Columbia PicturesKaren Gillan signals her Jumanji character is just as unhappy as many viewers are about what they call her "sexist" jungle outfit.
The 29-year-old Scottish actress plays Ruby Roundhouse in the upcoming film, which is set for release in December. The movie is a reboot of the hit 1995 dark fantasy adventure flick starring the late Robin Williams, which was about kids whose board game comes to life. In the new Jumanji, four people are sucked into the game's jungle world and must turn into characters to beat it. Gillan's is an Amazonian warrior.
Last year, the first photo from the reboot was released and shows Gillan wearing a cropped shirt with leather straps, low-cut short cargo shorts and lace-up knee-high hiking boots and standing in a lush jungle setting with co-stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Jack Black, whose outfits are not revealing. Many people said the photo and the actress' look were sexist.
How come the men have to cover their abdomens in the new #Jumanji? That's so sexist.
— HaydnMillington (@HaydnMill) September 23, 2016
i’d trust the rock with my life but i really don’t think there’s any non-sexist reason why karen gillian is wearing so little for jumanji
— eli @alola!????????? (@slothtier) September 23, 2016
"I'd never take on a role that was truly gratuitous for no reason. There's a really valid reason why she's wearing that. My character is really not happy about it!" Gillan told The Hollywood Reporter in comments posted Friday.
The actress said she "experienced something similar" when she worked on Doctor Who several years ago.
Many fans of the hit BBC sci-fi series felt the way her character, Amy Pond, was portrayed was too sexist. Similar criticism has been made of many of the Doctor's past female companions.
At the Dallas Sci-Fi Expo in 2014, Gillan replied to the criticism about her character and defended then-Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat.
"I just don't understand that. I feel like I had a very rounded, interesting, flawed and layered character to play," she reportedly said, adding, "I wore skirts but Steven Moffat had nothing to do with that. He doesn't care about costumes. So I don't really understand [the criticism] if I've got to be honest."