KAREN GILLAN TO LEAD NEW YORK TARTAN WEEK PARADE

Karen Gillan will walk the streets of New York City as she becomes the second ever female Grand Marshall of the famous Tartan Day Parade. 

Former Doctor Who star Karen will walk the closed off streets of the Big Apple for the tartan themed event on April 9.

The Avengers, Guardians of The Galaxy and Jumanji star follows in the footsteps of KT Tunstall who led the parade in 2018 and other celebrated Scots including Sir Billy Connolly who took the honours at the last event held in 2019.

Outlander actors Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish, Trainspotting's Kevin McKidd, and kiltmaker Howie Nicholsby have also taken on the role in previous years.

The globally marketed event first started in 1999 – the year after the United States Senate agreed to designate a national Tartan Day each April.

More than 30,000 people take part in the event in Manhattan and previous years have seen dogs wearing kilts, mini Kelpies grace Union Square, scaled down Military Tattoos being held in the city and First Ministers participate in events like cutting the tape of the Tartan Week marathon round Central Park.

Inverness-born Karen, who this week told fans she is back at work after a New Year break, has gained a cult following for her role as Nebula in the Marvel superhero films and now lives in LA.

The Tartan Day Parade confirmed Karen's latest honour saying: "The National Tartan Day New York Committee is honoured to announce award-winning Scottish actress Karen Gillan as Grand Marshal of the New York City 2022 Tartan Day Parade."

The event is now in its 24th year, and a lively procession of pipes and drums bands, Highland dancers, Scottish clans, Shetlander Vikings and more are expected to perform on the day.

HOLLYWOOD STAR SENDS SCOTS BAND THE RONAINS AN EMOTIONAL MESSAGE

SCOTS band The Ronains received a touching message of encouragement from Hollywood star Peaky Blinders and Guardians of The Galaxy actor Tommy Flanagan during mental health awareness week. 

Tommy who also played an alcoholic with mental health issues in hit crime drama Sons of Anarchy, has been following the Clydebank band for the past year and has championed their work. 

The Braveheart actor sent bass player Jim, singer Debbie, drummer Linzi and guitarist LP a message of support after they let him hear their brand new single, a powerful cover of Flower of Scotland which they are releasing on Friday May 21.

The track is available for 79p on preorder now from iTunes and Amazon and the band are hopeful it will chart. 

Tommy,  who has been filming the new series of Peaky Blinders in Chicago, as well as new series of Tower sent the band a message after bass player Jim told him he was finding the music business difficult during lockdown.

Tommy wrote: “Life’s highs will be overshadowed by the sometimes overwhelming lows. But the clock keeps ticking. 

“Time will reveal the why the who the wtf. If what you’re doing brings you love and joy end of, you win!

“Do not give up! Adjust and reset when required. ‘Hard work and heartache’ life of an artist. Enjoy the highs when they come.

“Few people want to see you succeed, no matter what they say.
Beware of that s***e!
You guys got tons of talent. Keep doing the work. You’re going to get to wherever ‘there’ is.
Best TF.”

Bass player Jim Reid said: “Tommy is one of my favourite actors and I've watched him in everything from Braveheart and Guardians of The Galaxy to Sons of Anarchy and Peaky Blinders.  I’m a huge fan. It’s a deep message he sent us. I’d told Tommy that I was finding lockdown hard as a musician and he wrote this incredible letter of encouragement."

The band have been playing their version of Flower of Scotland at live gigs for a while but decided to record and release it to reflect the recent achievement in Scottish sport.

Jim said: “We recorded a powerful rocky verson of Flower of Scotland because we wanted to celebrate the success of the national football team and reaching the World Cup qualifiers for the first time in 26 years. 

“The Scottish rugby team have done well and boxer Josh Taylor is fighting in Las Vegas for our country too.

We are proud of our Scottish roots and this song means everything to us.”

Singer Debbie, whose soaring vocals feature in the song, added: 'It's quite terrifying taking on such a huge, Iconic song, but if you don't reach for the sky you'll never be amongst the stars.”

The song is available for Pre-order now on Amazon and iTunes by clicking on the 2 links below.

AMAZON ➡️ https://amzn.to/3un9po9 - 79p

ITUNES ➡️ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/flower-of-scotland-single/1564971257?ls=1&app=itunes 69p

DOCTOR WHO STAR KAREN GILLAN TALKS CHIPPIE SAUCE AND MORE ON SCOTS VISIT TO GLASGOW FILM FEST

Exclusive
Beverley Lyons
Karen Gillan might be invited to dine at all the black tie dos with A list celebs like Vin Diesel, Jack Black, Chris Pratt, and The Rock but the Jumanji and Dr Who Star says she misses chippy sauce the most when she’s away from home.
The Inverness born former model who is in Glasgow for the launch of her directorial debut feature The Party Is Just Beginning revealed she gets homesick for the simple things.
As she sparkled on the red carpet in a stunning silver number by New York designer Thom Browne,  Karen, 30, told theshowbizlion.com: “The thing I miss most about Scotland has to be the chippy sauce. That’s it, but also my family and all the people here and also the sense of humour cause I feel that we have a very specific sense of humour in the face of adversity which is something I incorporate into the film. I miss it a lot.”
Karen who rose to fame as Amy Pond in Doctor Who and plays Nebula in the Guardians of The Galaxy movies told of her nerves and pride at directing her first movie.
Appearing at the GFT for her world premiere at Glasgow Film Fest she said. “I’ve done two shorts before but this is first feature I’ve directed. Tonight it’s being seen for the first time so I’m feeling very vulnerable but it’s exciting. There’s something lovely about  being behind the  camera.”
She joked: “Directing myself meant I had the ultimate shorthand so there was not a lot of discussion with myself and I gave myself a lot of options so every take was different and I had lots to choose from in the edit.
Speaking of her outfit the former model said: “The dress is by Thom Browne and they have put lovely jewels on it for me and I love it it’s really pretty.
I”d always imagined we were going to do the film in my hometown but there was something so trippy about seeing all those familiar places on a big screen like the places I used to eat chips as a teenager it was really weird. I couldn’t feel more proud to be a female director at this time when the numbers are so low.”
Karen also says she likes the idea of moving into directing full time once her acting career is over - and she believes change is in the air for women in the industry.
She said: “I love acting and it’s what I do - I love directing and being behind the camera and watching amazing actors doing amazing things so I’m quite taken with the idea of doing it more later in life. I’ve been bitten by the bug of directing.”
She said: “I felt like it was the most natural thing in the world to write. When I first decided to write my story I wanted to tell it from my perspective as a young girl growing up in the Highlands of Scotland. The story is about a young girl dealing with the suicide of her best friend and she’s having a hard time communicating with people and communicating her grief. It comes out in a self destructive way. “I do believe change is in the air for women. I feel so happy and grateful as a woman that we are finally being heard and that women are coming forward telling stories and am so pleased that conversation is starting. We are at the beginning of change but there is a lot to do.
I’m so pleased to be a woman director and hopefully I can inspire people to do the same.
I’ve made a point of showing off the places in Inverness that I grew up in - the local chip shop where I used to shovel chips in my face is heavily featured and you might recognise some other spots.
Asked about suicide rates being high in Highlands she added: “I think I found an answer and I hope that’s in the film. One of the main topics is communication and if anyone has enduring heartache then the main thing is to communicate. Our lead character is unable to do that and if she just communicated her feelings would be different.”

DOCTOR WHO STAR KAREN GILLAN GETS DRUNK IN MARYHILL

GUARDIANS Of The Galaxy and Doctor Who star Karen Gillan was drunk and disorderly as she stumbled out of a Scots nightclub.


Luckily the Inverness born star who has just finished on her movie Jumanji was putting on an act for her own new film Tupperware Party which also sees her step behind the camera for her big directorial debut.


Karen, who played Amy Pond in Doctor Who, and a posse of young actors spent all day filming inside Framptons nightclub in the heart of Glasgow's Maryhill district.
The clubbing scenes culminated in the star drunkenly kissing a bouncer of the club on the cheek before being carried out the nightspot by friends as she stumbled over them, arms and legs flailing.


As cars passed the scene on the side street, it could have seemed like any other big night out in the area.
In between shots, effervescent red head Karen looked every bit the director as she carried around a clipboard with her and instructed her cast and crew on what was happening next.
The mood on set seemed jovial although Karen was deep in concentration as she set up her next shots.


She even changed jackets in between directing and acting, as if to change her persona.
Karen said: "It's lovely to be back in Scotland and it's all going well so far. I'm having a great time."
An insider said: "Karen is brilliant to work with and really understands the actors needs. She has been nervous about going behind the camera for this film and there is a lot of pressure on her but she is just getting with things and the film is shaping up nicely."

- Posted with love from Scotland by theShowbizLion.com

DOCTOR WHO STAR KAREN GILLAN HITS GLASGOW AND INVERNESS FOR DIRECTORIAL DEBUT

GUARDIANS of The Galaxy star Karen Gillan has arrived in Glasgow to begin filming her directorial debut movie Tupperware Party.
The Inverness born Doctor Who actress who played Amy Pond in the sci fi series has written the script of the feature film for Mt Hollywood films.
Karen, who is keeping the storyline a tightly guarded secret, spent Christmas and New Year up with family and friends up north before arriving in Glasgow this week.

E
In demand Karen admitted she'd been tweaking the film's script right up until the eleventh hour, telling fans online: "Racing to finish a rewrite before the new year! I got thiiiiiissssss."
The star who is understandably nervous about her first big directorial offering told her Instagram followers: "Sad to be leaving Inverness and my fellow fingers. But we have a film to make. Here we go 2017!"


She was spotted today in Glasgow's Buchanan Street by some fans as she prepped for her filming schedule.
Budding actor Christopher Potter who was amongst those who saw her posted up a selfie of them both and said: "That brilliant moment when you bump into @karengillan, tell her you're a big fan and get a picture with her! Such a nice person!"
Karen has a penchant for darker movies so it's expected Tupperware Party will gave more of a twist to it than the average plastic storage lid.


- Posted with love from Scotland by theShowbizLion.com