<Tr> <Th> Years active </Th> <Td> 2006--present </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Relatives </Th> <Td> Caitlin Blackwood (cousin) </Td> </Tr> <P> Karen Sheila Gillan (born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress, director, and screenwriter . She is known for the role of Amy Pond, companion to the Eleventh Doctor, in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who (2010--13). In film, she has starred as Jane Lockhart in Not Another Happy Ending (2013), Kaylie Russell in the horror film Oculus (2013), and Nebula in the Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and its sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). She took part in the upcoming films Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and its untitled sequel (2019). In 2017, she wrote and directed her first feature film, The Party's Just Beginning . </P> <P> Gillan was born and raised in Inverness in the Scottish highlands, the only child of Marie (née Paterson) and Raymond Gillan, a singer and recording artist . When she turned 16, Gillan moved to Edinburgh and completed an HNC Acting and Performance course at Telford College . She moved to London at age 18 to study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts drama school . </P>

Who did karen gillan play in doctor who