Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Karen Gillan Cut Her Own Hair In Chaotic Video, And The Wild Energy Is Actually Relatable

Karen Gillan in Black dress at GOTG Vol. 3 premiere.
(Image credit: (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic))

When it comes to the life of a big-time movie star like Karen Gillan, one often gets a leg up in the presentation department. That's because a celebrity is often followed around by a small crew of stylists to get them looking beautiful for all their public appearances. However, the Guardians of the Galaxy alum recently went rogue right before a Q&A in London, as she shared a video that showed her cutting her own hair. And, in all honesty, I can totally relate to the chaotic energy the social media clip gives off.

The 36-year-old Scottish actress took to her Instagram to share a funny behind-the-scenes moment right before stepping on stage to talk about her latest project at London’s BBC Studios Showcase alongside Doctor Who and Sherlock’s Steven Moffat. Check out the video: 

I love that Karen Gillan immortalized this wild pre-Q&A energy!! As the video shows, the actor was not a fan of the length of some of the hair in the front and decided to take some scissors and cut them off a bit right before attending her big event. With the scissors in her hands, you can just feel the instant regret as she cuts off one side before moving on to the other to even it out. It’s funny to hear her commentary as she decides for herself if the chop actually looks decent or if it was a big mistake. 

Ultimately, she rocked the spontaneous little 'do! Here are some more photos from her time in London:  

Will she get a big talking-to by her hairstylist once she finally meets with them? Probably but, hey, it did the job in the moment! Most gals can relate to looking in the mirror one day and deciding you need some part of your hair to be chopped up immediately and doing so in the bathroom with some scissors definitely not meant for human hair. I know I certainly have! Of course, as she illustrates in the funny social media video, hairstyling isn’t as easy as it looks, and the post-chop regret is too real. 

Karen Gillan previously shaved her entire head to play Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy before ultimately being part of seven of the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe,as well as the Guardians holiday special and What If...? Memorably, the actress walked out for Comic Con in a red wig before surprising the audience by taking it off and revealing her bald head. The actress clearly isn’t too precious about her locks. Hey, it’ll grow back anyway, right? 

This isn't the first wild video she's ever shared to the interwebs. In December, she also shared a chaotic viral TikTok of herself Christmas shopping with fellow Doctor Who alum Alex Kingston. (I think it's fair to say that yuletide shopping is a whole other level of stressful.)

Per The Hollywood Reporter. Karen Gillan’s recent trip to London was to promote her upcoming comedy miniseries, Douglas Is Cancelled, which is about a respected news presenter who’s career becomes vulnerable after he makes an ill-advised joke on air. Along with this show, Gillan will also has some projects lined up on the 2024 movie schedule. She’ll star in the crime thriller Sleeping Dogs, which debuts this March, and she's wrapped on the Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck back in November. A release date hasn't been announced for the latter just yet, but one would imagine it'll come out this year as well. 

Her role in the MCU may be over, based on the ending of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ending. Still, it’s always so fun to see Karen Gillan on social media being way too funny and relatable! Here's hoping she maintains that energy while also not doing too much damage to her hair.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.