Karen Sheila Gillan (born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress and former model who is best known for her current portrayal of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who. Her cousin Caitlin Blackwood portrayed the young Amy Pond in three episodes of Doctor Who. Gillan moved to London when she was 18 to study at drama school. She was cast for the role of the Eleventh Doctor's first companion, Amy Pond, on the British sci-fi series Doctor Who in May 2009. She made her first on-screen appearance as Amy Pond in "The Eleventh Hour", which first aired on 3 April 2010. She was confirmed in Issue 420 of the Doctor Who Magazine to be appearing in the 2011 series. Gillan had appeared in Doctor Who once before in the 2008 episode "The Fires of Pompeii" in the role of a Soothsayer. During an interview at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, Gillan revealed she will be returning to Doctor Who for its seventh series
Lauren Ambrose
Lauren Ambrose (born February 20, 1978) is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is best known for playing Claire Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series Six Feet Under.Ambrose was born Lauren Anne D'Ambruoso in New Haven, Connecticut. She is the daughter of Anne (née Wachtel), an interior designer, and Frank D'Ambruoso, a caterer. She is of Italian descent on her father's side and German, English, and Irish on her mother's. Ambrose attended Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, Wilbur Cross High School, High School in the Community, and the ACES Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven. She is also a trained opera singer who studied voice and opera at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Ambrose also sings New Orleans-flavored ragtime with the seven-piece combo Lauren Ambrose and the Leisure Class. Ambrose has been married to professional photographer Sam Handel of Needham, MA since September 2001. They have a son, Orson (b. January 16, 2007) and currently live in Great Barrington, MA.
Ambrose began her career in New York theater, mainly in Off-Broadway productions. Her early career also included television appearances, most notably playing supporting guest roles on Law & Order, and a feature guest role on the show in the 1998 episode "Damaged" as Valerie Maxwell, a mentally-challenged young woman raped by a group of popular high school students. Her first film role was In & Out (1997), which was followed by a more prominent role in the high school comedy Can't Hardly Wait (1998). She was the ingenue lead, Florence "Chicklet" Forrest, in the cult favorite Psycho Beach Party (2000). Ambrose began her role on Six Feet Under in early 2001. She was nominated for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Emmy Award twice, following the 2002 and 2003 seasons of the critically acclaimed drama. In 2006, Ambrose made her Broadway debut in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of Awake and Sing!. In 2007, she appeared as Juliet in the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, to great critical acclaim. She appeared as Ophelia in the 2008 performance of Hamlet for Shakespeare in the Park.Ambrose recently returned to Broadway in Exit the King (by Eugene Ionesco) at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on Broadway, opposite Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon. Ambrose provided the voice of monster KW in Where the Wild Things Are, which was released in 2009. In January 2011 it was announced that she had been cast in seven of the ten episodes of Torchwood: Miracle Day. Between July and September 2011 she appears as Jilly Kitzinger "a sweet-talking PR genius with a heart of stone who’s just cornered the most important client of her career … and maybe of all time."
