Karen Gillan on ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Sequel: ‘I Shaved Half My Head This Time’

“We’re going to start to see how much pain her father actually caused her,” actress says of Nebula

Karen Gillan "Guardians Of The Galaxy"
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Scottish actress Karen Gillan is making her feature film directorial debut and also gearing up for the release of the second “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Cameras are now rolling on her new project, and Gillan took time out from directing, writing and acting in what was previously known as “Tupperware Party” to chat with TheWrap.

“What I love about the second movie for Nebula in particular is that we get — We know that she’s a pretty angry woman with some daddy issues. [But] in the second movie, we’re going to start to see how much pain her father actually caused her, and we’re going to delve right into the relationship with her sister Gamora,” the actress told TheWrap of what Marvel fans can expect in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.”.

“I think we might even feel a tinge of sympathy towards Nebula this time, because we really start to see the emotional crack in her character,” she added. “I was just allowed to completely explore that and take it to a completely different dimension with her. I was really happy about that.”

But what fans really want to know: Did she shave her entire head like she did for the first “Guardians” film? “I shaved half of my head this time, but they took away the butt — like, the underneath-half of my hair, and then left the top part. That was the best gift ever,” she explained.

When it comes to the film she’s currently making, it all started with a surprising factoid she learned about a region in her home country.

“I’d read a statistic about the suicide rate in the Highlands of Scotland as being significantly higher than the rest of the Scotland. I was like, ‘Why?’” said Gillan. “It’s such an ideal place to live and grow up in my experience, because that’s where I’m from. I thought that was already an interesting contrast there — a really dark subject matter against a really beautiful backdrop,” she told TheWrap.

From Gillan’s screenplay, the story follows a young woman’s journey after the loss of someone close to her and her experiences struggling to rediscover herself.

Gillan leads the cast that includes Lee Pace (“The Hobbit”), Matthew Beard (“An Education,” “The Imitation Game”), Paul Higgins (“Utopia,” “In The Loop”), Siobhan Redmond (“Alice Through The Looking Glass”) and Katie Dickie (“Prometheus,” “The Witch”).  It is being produced by Mali Elfman, with whom Gillan has collaborated on two prior short films.

 

Gillan is also well known for her portrayal as Amelia Pond, co-star to the Eleventh Doctor in the popular BBC adventure series “Doctor Who.” But will the show’s fans see her reprise her role any time soon? Gillan said, “If they ask me, I would be back there in a shot, but I think I’m more excited about seeing Pearl take over as companion, because she was amazing.”

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