Pom Klementieff

Born: 03 May 1986

Age:

Years Active: 2007-present

Pom Alexandra Klementieff (born 3 May 1986) is a French actress. She is best known for playing Mantis in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (2017–2023), and Paris in the final two films of the Mission: Impossible series (2023–2025).

Pom Alexandra Klementieff was born on May 3, 1986, in Quebec City, Canada, to Korean mother Yu Ri Park and Russian-French father Alexis Klementieff. Her grandfather was Russian painter Eugene Klementieff. Her parents chose the name "Pom" because it is similar in pronunciation to the Korean words for both "spring" (봄) and "tiger" (범). Klementieff's father worked in Canada as consul for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Klementieff moved to Kyoto, Japan and then the Ivory Coast before returning to France, settling an hour away from Paris. Klementieff's father died of cancer when she was five, and her mother had schizophrenia and was unable to care for her children, so Klementieff was raised by her paternal uncle and aunt. Her uncle died on her 18th birthday, and her older brother Namou died by suicide seven years later, on her 25th birthday.

Klementieff moved to Paris to study law to appease her aunt, after her uncle's death, but did not find it appealing. She also worked as a waitress and saleswoman in France. She started acting at age 19 at the Cours Florent drama school in Paris. A few months into her education, she won a theater competition and two years of free classes with the school's top teachers.