Karen Gillan has “put the phone away” when it comes to her child in an effort to be more present.
The former Doctor Who companion, 37, gave birth to her first daughter with husband and comedian Nick Kocher in December 2024 and soon found herself feeling a compulsion to capture everything the baby did on her phone.
However, working on Stephen King’s The Life of Chuck, a new fantasy about the end of the universe, caused the star to be more intentional about her time.
“When my baby does something cute, I want to video it,” she told the i. “But I found myself staring at videos of her more than I was staring at the actual her. I thought: ‘Time to put the phone away.’”
The film made Gillan “realise that in this life we place so much emphasis on the things that would impress other people and it’s hard to be present when you’re so focused on presenting a slightly different reality to people online”, she said.
Earlier this year, the actor noticed that it had “slightly infected the way I am as a mum”.
Gillan shot to fame for her role as Amy Pond in Doctor Who during the Matt Smith era of the series, which lasted between 2010 and 2013. She appeared in 34 episodes during this period.
This year, the actor celebrated 20 years since the show was revived by appearing in an hour-long episode of the documentary series Doctor Who: Unleashed.
The Scottish actor’s other roles include her portrayal of alien warrior Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for which she gained international fame in several films between 2014 and 2023.
She starred as game character Ruby Roundhouse alongside Dwayne Johnson in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019).
Admitting that she still gets “flak” for her outfit in the franchise, she said: “I can understand where people are coming from. But it was a commentary on Lara Croft, the male gaze… those are not practical clothes at all.”
However, she admitted that days were much longer for female cast than their male counterparts on set, due to the time taken for hair and make-up.
“You’re usually looking at 15-hour days on film sets,” she said. “It’s not a sustainable existence. I thought that was normal until now.”
