While attending the 2017 D23 Expo last month, we got a special surprise from the publicists at Disney. We were taken backstage and into a small curtained room to sit down with Karen Gillian and Pom Klementieff from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2!
Yes, you heard right. Right after the live action panel at D23 Expo, where we saw SO MANY Marvel stars take the stage to talk about the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War movie, our press group was in for a little surprise. We heard we had an interview with someone from D23, but it turns out we were duped in the best way possible. We sat down in an intimate little room and stared at a poster from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and that's when figured out that something was up!
In case you aren't familiar with #GOTGvol2, here's a little background: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 premiered in theaters on May 5, 2017, and was a box office SMASH, grossing over $860M worldwide. The hit sequel is now coming to Blu-ray and digital on August 22, 2017, and there are some incredible bonus features you won't want to miss. Stay tuned because I'll have more details about that very soon.
Now, back to our story and exciting interview! We were quickly told that we weren't really meeting anyone from D23, but we were going to meet two starts from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Just then Karen Gillan and Pom Klementieff walked through the curtains. Karen Gillan plays Nebula, a Luphomoid assassin. She's the adopted daughter of the intergalactic warlord, Thanos, and as well the adopted sister of Gamora.
Pom Klementieff plays Mantis, an empathic alien. After bonding with Drax the Destroyer, she came to care for the Guardians and then allied with them to help to prevent Ego from conquering the Galaxy.
Talking Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
with Karen Gillan and Pom Klementieff
After the invigorating live action panel to promote Avengers: Infinity War, we were already pumped up, so I could only imagine how Karen Gillan and Pom Klementieff felt. When we asked them how it felt to receive such a warm reception from the D23 crowd, Karen Gillan said, "It felt electric to have like 7,000 people passionate about something that you're involved with in some way, and it's just a totally different sensation than anything I've ever experienced. It felt electric."
Pom Klementieff thinks it's pretty great to be part of a ride at Disney California Adventure Park.
As I mentioned in my post about the Summer of Heroes at Disneyland Calfornia Adventure Park, there is an AWESOME new Guardians of the Galaxy ride and Pom's character is featured. She gave us her account of being on the ride and said, "Maybe not eat too much before, because it will be like up and down. It's like your organs are lifted up and then come down! Yeah, it's really crazy. It's safe because you stay in the seat. You don't actually fall, but it's just amazing! And it's really fun with the story that James Gunn wrote. You see the collector, Benecio Del Toro, and it's really fun. I'm happy to be a part of it. I'm wanted, right?"
Photo courtesy of Moms 'N Charge
It felt like they were making some really special.
We asked the pair what kind of feedback they've received from the fans. Karen Gillan said, "I feel like it's been received really well by the fans. I felt like, when we were making it, it definitely felt like we were making something special. Everyone was delivering and it just felt like everything that was so good about the first film was kind of amplified in the second film. So, I feel like we took it to the next level. And it would seem that the fans agree with that which is always the most important thing, so that's cool."
Karen Gillan said kids are nicer to her now.
Spoiler alert: Nebula shows that she's not so bad after all in GOTG Vol 2. We asked Karen Gillan if the fans are nicer to her now. She remarked, "Well, no one was really mean to me. I think maybe children are less scared of me now because sometimes their parents would be like, 'Do you want a picture with Nebula?' and they'd be like, 'No!' But, now they're willing to take pictures with me, so I'm happy.
Michael Rooker in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Pom Klementieff got a bit of a shock from Micahel Rooker.
There are a LOT of big names on the set of these movies, so we asked the ladies what it was like working with such talented actors. Pom Klementieff said, "They're all really cool and professional, but also goofy. It was really fun actually. They're all really great people to work with. Some of them were really THE movie stars... [but they were] great and easy to work with."
We also asked if anyone had played any pranks on them. At first, Pom said no. Until Karen said, "Well, Michael Rooker showed his bottom to you. That's a prank." We had to know more! Pom added, "Oh, yes. It's true. I forgot, but it was not during the shoot. It was during the rehearsals. I was with James Gunn and Dave Bautista, and we were rehearsing a pretty emotional scene. You remember in the movie when I touch him and I see what he went through in his life? At some point, we saw Michael Rooker and he was showing his butt by the window. It was like kind of like putting his butt, you know, against the window!"
Insecurity is the tie that binds.
A lot of times, actors look inward to relate to their characters. We ask Karen and Pom how they were like their characters.
Karen quickly responded, "I hope I'm nothing like mine! I don't have any siblings, but I can definitely identify with insecurity, I think, as everyone can. My character is the sister that's the least favorite. She's not as good at fighting. She's less attractive. She's got no hair. She feels inferior and I think everybody can probably relate to that in some capacity."
Pom added, "Me, too. The insecurities, I mean. We're all insecure, and I think that the moments that move me the most is when she doesn't believe in herself and she just needs someone to believe in her. And then he gives her the strength, and I think I have the same thing in life too, you know? And I think everyone does, right? You just need someone to believe in you and to push you and it gives you the strength to win it or to destroy... or anything."
Karen Gillan gets to keep her hair now!
You may remember that Karen Gillan had to shave her head for the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Well, we asked her if she has to continue shaving her head for each film and she said, "No, I'm not shaving anymore because Marvel has been very kind to me and they're allowing me to look like a woman now, so I'm really pleased about that."
She also revealed that one of the biggest challenges about her role is probably the makeup process. She said, It's, it's really intense. It takes about 4 hours in the morning to get ready. I get up at like two or three o'clock in the morning and go there, and then they stick the skin on my face. But it's so cool, the way I turn out, that it's so worth it. But, it's a challenge to get up at that time and go through that on a daily basis.
Being able to inspire and empower girls and women is awesome!
We asked Karen Gillan and Pom Klementieff how it feels to inspire change and to empower women who look up to superheroes. Karen replied, "I feel like it's about time. I mean, we've been craving this for a long time. And with everyone in the Marvel universe, all the amazing women and also Wonder Woman, it just feels like there's a real movement of strong, different types of women.
Pom added, "Yeah, completely. You can see the bad ass and really strong characters like Karen's character or like my character, she's more innocent and weird, but it's okay to be either of these characters." She also said, "And what I also love is that the costumes that we wear, they're not too revealing. They're not too sexy... because sometimes, in superhero movies, it's like, 'Oh, you're gonna wear a bikini and fight. Ah, okay.' It doesn't really make sense, you know?"
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. is coming to Blu-ray and digital on August 22, 2017
Check out the trailer for the film here:
G K says
I love her and these movies! I can't wait to see more!
Lindsey Tanberg says
What an exciting opportunity! Great interview, Karen is one of my favorites especially in Dr.Who. It rocks that Marvel is including more feminine roles. Thank you for sharing this, Ruth!
Dorothy Boucher says
This looks like a wonderful and fun movie for the whole family, I have not seen part two to this
movie yet! , Hopefully soon.
@tisonlyme143