Who is Pom Klementieff actress with Tom Cruise in ‘Mission: Impossible’

hwith an urchin’s little face this morning, a little local street urchin, a little Parisian. With the cap pulled sideways on the ash-colored hair, dark shirt and short purple nails, Pom Klementieff looks curious and already laughs, as soon as she discovers that I’m Italian. Very lively and bubbly, when you ask her to tell you about her latest projects, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 And Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning-Part Onewhich we will see on July 12, bursts with enthusiasm.

Pom Klementieff come on Guardians to Mission: Impossible

We are citing two phenomenal films, and who would not be beaming with joy at being part of a certain cinematic mythology of the last decades? The French actress, who had almost sneaked into Hollywood – in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, in 2017, with the character of Mantis, the playful alien with empathic powersAsian features and wobbling antennas – is now celebrated and beloved by millions of comic book aficionados of the Marvel Universe. And now that Tom Cruise has wanted her in the new chapter of the legendary Mission: Impossible, she’s dying of it and she talks about it with the enthusiasm of a child in the land of toys: «Tom, oh Tom», and goes on describing it enchanted…

In reality, the girl worked hard to establish herself on the American scene. Yes, she had studied theater, shot her first film in France with Catherine Deneuve, but everyone kept repeating to her – she says – that she was too “different”, with that foreign accent that just didn’t work in the movie mecca.

So the day when Spike Lee offered her a part in Oldboy (the remake of Park Chan-wook’s Korean film), an excited Pom gave it her all: To prepare for the role of bodyguard Haeng-Bok, she passionately dived into the world of martial arts, took boxing lessons, and became a purple belt in taekwondo.

Pom Klementieff, tiger and spring

Why Pom – whose Korean name means precisely tiger, as well as spring – she is not a girl to hold back. She loves physical challenges, putting herself to the test, and then she’s always liked the idea of ​​playing strong characters, “mad and unrepentant female fighters”.

This was already intuited in the first leading role in french movie Loupin 2009, shot in the mountains of Siberia at 30 degrees below zero: he worked with wolves, rode reindeer and swam with a horse in a lake. His extraordinary physical agility, strong and agile body, capable of tackling complex and strenuous action scenes with ease, have contributed to making her a new heroine: bold and fearless but also funny and sympathetic. Christopher McQuarrie, the director who directed her in the last one Mission: Impossiblehe recently told Empire Magazine: “You can’t take your eyes off her. Pom is so compelling, absolutely dynamic, so extraordinary, her is pure strength ». Klementieff conducts the interview like a game of hide-and-seek, she replies laughing, she enjoys herself, but reveals little, she is already a master of tricks if you ask her to talk about herself (she grew up traveling the world, following her father, a Russian-French diplomat and of the Korean mother) and family life (studded by a series of disasters and premature deaths). In the end, between one laugh and another, he remains a reserved, curious, nice and unpredictable creaturehe might even give you a kiss and vanish into thin air.

After Mantis, sweet, funny and with a heart of gold – despite her superhuman strength and a telepathic power that makes her feel every emotion – she has transformed for Mission: Impossible into a very bad creature: a drastic change of personality and acting.
(laughs) Yes, he is a character at the antipodes, just the opposite of Mantis. It was an incredible and interesting experience, because the director and Tom work in a very particular way: once the actor has been chosen, they build the character around him, and there is no definitive script, if ever a continuous conversation on how to create him. . It’s a constant work, as a team: we start from the behavior, we move on to the costumes, the hair, the make-up, the way she walks, and we build it according to the actor’s abilities.

As an actress she has gone from French authors to Hollywood mega-productions, today she is a “global” character. Was she what she wanted, what she aspired to?
Well, I’m extremely appreciative of the fact that I get to work with very talented directors and people, I couldn’t be luckier. I told myself this every day on set, acting in a film that then travels around the world is a plus. I love being a part of the Marvel universe and hiding behind my antennae and colored contact lenses. Every time I see the film I have the impression that it’s not me on the screen.

And in Mission: Impossible?
Oh no, it’s different there because you will see my face (smiles).

Have you always wanted to act since you were a child?
I think I decided around 16-17 years old. I lived in the country then, took the train to Paris, shut myself up in an art-house cinema and watched one film after another. Well, it was then that I fell in love with that world, and with the work of strong and visionary filmmakers. It was a sort of cathartic escape into art; thinking about it, even today I love hiding behind a different character, sometimes even violent…

What does he look for and find today when he gets into a character?
For me it’s always a question of emotions, I want to share them, transmit them, find a connection with the public and with my most intimate self. It’s like a continuous dance, making the audience laugh, make them cry, make them feel different emotions. It’s bloody beautiful.

She grew up in different countries, from Canada to Japan to the Ivory Coast to Paris. I guess those experiences influenced her creativity, her way of working.
It’s funny, we actors are always out and about, we spend our days with people we won’t see again, we travel to cities we don’t know and, when we come home after work, we’re alone. There are many moments of solitude, but as you say, these too stimulate creativity, allow you to reflect; there is something beautiful about being alone. Yes, sometimes it’s hard, I certainly don’t complain about my life but… it can be bizarre.

Pom Klementieff and Tom Cruise

Let’s talk about Tom Cruise. We know that he is a solid, attentive, perfect partner. He helps and listens to everyone on set and is a dream to work with. Please, Pom, add something else for me.
But it’s all true! There is no one like him at work. I love him very much; he is the most generous and most reliable person I have ever known. Tom is a true inspiration, he’s gorgeous, even off the set. With him you can end up in incredible situations: you spend a day working in the studios and then in the end he offers you a ride home. “Certain!” you answer him, and get on a helicopter that he pilots, in a beautiful sunset, because he likes sunsets. Oh my God, what to say? “Thanks Tom!”. Seeing him on set then, always there to challenge and surpass himself, in harmony with the cast and crew, is extraordinary. He knows exactly what everyone is doing, and he remembers everyone’s names!

In short: it doesn’t tell me anything new.
Do I repeat the same things? I recently worked with another actor who walked off the set just when I was shooting a scene with me in close-up. Tom would never do that. And there with you, he gives you 100 percent, and that’s nice.

Now he’s a star, he just finished this film with Cruise with a budget of 290 million dollars: what else is in the drawer?
I would like to continue working with people I admire, experience different emotions and have fun. Continue with the action movies, but I also hope to receive different scripts. My personal life? Yesterday I was on a ranch, we were grazing some cows, and I caught myself thinking that I would like to move there… Life is so interesting, there are so many experiences to expose yourself to, I don’t know if I want to stay closed in the small world of acting. And I want to keep traveling, exploring. I want to – how to say – “expand”…

Are you an optimist?
Yes and no. I’m French. Do I think that everything can be for the best? Noooo… (laughs).

Can the world get better?
Yes, I really think so.

iO Woman © REPRODUCTION RESERVED