Arts Interview: Scarlet fever

Karen Gillan shot to fame as Amy Pond on Doctor Who. Now the flame-haired former model has her sights set on Hollywood, writes James Mottram.

Karen Gillan: the Doctor Who star has made her first foray into Hollywood. Picture:Mike Windle/Getty

Everyone has a secret passion. For actress Karen Gillan, it was Alice In Wonderland. Not the Lewis Carroll book, nor the recent Tim Burton movie, but the classic Disney cartoon from 1951. “I was obsessed with it,” she explains. “Really, really obsessed with it.” Watching it over and over as a kid, dancing round the room, it was a galvanising experience for the young lass from Inverness. She wanted to be Alice. “I ...