inside her characters with expert aplomb. A sign of a terrific actor is his/her ability to not call attention in service of the organic performance. Meryl Streep is correctly regaled as the very best to ever do it for a reason. Gillan clearly has the same mindset and she does it oh so beautifully.

Gillan’s career coming out party was her multi-year stint playing Amy Pond in the British hit series, Doctor Who. But it was her decade-long role as Nebula in the powerhouse Marvel universe that shot Gillan to the stratosphere. In 2013, she was cast in Guardians Of The Galaxy and filmed its sequel, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 a few years later. Still as Nebula, she was cast in back-to-back blockbusters Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame in 2018 and 2019 respectively. For some thespians, those movies alone would signal the entirety of their career journey. With Gillan, Marvel superstardom just propelled her in myriad, fascinating directions.

“One of the things that I love so much about working in the franchise space is that you get much longer to tell the character’s story,” Gillan says of her time in the Marvel universe. “I’ve had ten years with Nebula, which has been amazing because this character is so complex and interesting that it needed this amount of time to evolve properly and for us to explore all the layers of the trauma she has dealt with in her life. Every time I’ve played her, there’s been something new that I’ve managed to uncover thanks to the writing and the character’s backstory.”

Blue Yellow Green Multi Stripe Plisse Sequin Strapless Column Dress by Prabal Gurung
Earrings by Eclat by Oui by at FLYING SOLO
Ring by Eclat by Oui by at FLYING SOLO

Another successful cinematic one-two punch for Gillan came in another fantastical, if somewhat unexpected, fantasy movies, as the lead role, Ruby Roundhouse, in both Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle as well as Jumanji: The Next Level. But it’d be silly—and incorrect—to assume that Gillan has relied on huge franchises to flex her acting muscles. In a litany of work so long and so eye-popping, Gillan has also managed to co-star with the planet’s biggest superstars in a multitude of television, film and theater projects. To be clear, who hasn’t Gillan worked with may be an easier starting point—Angela Bassett, Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, Russell Crowe, Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, Ethan Hawke, John Travolta, Aaron Paul, Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Yeoh, Harrison Ford and on and on.

But it hasn’t been all work for the acclaimed and multiple award-winning Gillan in the past several years (all evidence to the contrary). In 2022, she married American comedian Nick Kocher—in a Scottish castle, no less—and just in time for Christmas, the couple welcomed their first child, daughter Clementine, in 2024.

Most recently, Gillan appeared in The Life Of Chuck, reuniting with director Mike Flanagan (Oculus). The movie, based on a best-selling Stephen King novella, tells the story of Chuck Krantz in reverse chronological order, commencing with his death that happens to coincide with the end of the universe. The film, unlike Gillan, was decidedly polarizing with many moviegoers acclaiming it to be a film experience like no other.

So, the question must be asked: Am I ever going to see Karen Gillan in a Downton Abbey or Devil Wears Prada (my personal faves)? Right on cue, a little birdie told me that the elegant, powerful, indefatigable actor may just be ready for a rom-com in her near future. Now, that would be something to behold.

Hypnotic Twist Sheath Dress by ZIMMERMANN
Earrings by Erickson Beamon

The Life Of Chuck is based on a Stephen King story, but it’s not what most people would expect from him. How would you describe the film?
Yeah, the film is surprisingly not horror even though it’s from Stephen King and Mike Flanagan, it's the other side of those guys as artists. It's very heartfelt, this joyous celebration of life and what it is to truly live your life on your own terms. It really kind of makes you as the audience, walk out and question your own life choices, and in a really kind of fun filled way.

You’ve done sci-fi, horror, comedy—now this sort of poetic fantasy-drama. How did this stretch you as an actor?
Doing The Life of Chuck really did stretch me as an actor, because I had to ask myself some pretty extreme questions that my character is dealing with, the end of everything and the universe as we know it. I had to really ask myself, how might that feel in that moment? And so many different emotions came up. It was terror, it was anxiety, it was humor in the face of adversity, I had to go to some pretty extreme places in this role, and it was a challenge, for sure, to bring authenticity to something that seems like it could be so outlandish.

Cezanne Mini Dress by MALINA
Earrings by MING YU WANG New York
Intriigo Clio Gold Leather Sandal by Giuseppe Zanotti

Besides your husband and child, what motivates you to get up with optimism every day?
What motivates me is a combination of genuine passion for what I get to do for a living. I love making films. I absolutely love it. So it's a combination of genuine passion and also fear of being a low value individual.

What do people (fans) tell you when they see you, say, at the airport?
They shout, “Nebula, are you Nebula?” And I say, “Yes, I'm surprised you recognize me when I'm usually blue.”

You’ve shared the screen and stage with a veritable murderers’ row of acting talent. Is there one or two moments when you’ve pinched yourself and thought “I can’t believe this is real life?”
So many moments where I've pinched myself walking onto the TARDIS for the first time in Doctor Who, it was absolutely insane to me working on Avengers, when all the Avengers were there just sitting around having casual chats about mundane things, that blew my mind. Working with Russell Crowe was trippy because I'm a fan of his and grew up watching him. Yeah, I constantly live in that state.

**Left:**
Blue Yellow Green Multi Stripe Plisse Sequin Strapless Column Dress by Prabal Gurung
Earrings by Eclat by Oui by at FLYING SOLO
Ring by Eclat by Oui by at FLYING SOLO
**Right:**
Earrings + Bracelet + Ring Jewelry by AGMES JEWELRY
Tibi dress: Fall 2025 Trompe L’oeil Dress by Tibi
Stiletto Boot in White Croc-effect Leather. Stiletto Heel 105mm. Made in Italy by Paris Texas

If you could show only one scene from your career as evidence of your talent, what would that be?
I think it would be a short film that I wrote and directed and starred in called Conventional which you can find on YouTube. I made it for $5,000 and it's one of the things I'm most proud of. I think it represents me as a filmmaker and a performer.

Has your decidedly American husband warmed to the idea of Scottish kilts as legitimate masculine fashion?
Yes, he wore one for our wedding, and so did all of his American friends. There was literally not one man at that wedding that didn't wear a kilt, and not that many of them were actually American.

Suit by OFFICINE GENERALE
Earrings by AGMES JEWELRY

If you could change one thing about your past and one thing about your future, do you even know where you’d start?
If I could change one thing about my past, I would tell myself to just enjoy myself a little bit more rather than being so riddled with anxiety. But that's more in social settings than anything else. I don't know what to change about my future, because I don't know what's going to happen, and I'm hesitant to change the past, because it's brought me to this exact moment and I do think this is probably where I'm meant to be. So, I'm not messing with that stuff. Are you out of your mind?

Tell me something no one—or very few people—know about you.
I have an unhealthy obsession with planes and plane crashes, and I love reading books about psychology, just that the way the mind works, and behavior stuff is my jam.

**Left:**
Earrings + Bracelet + Ring Jewelry by AGMES JEWELRY
Tibi dress: Fall 2025 Trompe L’oeil Dress by Tibi
Stiletto Boot in white croc-effect leather. Stiletto heel 105mm. Made in Italy by Paris Texas
**Right:**
Suit by OFFICINE GENERALE
Earrings by AGMES JEWELRY

Any upcoming projects you can tell us about—I hear something about one working with The Life Of Chuck director is possible?
Yes, I am developing a movie with Mike Flanagan that I will direct and likely be in. It's in the thriller, horror space, and it's going to be the biggest undertaking of my life. You will understand why when that finally sees the light of day.

If you could play a role in a classic, what would that role be and who’d be your co-star?
I'd be in the British television show, Goodnight Sweetheart, with Matt Smith. You probably don't know what that is so you’ll have to google that one.

Finish this sentence: Karen Gillan is…
Karen Gillan is strange and silly and scared of being ostracized.

CREW CREDITS:
Talent: Karen Gillan
PhotoBook Editor-In-Chief: Alison Hernon
PhotoBook Creative Director + Photographer + Producer: Mike Ruiz
Interview by Richard Pérez-Feria
Fashion Stylist: Alison Hernon at Exclusive Artists
Hair: David Cruz at Art Department
Makeup: John Wilger at OPUS Beauty
Photography Assistant: River Chad
Creative Assistant: Robin Chou
Fashion Stylist Interns: Saya Skarbinski, Flora Davis
Tearsheets by Daniel López, Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine

Karen Gillan, Supernova