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Karen Gillan: Shaving my head was hilarious (exclusive)

Not Another Happy Ending star talks losing her ginger locks for Guardians of the Galaxy.

Karen Gillan has spoken about shaving her head for ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’.

The former ‘Doctor Who’ star said ditching her red hair was a prerequisite for landing the role of Nebula in the upcoming Marvel blockbuster, but it wasn’t the traumatic experience many thought.

“I was told before I auditioned for the role that I would have to shave my head if I got it,” she told Yahoo Movies UK whilst doing press for new rom-com ‘Not Another Happy Ending’. “But I didn’t think I was going to get it.”

“So I was like ‘Yeah sure guys, absolutely I’ll shave my head. Not a problem.’ And then three screen tests later I’m like ‘Oh, this might actually happen...’”

[Doctor Who star Karen Gillan reveals shocking look for Guardians of the Galaxy]


The 25-year-old actress, most recognised for playing Amy Pond opposite Matt Smith in ‘Doctor Who’, recently shocked fans when she revealed the drastically trimmed ‘do in place of her trademark ginger locks at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con. She dramatically whipped off what turned out to be a wig and threw it into the crowd (see the video below).


The brave transformation of the fanboys’ favourite redhead resulted in an wave of “hate tweets” aimed at ‘Guardians’ director James Gunn, but Karen says she wasn’t traumatised by the change.

“I went down to the set [with a shaved head] and everyone was creeping around on tip-toes. Like they’d clearly been briefed that there might be tears,” she laughed. “But I found the thing like totally hilarious. I mean it was so funny!”

[Guardians Of The Galaxy director receiving hate tweets over Karen Gillan's shaved head]


Karen also told us she thought ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ would be a ‘whole new direction’ for Marvel Studios - whose more recognisable franchises include ‘The Avengers’, ‘Thor’ and ‘Iron Man’.

“First of all, James Gunn is directing, and he just has such a strong individual style,” said Karen. “And it’s just so cool and it’s so funny, and it’s dark and comedic. And the soundtrack’s amazing. Even just showing the trailer at Comic-Con… the whole audience just kind of gasped because they’d never seen this type of thing from Marvel before.”

See more of Karen talking about ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ above - and keep an eye out for our full interview with the ‘Not Another Happy Ending’ star, including why she thinks ‘Doctor Who’ fans are definitely crazier than Marvel’s, next week.