You probably wouldn’t have to dig too deep into sci-fi fan fiction to find a story about Amy Pond from “Doctor Who” and Starbuck from “Battlestar Galactica” on space adventures.
The crossover between the flame-haired time-traveler and the tough but unpredictable captain, respectively, isn’t going to happen — but audiences will get to see the next best thing on Friday when the horror film “Oculus” hits theaters. It stars Katee Sackhoff (the aforementioned Starbuck) as a mother tormented by an evil mirror, and — in her first big film since leaving the role of Pond on “Doctor Who” in 2012 — Karen Gillan as her daughter.
Gillan is 26, and Sackhoff is 33, but the latter is on-screen as the mother in flashback scenes. For Gillan, Sackhoff was a living guide on how to pivot from the world of sci-fi, and its often obsessive fans, to a broader acting career.
“As an actress, she’s on fire,” Gillan says. “She’s gone from sci-fi on to do all these things.”
Sackhoff, whose stints have included “24,” was happy to dish out tips: “We really just talked about fans and the whole genre world.”
The trick, she says, is to respect the love fans have given, but to put your own enjoyment first.
Lucky for fans of both shows, “Oculus” has some common ground. It follows Kaylie (Gillan) and her brother Tim (Brenton Thwaites) as they attempt to destroy the mirror that led to the death of their parents.
The mirror causes the siblings to experience past and present simultaneously, creating twisting perceptions of reality. It’s a plot that won’t be unfamiliar to fans of “Doctor Who,” about a 2,000-year-old time traveler. Devotees of “Battlestar,” about the human race on the run from robots, will appreciate the psychological turns as well.
“[Oculus] is really original for the genre,” Gillan says. “I love ‘The Ring’ more than anything and I kind of got [that] feeling from this script.”
Sackhoff isn’t as into horror movies, despite a role in “Halloween: Resurrection.” She’s been a sci-fi fan since she used to watch “Star Trek” with her dad and was drawn to this movie because of director and writer Mike Flanagan.
“He is able to take an everyday occurrence and presence in your life and just bastardize the s – – t out of it,” she says. “You’ll finish the movie and feel like you’ve just been punched in the face.”
The two aren’t shying away from their sci-fi sides. Gillan will play villain Nebula in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” out this summer. And Sackhoff dreams of landing a role in the “Star Wars” reboot.
“It embodies everything I grew up idolizing,” she says. “I told [director] JJ [Abrams] I’d play a rock.”