From her beginning roles as one-off characters in shows such as Rebus and The Kevin Bishop Show to starring in films of her own creation, Karen Gillan has exhibited a knack for performance. From horror to comedy, drama to action, she has dabbled in a bit of everything and has found a niche in portraying complex scenarios often involving some twist on her characters. She also worked her way up to becoming a fan-favorite character in the science-fiction series Doctor Who who stuck around for three seasons and became one of the show's most memorable characters. She's recently appeared in The Bubble on Netflix, and she had her directorial debut with The Party's Just Beginning in 2018, a story she also wrote. Read on to find out if there's anything she can't do when it comes to acting as we cover seven of Karen Gillan’s best performances!

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Gunpowder Milkshake – Sam

Karen Gillan as Sam looking confused in Gunpowder Milkshake.
Image via Netflix

Gillan showed off her action capabilities in this film from 2021 in which she played the part of Sam in Gunpowder Milkshake, a hitwoman who has to team up with her colleagues and estranged mother to save the life of a girl targeted by rival assassins. She displays a wealth of skill in a multitude of action scenes that certify her as a badass who can get the job done. While it isn’t the most complex role she has ever played and the movie isn’t meant to be taken too seriously, this is still an excellent performance showing that Gillan knows how to let loose and let the bullets fly.

Selfie - Eliza Dooley

In a display of her more comedic side, in 2014 Gillan played the lead role of Eliza Dooley in Selfie, a show about a social media-obsessed woman who works as a pharmaceutical sales representative attempting to hit it big online, inspired by My Fair Lady. The series mainly focused on Eliza's journey to expand her lifestyle beyond that of social media and fame as she is helped by Henry Higgs (John Cho), a marketing representative who has quite a disdain for social media. Throughout the 13-episode run, Gillan is able to give a borderline hyperbolic performance as Eliza that plays on the stereotypical socialite that the contemporary Internet has created, and it allows for audiences to further see the progress that she makes throughout the series. While the show ended somewhat pre-maturely, it nonetheless is a light-hearted series that captures Gillan's ability to play a less serious character.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – Martha as Ruby Roundhouse

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Image Via Sony

While it may be easy to overlook her performance as Ruby Roundhouse in this light-hearted film for all ages, further inspection of the role reveals that there are a few layers to the role Gillan played in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. This is because she had the task of playing a character who was also being played by another character in a literal sense. Ruby Roundhouse is a character from the game of Jumanji in this film, and she is “played” by a teenager by the name of Martha. This means that Gillan not only had to assume the literal physical role of the Lara Croft-like heroine, but also the mental role of a teenage rebel who found themselves inside the body of said heroine. That means a lot of mental gymnastics had to occur for her to play each scene just right. She could not simply assume the full role of Ruby Roundhouse too early, as that would not have been how Martha reacted to the situation. In this way, it is almost as if Gillan plays two roles in this film, despite only physically representing one.

Avengers: Endgame – Nebula

Karen Gillan as Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy

If Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was where Nebula was able to have her own story arc, then Avengers: Endgame is where audiences are able to more fully see the payoff of said arc. Not only does Gillan show Nebula as a more fully-developed character, but she also gets the opportunity to play two versions of Nebula at the same time! Without getting too involved with the time shenanigans of the plot, the Nebula that went through the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ends up having to face off with a version of herself before those events ever occurred. In other words, she has to fight that bloodthirsty version of herself that wanted so badly to impress her father. This won’t be the last time that we see Gillan nail a split performance, but it was definitely a show of her abilities to perform two aspects of what is essentially the same character.

Dual – Sarah

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Image via RJLE Films

Speaking of split performances, one of Gillan’s latest performances is that of Sarah from Dual. In this film, which was directed by Riley Stearns, Sarah is a woman who finds herself dying from a terminal illness. In an attempt to help ease her family and loved ones about her seemingly inevitable death, she partakes in a program to create a clone of herself to take her place after she succumbs to the illness. Much to her surprise, however, the illness disappears, and suddenly there is the issue of there being two Sarahs in the world. The solution then is a battle to the death to see who gets to continue to live Sarah’s life. This entire film is almost as if you took the role that Gillan played as Nebula in Endgame and made an entire film off of that premise, and she handles it with excellency. Her ability to portray two versions of a character, especially in such an uncanny and almost awkward way, is a testament to how flexible she can be when it comes to portraying a role. The film also allows for Gillan to show off her mastery of minute emotional details through the aforementioned awkwardness that anyone might feel when they’re told that they have to fight a clone of themselves to the death.

The Party's Just Beginning – Liusaidh

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Image via The Orchard

The Party's Just Beginning is another film that Gillan wrote and starred in, and it is yet another masterful performance from her on her ability to express a vast wealth of emotions. The film depicts a 24-year-old woman by the name of Liusaidh who is trying her best to live her life after the loss of her best friend to suicide almost one year earlier. To cope, she finds herself in a cycle of binge-drinking and casual sex to numb the pain of her loss, but things begin to spiral as the anniversary of her best friend’s suicide approaches. What follows is the massive internal struggle of Liusaidh simply trying to exist, something that unfortunately is familiar to many of us. While Gillan has films like Gunpowder Milkshake and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle to show off her physical capabilities, this film shows off her abilities as an actor who can plumb the depths of her own emotions for the smallest details.

Doctor Who – Amy Pond

Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) and Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) in Doctor Who
Image via BBC

Perhaps her most prominent and notable performance to date, Gillan’s performance as Amy Pond in Doctor Who during Matt Smith’s run of the Doctor. Appearing in 34 episodes, Amy Pond was portrayed by Gillan as a sassy, passionate woman who was more than capable of standing on her own even when the Doctor wasn’t around. Fans of the show immediately gravitated towards Amy for her ability to keep up with the Doctor, and many viewers no doubt saw her as the kind of companion that they wish they could be. Her development throughout her time with the Doctor resulted in the payoff of an emotional tearjerker of a goodbye at the time of the Doctor’s twelfth regeneration. While Gillan’s role as Amy Pond was one that many might not have seen due to its placement within the series as a whole, it is without a doubt a performance that left a prominent impact on hundreds of thousands of viewers.