The Doctor’s companion is like the sci-fi equivalent to a Bond girl. This new season of the BBC’s “Doctor Who” welcomes a new face to add to the line of companions. Karen Gillan (“The Kevin Bishop Show”, “Outcast”, “Stacked’) plays Amy Pond, the Doctor’s “enigmatic companion”. The Scottish actress shares her experience of how she felt when auditioning for the role and of the news of her casting:
“I knew that the audition was for the part of the Companion, but I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about it. They even had a code name for the role because it was so top secret. The code name was ‘Panic Moon’; an anagram of Companion which I thought was really clever.”
“It was one of the strangest experiences ever; it was a really weird feeling. I found out on the day of my second audition with Matt [Smith], so at least I didn’t have a really long wait. It just didn’t feel real, and I couldn’t believe it!”
Of course, when Gillan got the role, she couldn’t share it with the world:
“I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone that I got the part but my boyfriend was with me when I found out so there was rather a lot of screaming! I decided not to tell my parents as I didn’t want to spoil the surprise but when I finally did tell them I made a special day of it and my mom
took a day off work. She just couldn’t believe it when I told her. She was doing the dishes and she literally stopped in her tracks and cried. She’s a huge fan of the show, has been a fan for years. She even has Dalek bubble bath at home!”
This relative newcomer to the acting scene was chosen for just that reason, but how will her character match up to previous Companions? Gillan relies on showrunner Steven Moffat’s strength in writing:
“Well, for a start Steven has written a brilliant character. I do think Amy is different from previous Companions because she’s very equal to the Doctor. She doesn’t take his word as gospel and she’s always happy to challenge him. If he tells her to do something then she won’t necessarily do it, she might go off and do her own thing which can sometimes create a rift between the two of them! They are best pals though and it’s a very up and down relationship because they are both very passionate people.”
As for the casting of Matt Smith, the youngest actor cast as the Doctor yet, she feels like Smith plays on this visual dichotomy in the Doctor:
“I think Steven said it perfectly; Matt manages to be old and young at the same time. That’s the great thing about the Doctor; he has the energy and mischief of a young child as well as the wisdom, age and intelligence of someone a lot older. Also, with Matt’s performance in particular, he’s so believable that he isn’t human. He has all these things that he does that make you really believe he is an alien or a Time Lord you’re drawn in by that.”
The season premiere of “Doctor Who” airs tonight, Saturday, April 3rd on BBC One in the UK and on Saturday, April 17th on BBC America in the States.
[Source] BBCAmerica
