Karen Gillan - movie debut and 'Doctor Who' exit

"It won't be what people expect"

Doctor Who star Karen Gillan has been chatting to Total Film about her début as a leading lady – and her departure from the sci-fi series.

The Amy Pond actress is currently in Cannes to promote her upcoming role in Glasgow-set indie-com Not Another Happy Ending.

“I play a successful writer called Jane Lockhart,” Gillan told us. “Who writes best when she’s unhappy. She’s feeling good about her life and therefore can’t write her next novel, so her publisher Tom goes on a secret mission to make her unhappy to get the book written.”

Filming’s due to start in Glasgow in July, co-starring Emun Elliott (Game Of Thrones), with John McKay (who directed Gillan in recent Beeb drama We’ll Take Manhattan) taking the reins.

Gillan last week wrapped a three-year stint as The Doctor’s companion – and promised that her character’s exit will be “unexpected”, as well as emotional.

“I literally couldn’t read it without crying,” she confessed. “It was the most highly charged read-through I’ve ever experienced. But I couldn’t have asked for a better exit. I don’t think it’ll be what people expect.”

She also shared her thoughts on the prospect of a Doctor Who movie. “I think it would be great in a franchise-y sort of way. I’d look forward to sitting down and watching it.”

But would she get involved if made an offer? “Oh, who knows. I guess you can only cross that bridge when you come to it!"

Source: TotalFilm 

Interview: A Happy Ending?

Doctor Who actress Karen Gillan is in Cannes to promote her first feature, the Glasgow set indie romantic comedy Not Another Happy Ending, directed by John McKay and produced by Claire Mundell of Synchronicity.

It’s been a pretty big week for Scottish actress Karen Gillan.

On Saturday she filmed her final ever Doctor Who episode for the BBC and now she’s in Cannes for the first time to talk about her first feature project (first as the lead), Not Another Happy Ending, directed by John McKay and produced by Sychronicity Films, in which she stars as a writer who can only write when she is unhappy, much to the despair of her publisher.

Shooting is due to begin in July.

Gillan describes the Glasgow based feature as “an indie, quirky, artsy film” which was what also attracted director John McKay to the project. “I really liked the fact it was about likeable neurotic middle class people. We are very hung up on certain styles and genres in the UK. I really like American indie movies which have no problem portraying the city dwelling I know,” says McKay, who directed Gillan as Jean Shrimpton in TV movie We’ll Take Manhattan and decided to cast her in this latest project.

“She is a bit like a young Diane Keaton. Really bright and really good at falling over,” adds McKay.

The film is being backed by Steve Milne of the British Film Company and Creative Scotland. LevelK are handling international sales.

“There are two Scottish stereotypes on film - hills and glens and monsters. And there are the very gritty, violent, dark films.  As a producer living and working in Glasgow, I thought, why do we never see the other representation. I see an incredible amount of creativity and energy around me, but you don’t see that represented cinematically very often,” says producer Claire Mundell, who is next producing genre thriller The Devil’s Staircase and Marianna Palka’s latest film, Glasgow Kiss.

Meanwhile, Gillan has “absolutely no idea” what she is doing after Not Another Happy Ending. “And it’s the best feeling. I’ve put all my possessions into storage so I don’t even have a house. I’ll just see where I end up!”

She plans to “talk her way onto a yacht” during her short trip to Cannes “I think it’s all in the conviction”.

Source: Screen Daily

Also reported by Female First