Karen Gillan reacts to female Doctor Who casting: 'I was gasping'

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A former Doctor Who star is giving her blessing to the series’ first female Doctor.

Karen Gillan, who played fan-favorite traveling companion Amy Pond alongside Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor until 2012, says she was thrilled by the casting of actress Jodie Whittaker in the lead role, which has historically been played by a man.

“I was gasping,” Gillan said during a visit to EW’s video lounge at Comic-Con International in San Diego. “I was staring at my phone, saying, ‘They’ve done it! They’ve really done it this time!’ … I’m so excited to see what she does with it.”

Gillan hasn’t strayed far since departing the long-running BBC sci-fi adventure series, playing the blue-skinned alien warrior Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy and reprising the role in its sequel earlier this summer. She will return to the Marvel universe in next year’s Avengers: Infinity War.

Check out the interview above for more from Gillan (including how she gets into the “Nebula zone”) and Marvel costars Michael Rooker and Pom Klementieff.