Karen Gillan's The Simpsons Casting Makes A 13-Year-Old Dream Come True
She's appeared in everything from "Doctor Who" to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Karen Gillan is still ticking dream projects off her acting bucket list. On Wednesday, the Scottish actor took to Instagram to reveal that she'll appear in an upcoming episode of "The Simpsons" — and she's over the moon about it as the role has been a long time coming.
"I can finally announce the role I was born to play," she wrote. "That's right folks, I'm Groundskeeper Willie's new Scottish love interest in The Simpsons. SO honoured to join this legendary show!!!! Episode airs this weekend!"
The episode is called "AE Bonny Romance" and follows the Simpson family as they travel to Scotland to find Willie (Dan Castellaneta) after he gets kidnapped. Gillan's character is called Maisie, and it seems she'll bring some light to Willie's dark situation. As of this writing, it remains to be seen if Maisie will appear in more episodes. However, even if she's only in one, it has allowed Gillan to live out a dream that's been 13 years in the making.
Karen Gillan has wanted to appear on The Simpsons for years
Karen Gillan has been interested in a role on "The Simpsons" since at least 2010, shortly after being cast as Amy Pond on "Doctor Who." According to Digital Spy, there was a call from Whovians to get characters from the British sci-fi series to feature in the iconic animated series. Gillan was then asked if she or any of her "Doctor Who" castmates had been approached by the "Simpsons" creators, causing her to make her interest in visiting Springfield publicly known.
Gillan said that she hadn't been approached about a "Simpsons" role, but noted that she'd welcome it. "That would be really cool," Gillan said. "That's almost on a par with being a doll because being a Simpsons character, all yellow and stuff, would be really cool."
Unfortunately, Gillan had to wait 13 years before the opportunity to voice a "Simpsons" character presented itself. Still, that's better late than never, right? Furthermore, she gets to play an original character instead of reprising a role from an unrelated sci-fi series.