Watch Karen Gillan Get Her Head Shaved for Her Role in 'Guardians of the Galaxy'

True artists suffer for their work. Take actress Karen Gillan, for example.


The redheaded Scottish stunner shaved her head for her role as the evil Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy, one of the year’s biggest hits. While not perhaps on the same level of physical transformation that Robert De Niro and Christian Bale have underwent for some of their roles, sacrificing those lovely locks was hardly an easy decision. And for Gillan, the experience was a both bit traumatic…and funny.

A recently surfaced video shows the actress getting her noggin shaved, as she provides a running commentary, and even confesses to wanting to sing “Nothing Compares 2U,” the Prince-penned tune that became a huge video hit for the then-famously-bald Sinead O’Connor.

For the handful of you who haven’t yet seen Guardians, Gillan plays a henchwoman for chief villain Ronan the Accuser. The hairless pate is just one small part of Nebula’s intimidating look — Gillan was also made-up with blue skin, black eyeballs, and a kind of cyborg-like attachment to her face. The overall effect: part Smurf, part Terminator — and 100 percent somebody you don’t want to mess with. Guardians makeup artist David White told Business Insider last month that Gillan’s makeup took 4 hours and 15 minutes to apply, 30 minutes to remove and required contact lenses and an elaborate five-piece prosthetic.

When not playing a character attempting to destroy the galaxy, Gillan is probably best known for her work as Amy Pond on the incredibly popular BBC series Doctor Who. (After she first learned she’d scored the role of the Doctor’s companion several years ago, Gillan said she tried to keep it a secret for fun — when she eventually told her mother, a huge fan of the show, her mom “literally stopped in her tracks and cried.”)




Up next for Gillan: A part opposite Ethan Hawke and Taissa Fermigna in the revenge Western In the Valley of Violence. Here’s hoping they let her keep her hair.

Comments