Karen Gillan Gets the Last Laugh on Jumanji: The Next Level Set—Here’s How She Took Revenge on Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart!

On the set of Jumanji: The Next Level, it wasn’t just the high-octane action sequences that kept Karen Gillan on her toes. As she reprised her role as Ruby Roundhouse, Gillan found herself the target of relentless teasing from co-stars Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. Yet, the Scottish actress not only endured their jabs—she turned the tables, letting her on-screen performance and newfound action skills do the talking.

The Butt of the Joke

During production, Gillan revealed that Johnson and Hart often mimicked her Scottish accent—though “mimic” might be too generous a term. Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live, she described their attempts as a “travesty,” comparing their efforts to Dick Van Dyke’s famously flawed Cockney accent in Mary Poppins. Their banter was all in good fun, but Gillan didn’t hold back in expressing her exasperation. “Neither of them, because they torment me relentlessly! It’s unbelievable,” she quipped on the late-night show.

Raising the Action Bar

While Johnson and Hart were busy delivering punchlines, Gillan was focused on perfecting punches—and a whole lot more. The Next Level ramped up the action from the first Jumanji installment, giving Ruby Roundhouse more elaborate stunts and combat scenes. This time, Gillan’s character added nunchucks to her arsenal, a skill that required serious training and a lot of practice.

“I’m lethal with them,” she told Digital Spy, though she admitted there were a few “oops” moments. “I would drop them a lot, which was quite worrying for people. There were so many bruises on other people.” While the bruises were accidental, her growing proficiency with the nunchucks might as well have been her secret weapon against the constant teasing.

“Revenge” Through Performance

Rather than retaliate with words—or by actually swinging nunchucks at her co-stars—Gillan chose to let her performance speak for itself. She fully embraced the physical demands of the role, earning respect as an action star in her own right. By mastering the intense choreography and tackling more ambitious stunts, she proved that she could stand toe-to-toe with her larger-than-life colleagues.

Her playful comment on Jimmy Kimmel Live—“I should’ve done that!” when asked if she hit Johnson and Hart with her nunchucks—was more a nod to the friendly competition on set than any real retribution. Behind the scenes, the camaraderie was genuine, with everyone sharing in the laughter and hijinks. As Gillan noted in a Cinemablend interview, she laughed so much on set that she was “in actual pain.”

Triumph on Her Own Terms

Gillan’s “revenge” wasn’t about one-upping her co-stars with zingers. Instead, it was about proving her chops as an action hero and showing that she could handle both the physical and comedic demands of the role. By the time Jumanji: The Next Level hit theaters, she had turned the teasing into motivation, delivering a performance that stood out even amid the film’s star-studded cast.

In the end, Karen Gillan didn’t need to swing back with words or nunchucks—her talent did the talking.