Karen Gillan to Guest Star on ‘The Simpsons’

The Big Picture

• Karen Gillan fulfills a dream role as Groundskeeper Willie’s Scottish love interest on The Simpsons.
• Gillan’s Scottish background makes her a perfect fit for the role alongside Willie, voiced by American Dan Castellaneta.
• Making an appearance on The Simpsons has become a right of passage for Hollywood celebrities, and Gillan joins a long list of guest stars on the show.

Actress Karen Gillan has become a bonafide star playing roles such as the doctor’s companion Amy Pond in Doctor Who and the alien Nebula throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This weekend, though, Gillan will be part of the cast she said she’s always dreamed of; the actress is set to join The Simpsons as the love interest of Groundskeeper Willie in the episode “AE Bonny Romance.”

Gillan made the surprise announcement on social media, writing in a post on Instagram that she “can finally announce the role I was born to play. That’s right folks, I’m Groundskeeper Willie’s new Scottish love interest in The Simpsons.” Gillan added that she was “SO honored to join this legendary show!” While Willie is voiced by American Dan Castellaneta, the character is a stereotypical Scot. Gillan hails from Scotland in real life, so she seems perfect to be a love interest for the groundskeeper. A logline for the episode states, “When Groundskeeper Willie is kidnapped to Scotland, Bart and the Simpsons follow — only to discover that what awaits is Homer’s worst nightmare.”

The actress also showed off a first look at the upcoming episode, which shows her character dancing with Groundskeeper Willie while a seemingly anxious Bart Simpson (Nancy Cartwright) looks on. Gillan becomes just the latest in a long line of celebrity guests to appear on the long-running Fox television show. Making an appearance in the cast, even if only during a single episode, has become somewhat of a right of passage for those in Hollywood.

Gillan Has a Wide-Ranging Resume

Gillan first made a name for herself on the aforementioned Doctor Who, playing the companion to the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith). Gillan appeared on the iteration of the iconic British sci-fi show from 2010 to 2013, which helped to spearhead her career. Following this, she made appearances on a number of other television shows.

It was Gillan’s casting as the thick-skinned antihero Nebula in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy that cemented her status in pop culture. Gillan would portray Nebula in six Marvel films, including both Guardians of the Galaxy sequels. Her action chops continued with a role in 2017’s Jumani: Welcome to the Jungle, in which she starred alongside A-listers Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and more. She would reprise her role two years later in Jumanji: The Next Level.

Gillan will next be seen in a pair of high-profile films. The first is Sleeping Dogs, in which she’ll star alongside Russell Crowe while the pair try and solve a cold case murder. Gillan will also be seen in The Life of Chuck, an adaptation of a short story by Stephen King in which she’ll appear with Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The project recently wrapped filming.

“AE Bonny Romance” will air on Fox this coming Sunday, Dec. 3. Gillan’s Instagram post can be seen below: