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Beverley Lyons
Karen Gillan might be invited to dine at all the black tie dos with A list celebs like Vin Diesel, Jack Black, Chris Pratt, and The Rock but the Jumanji and Dr Who Star says she misses chippy sauce the most when she’s away from home.
The Inverness born former model who is in Glasgow for the launch of her directorial debut feature The Party Is Just Beginning revealed she gets homesick for the simple things.
As she sparkled on the red carpet in a stunning silver number by New York designer Thom Browne, Karen, 30, told theshowbizlion.com: “The thing I miss most about Scotland has to be the chippy sauce. That’s it, but also my family and all the people here and also the sense of humour cause I feel that we have a very specific sense of humour in the face of adversity which is something I incorporate into the film. I miss it a lot.”
Karen who rose to fame as Amy Pond in Doctor Who and plays Nebula in the Guardians of The Galaxy movies told of her nerves and pride at directing her first movie.
Appearing at the GFT for her world premiere at Glasgow Film Fest she said. “I’ve done two shorts before but this is first feature I’ve directed. Tonight it’s being seen for the first time so I’m feeling very vulnerable but it’s exciting. There’s something lovely about being behind the camera.”
She joked: “Directing myself meant I had the ultimate shorthand so there was not a lot of discussion with myself and I gave myself a lot of options so every take was different and I had lots to choose from in the edit.
Speaking of her outfit the former model said: “The dress is by Thom Browne and they have put lovely jewels on it for me and I love it it’s really pretty.
I”d always imagined we were going to do the film in my hometown but there was something so trippy about seeing all those familiar places on a big screen like the places I used to eat chips as a teenager it was really weird. I couldn’t feel more proud to be a female director at this time when the numbers are so low.”
Karen also says she likes the idea of moving into directing full time once her acting career is over - and she believes change is in the air for women in the industry.
She said: “I love acting and it’s what I do - I love directing and being behind the camera and watching amazing actors doing amazing things so I’m quite taken with the idea of doing it more later in life. I’ve been bitten by the bug of directing.”
She said: “I felt like it was the most natural thing in the world to write. When I first decided to write my story I wanted to tell it from my perspective as a young girl growing up in the Highlands of Scotland. The story is about a young girl dealing with the suicide of her best friend and she’s having a hard time communicating with people and communicating her grief. It comes out in a self destructive way. “I do believe change is in the air for women. I feel so happy and grateful as a woman that we are finally being heard and that women are coming forward telling stories and am so pleased that conversation is starting. We are at the beginning of change but there is a lot to do.
I’m so pleased to be a woman director and hopefully I can inspire people to do the same.
I’ve made a point of showing off the places in Inverness that I grew up in - the local chip shop where I used to shovel chips in my face is heavily featured and you might recognise some other spots.
Asked about suicide rates being high in Highlands she added: “I think I found an answer and I hope that’s in the film. One of the main topics is communication and if anyone has enduring heartache then the main thing is to communicate. Our lead character is unable to do that and if she just communicated her feelings would be different.”
