Pom Klementieff Biography

In 2007, Pom Klementieff began her career as a professional actress in the French independent film ‘Après lui’. She played Emilie, the stepdaughter of the central character, Camille (Catherine Deneuve). A year later, she appeared in Jean-Paul Rouve’s biographical heist film ‘The Easy Way’, which was based on the exploits of the real-life thief Albert Spaggiari. The first film in which she portrayed the protagonist was the 2009 drama ‘Loup’. Her character, Nastazya, is a member of a tribe of reindeer herders in the Siberian mountains.

In 2009, she portrayed a character named Sandra in the miniseries ‘Pigalle, la nuit’. This has been her only television appearance to date. In 2010, she appeared in the short film ‘Qu'est-ce qu'on fait?’ She portrayed various characters in five different films in 2011: Naomi in the action comedy ‘Borderline’, Lucy in the crime thriller ‘Sleepless Night’, a waitress in the romantic comedy ‘Delicacy’, Fiancée du père in the romantic comedy ‘Love Lasts Three Years’, and Valerie in the drama film ‘Silhouettes’.

Klementieff had her Hollywood debut in Spike Lee’s 2013 neo-noir action thriller film ‘Oldboy’, which is an American adaptation of the South Korean film of the same name. Her character, Haeng-Bok, serves as the bodyguard of the antagonist (Sharlto Copley). This was her first film with Josh Brolin, who was cast as the protagonist. They would work together once more in the MCU.

Following ‘Oldboy’, Klementieff relocated to Los Angeles, California, so she could pursue a career in the American entertainment industry. She subsequently starred in the comedy-drama ‘Ingrid Goes West’ (2017) and romance drama ‘Newness’ before making her first appearance as Mantis in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ in 2017. While Mantis soon became a fan favourite, Steve Englehart, Mantis's co-creator, felt that the cinematic depiction of the character has nothing to do with how she is characterized in the comics. Klementieff reprised the role in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018) and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019). She is set to return to portray the character once more in the upcoming ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’.

In 2018, she shared screen space with Eric Roberts and Neil Jackson in the science fiction drama ‘A. I. Tales’. She did a brief cameo in the comedy-drama ‘Uncut Gems.' 

Born on May 3, 1986, in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, Pom Klementieff is the daughter of a Korean mother and a French-Russian father. Her parents named her “Pom” because its pronunciation is similar to that of the Korean words for spring and tiger. Her father, Alexis Klementieff, worked for the foreign office of the French government, and at the time of her birth, was employed as a consul in Quebec City. She was in Canada for a year before her father’s job compelled the family to relocate to Japan. Later, they moved to the Ivory Coast before ultimately returning to France.

When Klementieff was 5 years old, she lost her father to cancer. Her mother was suffering from schizophrenia and could not take care of her children. As a result, she grew up in the household of her paternal uncle and his wife. This paternal uncle, whom she considered to be her “second father”, passed away on her eighteenth birthday. On her twenty-fifth birthday, her older brother committed suicide.

Her widowed aunt wanted her to become a lawyer. While she had no real interest in the profession, she agreed to enrol at a law college to make her happy. However, she eventually dropped out. She did several off-the-wall jobs, including waiting and as a saleswoman, to support herself. At the age of nineteen, she finally decided to become an actress and began attending the Cours Florent drama school in Paris. A few months later, she came first in a theatre competition, which garnered her the opportunity to take free classes for two years with the school’s best teachers.

Klementieff was reportedly in a relationship with the French theatre director and actor Nicolas Bedos. They have since parted ways. She was also romatincally linked to Chris Pratt in 2018.