Karen Gillan interviewed by The Telegraph

Karen Gillan has given an interview to the British newspaper The Telegraph, in which she discusses how her life has changed since taking on the role of Amy Pond, and what she gets up to on the set of Doctor Who with her co-star, Matt Smith.

In August Gillan launched the Amy Pond doll in a Glasgow shopping centre. Does she ever feel like a cross between a Blue Peter presenter and Justin Bieber? 'Ha. It’s like no other acting job because it’s almost sometimes like being a pop star,’ she confirms.

Yet she can’t afford to think about the fans – from children to legions of male admirers – when she’s acting. 'The last thing you want to do when you are about to film a scene is think, “Oh my God, so many people are going to watch this,”’ she says.

And not just Brits. The première of the last series was watched by 1.2 million BBC America viewers. On an early promotional trip to New York Gillan was shocked to see fans queuing around the block to see it. 'People had been camping out and people would dress up as me. We didn’t think anyone knew what it was over there,’ she says.

Making just one series of Doctor Who means working nine months, 12 hours a day, with only one day off every 11 days, so it’s no wonder they’ve become close. 'You disappear off the face of the earth,’ she says.

The two live in the same apartment block in Cardiff. Evenings are spent learning lines and texting each other. Gillan says she gets just one free hour to herself. 'Me and Matt were talking about this – you have this one hour that you really treasure and we always eat these Nairn’s crackers – they’re amazing. I have this image of us shovelling hummus and oatcakes into our mouths; it happens every night.’

The full interview is available online over at The Telegraph's website.