Camera-shy Karen Gillan tells of meeting David Bailey

Published on Tuesday 17 January 2012 00:00

DOCTOR Who star Karen Gillan says she found David Bailey as formidable as his reputation when she met the photographer after being cast as his former flame, Sixties supermodel Jean Shrimpton, in a new TV drama.

Gillan, 24, stars in BBC4’s We’ll Take Manhattan, which explores the explosive love affair between “The Shrimp” and the world-famous photographer.

The Scottish actress said she has not been able to meet Shrimpton, who now runs a hotel in Penzance and avoids public appearances, despite having been inspired by her before she was even cast in the drama.

But she said of coming face-to-face with Bailey in a recent Vogue magazine shoot: “I wasn’t sure if I was going to meet him, then I got this call saying: ‘You’re doing a shoot with David Bailey’. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that was going to happen. And I thought I had an idea of what to expect”

She added: “He’s a funny one, David Bailey. He plays mind games to provoke his subjects.”

Gillan – who is about to end her run as the Time Lord’s sidekick, Amy Pond – felt camera-shy for the first time since she signed up to a modelling agency after dropping out of drama school.

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