FROM THE SCOTTISH HILLS TO THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS, KAREN GILLAN’S TRAJECTORY IS THE ENVY OF ASPIRING ACTRESSES EVERYWHERE. BUT IT’S THE JOURNEY SHE’S BEEN ON WITH HERSELF THAT MAKES HER A WOMEN’S HEALTH COVER STAR. FROM READING PSYCHOLOGY STUDIES IN HER SPARE TIME TO CONFRONTING ANXIETY HEAD-ON, THE MARVEL ACTRESS REVEALS WHY HER REAL SUPERPOWER IS SELF-CARE
When actress Karen Gillan considers a new film or TV role, she starts by taking an academic-style deep dive into the character’s psyche. Who are they? What motivates them? What hurt have they experienced? Then she asks herself this question: do I want to know what it’s like to carry that pain? If the answer is yes, she’ll sign on to the project. If it’s a no, she’ll pass. That curiosity about other people’s lived experiences is what led her to what is arguably her best-known part to date: Guardians Of The Galaxy’s tortured bionic anti-hero Nebula (a role she reprised in this summer’s Thor: Love And Thunder).
‘My favourite thing about playing Nebula is exploring what it feels like to be the scapegoated sibling within a toxic family dynamic,’ says the 34-year-old. ‘Before I even got the role, that drew me to it. There’s a lot of material there.’
Nebula’s familial situation is a far cry from what Karen experienced, growing up as the only child of two very supportive parents. Karen has been laserfocused on acting since the age of 13, when she filmed homemade horror movies and wrote letters to agents from her bedroom in Inverness. She later enrolled in the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London for a short time and landed her first breakthrough role as Amy Pond in Doctor Who. Though she’s filming Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 in Atlanta, US, when we speak, she lives in Los Angeles, wants to move to New York and has never truly felt at home since she was a kid.
That’s maybe why, in her free time, Karen reads critical-psychology essays – not only to better embody her characters’ experiences, but to analyse her emotional landscape. She says her anxiety, which often keeps her up at night, has become worse since she found fame.
‘It’s been easier to ignore my body than it has been to confront the situation,’ Karen says. ‘I’ve repressed the feeling instead of taking it seriously and listening to my body. And I’m just now turning that around.’
Her imposter syndrome is surprising even to her, considering she’s the first person to tell you about her hard work and ambition. (Side note: she’s also developing an app.) And
