【Jessica Drake in Scandalous Sex (2004) full movie】

Editor's note: This is Jessica Drake in Scandalous Sex (2004) full moviethe first in a weeklong series of interviews from an April visit to the set of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2that will focus on the new characters and storylines for the Marvel Studios sequel ... now just three short months away.

Mantis may be Marvel's most touchy-feely character, but she's no pushover.

The newest Guardian of the Galaxy is one spaced-out alien indeed, a social neophyte who wields the soft power of empathy, feeling and manipulating others' emotions through touch. Though surely there's something more going on here than just emotional intelligence.

Like Mantis, French actress Pom Klementieff -- who plays her in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2-- clearly has secret reserves of strength we don't yet know about. Because Klementieff does notcrack under pressure.

And what withering pressure this was.

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It was a rainy, muggy April morning in Atlanta when a squadron of journalists descended on the Pinewood Studios shooting set to take in the extra-celestial delights of Guardians 2. Much of its mysteries were teased in eye-popping concept art, a kaleidoscope of psychedelic fantasy landscapes that foretell a sequel taking a hard turn for the super-weird.

Yet nothing seemed more alien than Klementieff herself, the only completely "new" Guardian (also joining the team are Nebula and Yondu, played by Michael Rooker and Karen Gillan, who were introduced in the 2014 original).

And it's not just the character who seems to be appearing out of cold space. Born in Quebec City to a French-Russian father and Korean mother, the 30-year-old Klementieff appeared in the Sundance social-media thriller Ingrid Goes Westand Spike Lee's 2013 remake of Oldboy.

This Guardiansrole will put her in a whole new universe.

Pom Klementieff attends the "Ingrid Goes West" premiere last month at Sundance. Credit: Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival

The press corps was extra eager to find out all they could about Mantis, whom Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige said "auditioned for the part many, many times, along with many, many other people" because director James Gunn "was doing something very unique with Mantis."

The group sat with Klementieff later in the day, taking shots at the big Marvel questions and poking around many of her answers, seeking clues into what this mercurial Mantis -- the "all-new" Guardian with 1970s comic-book origins -- might have in store.

Can she fight? What potential lies in her powers? Why has she only ever interacted with Kurt Russell's character? Who isKurt Russell's character, anyway? And what is this about a special connection to Drax the Destroyer?

Klementieff did, in fact, reveal some hints about these and other questions during her interview, and did so somehow without saying much about them. It's almost as though she was conveying what we needed to know through ... feelings.

See if you feel them, too:

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Tell us about Mantis -- who she is and what she's doing in this movie?So, she's an alien. And she's always with -- at the beginning, she's spent her life with Kurt Russell's character. She was pretty lonely and then she meets the Guardians and ... that's it. She has empathetic powers, so it's connected with feelings and emotions.

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We heard that she has a connection with Drax in particular. Can you talk a little bit about that?They get along. They just -- there is a friendship going on and they just click, you know?

What is your relationship like with Peter Quill?Um, I don't know if I can talk about that! It's a surprise! It's going to be in the movie.

What kind of fighting does your character do?It's a James [Gunn] interpretation of what he relates to from the comic books. So, it's slightly different from the comic books.

Is it martial arts? That kind of stuff?Hmmm. It's different ... [Laughs]

Can you talk a little bit more about her empathetic powers, how they manifest in the movie?She can change emotions --

Other people's emotions?Yes. [Laughs] I don't want to give too much. There is not a lot of things to say about that. She feels things, you know, by touching people. So she can feel things and change emotions.

Kevin [Feige] told us that she hasn't really met a lot of other people before she meets the Guardians, and so she's a little awkward.Yes, exactly! There's an awkwardness and a curiosity and ... how do you say? She wants to discover new things ... she was really lonely and by herself, so it's a completely new thing to meet these people and to discover new things and new emotions and a new way of sharing things.

How did you figure out the right way to convey that?I don't know. I think it's like a kid, you know? You discover things and you're curious about things and you make mistakes and you say, like, weird things or you're awkward. And I think in a way it's touching when you see someone do that. You're like, Oh! OK, you're not really adapted to this society.

You mentioned that James [Gunn] is approaching this character in his own way. She has a long history in the comics. Did you look at any of that?You're going to think that I'm crazy, but I haven't read the comic books. I wanted to and I asked James if I should and he said, "No, you don't need to." Because I knew his version was so different from the pictures and drawings that I saw ... but I remember when I had the audition, I was creating a character in my mind, in my head and reading the lines, I knew like which way I wanted it to be and it's so well written that it was a really different flavor. When I saw the pictures on the internet, I was like, What?! Really?! No!! ... I don't want the character to be, like, sexual and, like, usually they're always like that. The girls are always like -- [gestures sexily] And it was different because it was different. I think we're creating something different.

What separates her from everyone else? What does she do differently?There's something more strange, maybe. She comes from a different world and she's less ... I don't know. There's like something less sexual, I would say. Or more awkward, yeah?

So, she's like an awkward sort of presence? Is that why she gets along with Drax?Yeah, I think so. [Laughs] They're a little bit off, you know?

Is there any romantic dynamic between her and Drax?You'll see! You'll see!

Who's her family? Does she have parents? Is she like an adopted sort of daughter of Kurt Russell's character?Um-- [Publicist: "We don't want to get into too much of that."]

Because I know family is a big theme in this movie, and I feel like every character has some sort of connection to something that they lost.Yeah, yeah, it's true. Yeah, there's some like adoption and some loneliness going on, but I can't really, like, explain everything.

How does she interact with Rocket and Groot, because Rocket is a very angry character? Does that rub off on her?Yes! There is a funny moment, but I can't really tell. She's trying to connect with him and it doesn't really work. [Laughs]

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

We saw some concept art of your character kicking some ass with the Guardians. Can you talk a little about that, about your character with the Guardians in the middle of everything?I look really badass on it, but am I in the movie? Hm, I don't know.

What's your character's greatest strength and greatest weakness?Oh my god. [Laughs] Greatest strength? It's her power to be able to read people and to change them, and her weakness, maybe, would be the past. And what she accepted for a long time in her past.

She's haunted by her past?I mean, haunted, we all have fucked up things that happened to us in the past, but we just go with it, you know?

With her powers to not only read but manipulate emotion, does she have her own agenda in like, manipulating the other characters?Hmmm. [Laughs] I don't want to give too much.

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