Karen Gillan says Douglas Is Canceled is her ‘favorite project of all time’

Set to star as news presenter Madeline Crow in ITV’s Douglas Is Canceled, Gillan was asked how the new four-part series stacks up in the list of productions she has directed so far.

She revealed: “It’s definitely my favorite project of all time. I think it’s partly because it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Having to memorize so much dialogue was incredibly difficult .

“One episode takes place almost entirely in an interview setting, and we’re just sitting around and talking. That’s an hour you have to spend just talking. So that’s a lot of talking! It was just scary for me “

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She continued: “I feel like the hardest thing for me to do as a person is sit down and talk. I have a lot of nervous, nervous energy that I like to channel into move or feel a big emotion.

“So in this particular episode, I didn’t have anything to hide behind. I just had to sit there and be in it and do the thing that really scares me. And so it was really nice to walk through the fire of something that really scared me. It was terrifying for me. It was like doing a play. There was so much dialogue, and also so much that wasn’t said between the two characters. I just loved it.

Of course, Gillan reunites with his former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat for the upcoming comedy-drama, which sees his co-presenter Douglas (Hugh Bonneville) come under fire for comments made at a cousin’s wedding.

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While viewers will only learn what Douglas actually said until the end of the series, the show will follow Douglas’ ongoing social media storm as his words are dissected and he struggles to contain the current issue .

For Gillan, it’s even more of a Doctor Who reunion of sorts as she also reunited with Alex Kingston, revealing that filming with so many old Doctor Who friends felt like “coming home.”

Just as Gillan hails Douglas Is Canceled as his favorite project of all time, Bonneville is also full of praise for the series, admitting that he was first drawn to direct the series by Moffat’s script.

He said: “It constantly surprised me with its changes of direction and tone. It made me burst out laughing but, as in all good satire, the laughter gradually turned to ice as the questions raised by comedy became harder… harder.

“Some of the twists and turns are incredibly funny, but in the end the lights have gone out, the fun has evaporated and we are in dark territory.”

Similarly, Kingston – who plays Bonneville’s on-screen wife and newspaper editor Sheila – said: “I would say what appealed to me in the first place was that the The article was written by Steven Moffat. I would do anything Steven wrote because he is such a brilliant writer.

“The characters he creates are a real joy to play. I had the experience of working with him on Doctor Who. It was just a joy to read the script. I burst out laughing. I even cried with laughter in some places It’s so superbly written.”

Douglas Is Canceled will air on ITV1 and ITVX on Thursday June 27, 2024.

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