Karen Gillan on the set of Not Another Happy Ending.
Interview: Karen Gillan on Amy Pond, Doctor Who and Not Another Happy Ending
Roles in upcoming rom-com and horror drama Oculus
Source: The List
Date: 31 October 2012
Written by: Eddie Harrison
After she played Amy Pond in Doctor Who, many
wondered what Karen Gillan would do next. Eddie Harrison speaks to the
Inverness actor about making the leap to the big screen with her first
lead role in Glasgow-set film Not Another Happy Ending
Even if you’ve been hiding behind your couch for the last few years, (and viewers of
Doctor Who are well known for doing exactly that),
Karen Gillan needs little introduction. Playing Amy Pond opposite Matt Smith
in the BBC’s highest-rating drama, the Inverness girl has become a
genuine household name. Now making the transition from television to
feature films, she spent part of the summer of 2012 shooting
Not Another Happy Ending, a romantic comedy developed by Scottish company Synchronicity Films.
‘Actually, this film came about because my director John McKay, back when I was working on television for
We’ll Take Manhattan,’
said, “You’re really good at falling over, you should read this
script,” and gave me
Not Another Happy Ending. I suppose I am one of
life’s naturally clumsy people, I don’t drop stuff all the time, or
break things, but I’m just generally a bit flustered.’
In
Not
Another Happy Ending, Gillan plays Jane Lockhart, an author who has hit
writer’s block after the success of her first novel.
‘The problem
is she can only write when she’s a bit miserable, and she’s now a huge
success,’ says Gillan. ‘So her publisher Tom [Stanley Webber] goes on this secret mission to make her life a misery, and it’s all about how their relationship develops.’
Playing
the role gave Gillan the chance to immerse herself in the rom-com
genre, and enjoy a crash course in the most romantic comedies in cinema
history.
‘I watched in chronological order the greatest rom-coms of all time, starting with
His Girl Friday, then
The Apartment, which is amazing, and then I was naughty because I watched a later one because I couldn’t wait to see
Manhattan, then back to
Annie Hall and then
When Harry Met Sally... what I took from seeing them all was just how important the chemistry is between the two lead actors.’
With Howard Hawks, Billy Wilder, Woody Allen and Rob Reiner
setting the bar high in terms of getting chemistry from their leads,
Gillan’s viewing left her plenty to ponder, not least how to create the
right kind of connection with her leading man.
‘How do you create
chemistry? If only I knew that! Some people say it’s a natural thing
that you have with someone, and maybe it is to do with that, but I think
you can work on it. We’ve been so lucky with Stanley Webber, because he’s so spontaneous and inventive, so I have no idea what he’s going to do next.
‘I’m
used to shooting at this momentum and pace from working on
Doctor Who,
so coming onto this film with the busy timeline we have feels quite
natural. I was allowed to jump on the sofa if I wanted to, so I just
did, because it just felt right in the moment. There’s lots of
improvisation in the film, we spoke about it with the director, and came
to the conclusion that it was better when it was just free, and things
could just pop out.’
Gillan’s next project takes her to Los Angeles for a horror drama
Oculus,
but she’s setting her sights even higher: she’d like to appear in
darker, more dramatic films, and says her dream is to work with the
Austrian director of
The White Ribbon and
Hidden, Michael Haneke, whose 2001 film
The Piano Teacher
is Gillan’s own favourite film. But for now, she’s keen to keep
developing her craft, and
Not Another Happy Ending gives her the chance
to expand her repertoire with a coveted leading role.
‘Acting is
all about finding the truth within whatever world you’re in,’ she says.
‘You just have to keep it truthful, rather than all this heightened
acting. These are things that I’ve learned from watching the episodes of
Doctor Who, just learning how to pitch a scene, so that you felt that
you were doing enough to give the audience what they want at that
moment.
‘I watched all the episodes as they were airing. At
first, when I saw myself, I really did cringe, but that’s how you learn
and get better. Now, I feel like I understand acting so much more, I’ve
learned so much from working on
Doctor Who and that’s really coming into
play on
Not Another Happy Ending.’
Not Another Happy Ending is due for release in early 2013.
Source (including photo):
The List
