Karen Gillan has revealed that she was not the first choice for her role as Marvel supervillain Nebula.
But the 31-year-old got her big break by using her head.
Jessica Biel and Smallville star Kristin Kreuk were among those rumoured to be auditioning for Guardians of the Galaxy – but they weren’t prepared to shave their head for the part.
The actress – who played Doctor Who companion Amy Pond – said her audition tape had been rejected by the studio until director James Gunn saw it by accident. She said: “I believe he never saw my audition tape for Nebula because no one bothered to show it to him.
“And then he was scrolling through all the audition tapes and said, ‘Oh, it’s the girl from Doctor Who – I’ll watch that.’ And then he really liked it.
“So I was really lucky that he just decided to look through all of the rejected auditions. They didn’t show him the tape so it wasn’t one of the top picks.”
It was only Karen’s courage at chopping off her long locks that finally won her the role.
She told fans at Paris Comic Con: “A really famous actress would’ve got the role had it not been required of me to shave my head. A lot of actresses were like, ‘No.’ I was like, ‘I’ll do it,’ holding my hand up.”
Nebula was scripted to die at the end of the first movie but Gunn was so impressed by Karen that he expanded her role.
She has since gone on to appear in four Marvel movies – playing a crucial part in the latest Avengers: Endgame.
Karen, who will star in Jumanji: The Next Level, loves playing Nebula.
She added: “I think she’s a fun character because she is a sadist – the biggest sadist in the galaxy. She loves to hurt people. But underneath that is a broken, hurt, bitter girl who suffered an abusive relationship with her father.”
