Doctor Who - AV Club: Karen Gillan Interview

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DOCTOR WHO - AV CLUB: Karen Gillan Interview

by Todd VanDerWerff
August 25, 2011


Karen Gillan went from unknown to international TV star when she was plucked from obscurity to play the role of the Doctor’s companion in the latest two series of Doctor Who. Her role of Amy Pond coincided with a new Doctor (Matt Smith) and a new head writer for the program (Steven Moffat), and over the course of two seasons, she’s gone from a flighty barely grown girl, to a more grounded wife, who learned some shocking news in the show’s most recent episode. With Doctor Who returning for the second half of its latest series on Saturday, August 27, at 9 p.m. EST on BBC America, Gillan talked to The A.V. Club about the brilliance of Moffat’s scripts, traveling the world to promote the show, and her secret-keeping skills. The interview contains spoilers for major reveals from the last batch of episodes...



Arthur Darvill and Karen Gillan from Doctor Who

... AVC: Where do you see Amy fitting into the tradition of science-fiction heroines? What do you think this character brings to that genre?

KG: "Well, I quite like that she’s a little bit kookier than a normal action girl. She’s got a bit of a madness to her, which is interesting, from when she first meets the Doctor. Also, what we get from her—I feel you really invest in the character, because you meet her as a little girl. But then what you get is, you’re really seeing her life pan out. We’re seeing her grow up before our very eyes. She starts off as a little girl, then a young woman. We see her get together with a boy, get married, have a kid. We’re seeing it all pan out.

I hope she’s evolving as a character, because last season, I wanted her to be… I wanted the child to be quite a big part of her character. She was this overgrown child, she never quite let go of her childhood, and when that magic man fell out of the sky… And then the universe rebooted, and she’s become more of a settled person, and now she’s a mother, so we’re going to see a whole new side..."