Pom Klementieff is currently starring in the action thriller The Killer’s Game, opposite Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella and Terry Crews. Klementieff delighted audiences in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise as Mantis and had a standout role in Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, alongside as, the unhinged antagonist out to destroy Ethan Hunt and his team. Pom is currently in production on Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two. While filming the Mission: Impossible movies, Klementieff cowrote and starred in “Au Revoir Chris Hemsworth,” a black-and-white, cheeky French new wave music video directed by Simon Pegg as part of the AGBO Superhero League Trash Talk videos. Klementieff’s other credits include Spike Lee’s Oldboy, Ingrid Goes West, Newness, Thunder Force, HBO’s Westworld and Netflix’s Black Mirror.
Three Great Things is Talkhouse’s series in which artists tell us about three things they absolutely love. To mark the September 13 release in theaters of the new thriller The Killer’s Game, starring Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews and Pom Klementieff, ebullient French actress Klementieff – a fan favorite for her work in the Guardians of the Galaxy and Mission: Impossible movies – shared some of the things that make her life meaningful. — N.D.
Skydiving
I’m obsessed with skydiving; I just did my 203rd jump yesterday. I’d set a goal to get to 200 jumps by the end of this summer, but once I got there, I just kept going. The only problem with how much I love skydiving is that a lot of things seem boring next to it. It’s a real addiction, but it’s such a beautiful thing to do. I get so inspired when I go to the drop zone, which is where you skydive, because I meet such interesting people from all different backgrounds.
The other day I met a man in the drop zone who was 86 and he was learning how to skydive. He was trying to get his A license, for which you need to do 25 jumps. I told him, “Oh my God, you’re so inspiring. What made you want to start skydiving now?” He said, “My wife died a year and a half ago, and I just wanted to do something different.” Even remembering that now, I’m about to choke up. There is so much pain and loss underneath his statement. There’s a lot of people who go to the drop zone who’ve gone through some shit. I met a woman yesterday who said she started skydiving because she survived cancer and now she wants to challenge herself and do something different. And she fucking loves it.
There’s something so beautiful and poetic about just floating and flying in the sky – it gives you such a different perspective on life. And it’s not something we’re supposed to be doing, because the human body is not made to be falling from the sky. But when I’m doing it, I feel so free. Sometimes I jump with other people and we follow each other, and I feel like a dolphin in the ocean.
My favorite experience is jumping from a hot air balloon, very early in the morning, as the sun is rising. Unlike when you jump from a plane, there is no sound and it doesn’t smell bad. When you jump from a plane, you’re going to land on a drop zone, but when you do a hot air balloon jump, there is uncertainty around where you’re going to land. It depends how the winds are and if it’s pushing you a certain way. You sometimes have to improvise and think, “OK, this field seems comfortable for my feet, so I’ll choose that rather than this building … or these cars!” So you’re in suspense about that. You have to act quickly and make sharp, quick decisions, which has helped me in other areas of my life too. Because it’s about making quick decisions, so you don’t die. But if you follow all the safety procedures and you’re really careful with everything, skydiving is safe. (I feel like I’m actually more in danger when I go on the freeway in my car – some people are terrible drivers!)
Horses
The other thing I’m obsessed with is horses, which is a little less high octane than skydiving. My dream is eventually to have a ranch with horses, because I just love being around horses so much. I love looking at them. I love smelling them. And I love the bond you can build with a horse. I’m a real horse girl. I’m not proud of it, but it’s who I am.
Most of all, I just love galloping in nature with nothing around, especially in places like Colorado, where it’s so open. I’ve been riding there and it’s really beautiful. I remember wrangling the horses back into the corrals as the sun was rising, and that was so stunning. I love when the horses are happy in big groups and they’re well taken care of, but they still have their freedom. It just makes you appreciate life and nature in a different way, because when you ride in the countryside or in the woods, the other animals are not scared of you, because you’re on a horse. And that’s amazing too.
I think the first time I rode was when I was about five. I would ride ponies on vacation sometimes, and I loved it. But back then, I didn’t have the drive and the confidence that I have now, so I was not as good as a rider. Because when you’re on a horse, you have to know where you’re going and not just be dreaming. Horses have such a connection to the riders and they feel your energy, so if you’re scared, they feel it. They need someone who knows what they’re doing.
I took riding lessons when I was 16, learning dressage for a year. When I was in the U.K., I learned the proper, English riding style, with the upright posture and really putting the weight in your stirrups and being really connected and strong. But if I ride for hours, I like to ride Western. It’s much more comfortable and I love the whole outfit, with the cowboy hat and the chaps. It’s just comfortable and I like the dirty cowboy vibe. I think it’s hot. My goal is to become a cowgirl and I would love to learn how to barrel race, too. That would be fucking cool. I keep watching videos of that, but I’m not there yet.
I also want to go to Africa and gallop along with the giraffes. I saw videos of people doing that, and I think there’s a lion sometimes too, so you have to be fast and not fall. It’s scary, but that would be a cool death. “How did she die?” “She was eaten by a lion. Alive. And she was riding a horse.” Which reminds me, I need to write my will …
Travel
I recently spent some time in a beach shack in Malibu, and I just stared at the ocean. Sometimes I’d be looking and say, “Oh my God, there’s dolphins!” The sea is so beautiful, and the smell of it calms me down. There’s something very soothing and peaceful about the sea and also something scary and haunting about it, because the tides can just swallow you up. When I was by the beach, I’d check when the tide was low and organize my day around when I could go walk on the beach.
I grew up in France, an hour away from Paris, so I had the woods and a garden and dogs and cats. The ocean was further away. My aunt had a house in the south of France and we would go to the sea near there, so I have happy memories of childhood picnics on the beach. The south of France is beautiful; I would love to go back. I’m now so used to just traveling all the time that just being at an airport makes me happy. After one week somewhere, I start getting a little bit antsy. I need to be somewhere else.
People say, “Humans live in houses. We’re supposed to live that way,” but our ancestors were nomads, so it’s also in our blood to love traveling and to love not being in the same place. So maybe that’s what I am: a nomad. I love to look at the ocean for 10 days, but then I need to get the fuck out of there and go somewhere else. I love to explore other countries and there are so many places I want to go to. I’ve never been to Greece, I want to go to Tokyo again, I want to go to Africa again. I’ve never been to Madrid. There are so many gorgeous places in Italy, and I’ve never been to Wyoming. The United States is so fucking big, I need to explore there more. A girlfriend and I want to do a little U.S. road trip with motorcycles, because we both ride, so that would be cool to do, too.
