Karen Gillan was ‘humbled’ living with parents while filming directorial debut

Actress-turned-filmmaker Karen Gillan was humbled living with her parents while shooting her directorial debut in her native Scotland because she got used to “calling all the shots” onset.
The Guardians of the Galaxy star returned to her hometown of Inverness in early 2017 as she worked on comedy-drama The Party’s Just Beginning, which she also wrote and features in, and Karen was thrilled to be able to hire some of her old pals as extras.
“It was incredible to go home with my first feature film as a director and I got to cast all of my friends in roles,” she smiled.
However, having to abide by her mum and dad’s house rules again years after moving out took some getting used to, especially since she was always in charge at work.
“I was living with my parents while shooting it though, which was an interesting experience,” she recalled, “because I was like, the leader at work, the boss calling all the shots, and then I would go home and my mum was like, ‘Bring your laundry down right now!'”
The Party’s Just Beginning centres on a young lady dealing with the suicide of a close friend, and Karen reveals one aspect of the storyline was actually inspired by her childhood.
“In the movie, the lead character’s house phone (number) is one digit off of a (crisis) helpline, and that’s actually based on a true story,” she explained on U.S. talk show GMA Day.
“When I was growing up, that was the case with my phone line at home, so we’d get a lot of calls from people in some pretty bad situations, and one time, my mum befriended a woman on the phone and they formed the most beautiful relationship, and it turns out they went to bingo in the end! (So there’s) a nice little ending to that one!”
The Party’s Just Beginning, which also stars her Guardians of the Galaxy castmate Lee Pace, was released earlier this month (Dec18).