“I’m trying to live in imposter syndrome”: Karen Gillan on filmmaking, motherhood, and more

Karen Gillan, the Scottish actress and filmmaker best known for her performance in films including Jumanji: The Next Level, Late Bloomers, and the TV series Douglas Is Cancelled, recently appeared in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, published on June 15, 2025.

In the interview, Gillan spoke about her upcoming project, The Life of Chuck, motherhood, and her career. During the interview, she was asked if there was something she still had to achieve, to which Karen replied by saying that yes, and it's a project with director Mike Flanagan and is extremely challenging.

Describing the challenging project, she says that she is trying to put herself in situations where she feels like an impostor. She says:

''I’m trying to live in imposter syndrome as much as possible these days. That is actually where you want to be because it means you’re leveling up in some way. I’m definitely going to feel like an imposter on that one, so hopefully it works.''

Karen Gillan on her future projects and more

In the recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Karen was asked about how she feels about people getting to watch her upcoming project, The Life of Chuck. She replied, saying that she is excited and described the project as a unique story, which is original and rare. She also emphasized that the film will start a conversation around how one should live their life versus how they are living.

Gillan was asked about what drew her to work on this film, to which she replied:

''I was pretty much a yes before I even read it and that was because Mike Flanagan was at the helm. Initially, he was the reason I wanted to do the project. Also, Stephen King, [is] one of the greatest of all time.''

She continued:

''I read the script and was even more excited to do it after I had read that because as I mentioned before, it was just unlike anything I had really experienced before when reading a script. I think it was really smart of the producers to want to make this independently rather than with a studio where maybe some [of the] strange uniqueness might have been dampened down to cater to the masses a little bit more.''

Gillan was then asked about how she takes care of herself with a hectic schedule, to which she responds that she hasn't completely figured that out. The actress mentions how she likes spending time with her daughter after she is done filming. On striking a balance between the professional and personal life, Gillan says:

''The only way I can sort of do it is by taking breaks. Not working for the sake of working is probably part of my self-care regimen. I’m someone that would rather take a break than make something just for the sake of doing it.

She added:

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''That, and baths in silence. I really think so many of us don’t actually sit in the quiet with our thoughts until our head hits the pillow at nighttime and then we’re like, why can’t we sleep? It’s like because we have so much processing to do that’s been put on the back burner because we’re constantly stimulating it.''

Gillan also revealed that she is working on a project with Mike Flanagan and will be directing it and maybe even acting in it. When asked about a potential return to the Marvel universe, she stayed coy, saying she couldn't share any details, but teased fans to “watch this space.”

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