Pom Klementieff

Pom Klementieff (born 3 May 1986) is a French actress. She received her training at the Cours Florent drama school in Paris and has been featured in films such as Loup (2009), Sleepless Night (2011) and Hacker's Game (2015). She portrays the role Mantis, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. (2017). Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Avengers: Endgame (2019). Pom Klementieff was born in Quebec City, Canada, to a Korean mother and French-Russian father who was working as a consul there for the French government. Her grandfather was a painter Eugene Klementieff. Pom was her name since it sounds like the Korean words "spring" and "tiger" in Korean. Klementieff spent one year in Canada before her family moved frequently due to her father's work. They resided in Japan as well as the Ivory Coast, before settling in France. Klementieff's father died of cancer when she was just 5 and her mother suffered from schizophrenia and could not care for children which is why Klementieff was cared for by her paternal uncle and aunt. Her uncle, whom she called "like [her] father" died at the age of age 18. Her older brother who committed suicide seven years later, was also her aunt. Klementieff briefly went to law school after her uncle's death to appease her aunt but did not find the academic path attractive. She also worked as a waitress and saleswoman in France. Her first acting experience was at age 19 in the Cours Florent drama school in Paris. After a few months of studies, she won a theater competition that awarded the opportunity to take classes for free for two years with some of the best teachers. The first role she had in professional acting was in the French independent film Apres lui (2007), acting as the stepdaughter in the film of the lead character, played by Catherine Deneuve. The filming process took three days. One scene had Klementieff pushing someone down a set steps, but she fell. Gael Morel saved that footage for the final film. Her first role as a lead actor was in Loup (2009) A French film that follows a tribe of reindeer herders in the Siberian mountains. Klementieff spent filming hours in an isolated camp, far from the nearest village. The temperatures dropped to minus zero when filming.