Pom Klementieff

Pom Klementieff (born 3 May 1986) is a French actress. She studied at the Cours Florent drama school in Paris and has appeared in such films as Loup (2009), Sleepless Night (2011) and Hacker's Game (2015). She portrays the role of Mantis, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Pom Klementieff was the daughter of two parents: a Korean mother, and a French-Russian father. Her father was consul in Quebec City, Canada. Her father was a painter Eugene Klementieff. Pom was her nickname because it sounds similar to the Korean words "spring" and 'tiger" in Korean. Klementieff was in Canada for one year before her family went on a long trip because of her father's job. After the move to France the family lived in Japan. Her father was diagnosed with cancer when she was five, and her mother had schizophrenia and was unable to take care of children as a result, and Klementieff was raised by her aunt and uncle who were paternal. Her uncle, who she described as "like [her] father" passed away at the age of age 18. Klementieff's older brother who committed suicide years later, was her aunt. Klementieff was able to briefly pursue law school after the death of her uncle. However, she didn't find this career path appealing. In France she was employed as a waitress and salesperson. Her first acting experience began when she was 19years old at the Cours Florent theatre school in Paris. A few months into her education, she won an award for theater that granted her free tuition for two years with some of the best teachers. Klementieff was the first actor to play professionally in the independent French film Apres lui (2007). She played the step-daughter of the main character Catherine Deneuve. Filming the scenes required three days. The plan was for Klementieff to push another person along a set staircase and then fall down. Gael Mostl kept the shots in the final film. Her first role as a lead actor was in Loup (2009) A French film about a tribe of reindeer herders located in the Siberian mountains. Klementieff was filming in a camp hours away from the nearest village. The camp was where temperatures dropped to zero.