We’ve seen a lot of reboots over the years, but the recent Jumanji movies were clever in the way that they found a fresh way to revitalize the franchise by putting characters inside a vintage video game. While we wait for the next Jumanji movie, Karen Gillan has shared one thing about her character in the action movies people just can’t stop talking about: her skimpy outfits.
During a new interview with iNews, Gillan shared that she’s still getting “flak” for her character Ruby Roundhouse’s revealing outfit while discussing her overarching career. The actress, who wears a stomach-bearing crop top and short shorts while adventuring in the jungle, shared these thoughts on it being a topic of conversation even though she’s six years removed from the last movie, Jumanji: The Next Level:
I can understand where people are coming from. But it was a commentary on Lara Croft, the male gaze… those are not practical clothes at all.
Gillan, who played the avatar Ruby Roundhouse, who is being played by a shy high school student named Martha in 2017’s Welcome To The Jungle and the 2019 sequel, has commented about the costume on multiple occasions since the look was revealed. Back in 2017, she said she was not “expecting” such an “uproar,” but she explained the character’s clothing was chosen to make her like a '90s video game with “an absurd male fantasy sort of vibe.”
The actress has also talked before about how she thought it was “a positive thing” that Ruby Roundhouse sparked a debate. It showed that the sexualization of women in video games was being discussed among audiences, and it didn’t sit right with them that people weren’t getting behind the oversexualization of a female character that young people are consuming.
Karen Gillan revealed her Jumanji outfit is still a subject of conversation among the public while reflecting on how “getting the Marvel and Jumanji films were further leaps” in her career, following the "huge leap" and "shocking miracle" that was landing a role on Doctor Who early on.
The actress’s latest role is in Mike Flanagan’s The Life Of Chuck, which came out earlier this year, but is just coming out among 2025 movie releases in the U.K. Last week, Gillan was flaunting the sheer cutout dress trend while doing press for the life-affirming drama also starring Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Next up, Gillan has just signed on to be in the Highlander reboot with Henry Cavill, and she’s expected to return to the role of Ruby Roundhouse alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kevin Hart and Jack Black, along with director Jake Kasdan for a Jumanji movie that is currently expected to release on December 11, 2026.
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