September 25, 2007

Model, Actress, and Game Player – Celeste Thorson Talks Tourneys, E for All, TV, and More
By Louis Bedigian

“A lot of people say gaming isn’t a real sport or this and that. Realistically, in the Olympics they have marksmanship, they have that twitch of the finger. It’s just like that in gaming.”

Model. Actress. Game player. You wouldn’t expect to see those words in the same paragraph…until you meet Celeste Thorson. She loves games and it shows. She’s spent the summer touring with Stermy and Fatal1ty on their journey to conquer all challengers, serving as host and competition promoter.

When the games were done and I got a chance to sit down with Celeste, my first question was: how did a gorgeous model/actress like herself get into game event hosting?

“Fatal1ty is a friend of mine,” she answered, “and we kind of got started with the American Gamer tour and I helped him out at Sundance with a couple of things and he’s just a good friend and I like to go out and help him out with the shows.”

She continues, “I MC and do the tour… My boyfriend is Nicola Geretti, [who] was the Unreal Tournament champion at one point. He’s been doing a lot more managing lately. We’re kind of in this niche market of gamers and having a great time with it. I enjoy MMORPGs, strategy games, consoles, the Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation… Pretty much anything to feed the addiction. I just got started with World of Warcraft. That’s Stermy’s fault!”

When she’s not gaming Celeste also hosts and stars in Destination X TV. “It’s on MTV this fall and it has been airing on the Water Channel as well,” she says excitedly. “We’re doing our second season. I’m also doing a show called Envoy that’s going to be airing on FX next year. I do a lot of movies and TV and things like that. In the meantime I have a knack for gaming, the competitions, the technology… We’re going to be doing E for All this year. That’s going to be really fun!”

That isn’t all she has to say about gaming – far from it. She was happy to share her opinions with us, and we were happy to listen.

“A lot of people say gaming isn’t a real sport or this and that. Realistically, in the Olympics they have marksmanship, they have that twitch of the finger. It’s just like that in gaming where you have that quality of sportsmanship, competition, and it really is becoming more of a real sport than a niche sport. It’s really nice to be a part of that development.

“I think it’s a little bit safer than other sports because you don’t have the risk of being physically hurt or having irreparable damage to your spine or limbs, that sort of thing. A lot of parents that are still weary of gaming, you know, there are a lot of family-friendly settings. There are a lot of bloodless options, like we had on the tour. We still had some parents come up to us with concerns. But in comparison to television, there is a really big difference. At least this gives you the opportunity to get your aggression out there and perform in a sport that’s highly competitive, one that anybody can do whether you’re disabled or a child.”

“Yeah, I was totally beat. Totally!”

That’s interesting what you said about the Olympics. I never thought of it that way. This is the first time, watching Stermy play, that I thought maybe there is a place for spectatorship within gaming. Because I’m the kind of person that, when I see someone playing, I want to jump in and play. Stermy is very precise and exciting to watch.

Celeste Thorson: Absolutely. There’s a huge strategy to every shooting game. It really is about controlling the map. It’s about controlling all of the armor and weapons and making sure that you have that control for the re-spawn. Knowing where your opponent is at all times and being able to identify what their health is. All these strategies develop within a professional gamer to bring him from amateur to professional. When you play with people at that level that can predict every move you’re going to make, it takes that sensibility of knowing where all these elements are and knowing the map like the back of your hand. Just like any other sport – they’re always studying the gameplay of their opposing teams. You do the same thing in gaming. You try and get as many demos as possible so you can predict what your opponent is going to do.

You’re hosting the Stermy / Fatal1ty events – have you thought about doing more? Will you participate in any tournaments?

CT: I do enjoy tournaments… I haven’t entered too many. It’s really tough because women in gaming, they’re kind of on a different level than the guys. Women are kind of meant to be competing against women in gaming. There is only one woman that can stand up against some of the guys. Her name is Vanessa, and she is a DoA player. Primarily there is a big skill difference there [between men and women]. It’s kind of embarrassing – I have a pride issue with that! [Laughs]

I can’t believe there’s such a skill difference.

CT: I know. Maybe it’s the testosterone. Maybe that adrenaline rush. I know a lot girls in clans like PMS, Girls of Destruction and Frag Dolls. They do a great job and hold their own. When competing against each other they have a pretty good time. But when they get in competitions with men, it ends up being a different match-up there. So yeah, I like to play against guys but most of the time I know I’m going to lose.

I enjoy more strategy-based games anyway. A lot of the tournaments don’t include that. I know that CGS (Championship Gaming Series) is going to be doing World of Warcraft, so we’ll see. That’s a possibility. I like DoA. But it takes a lot of time and energy to compete and you really have to be competing against the right people. You can’t just practice with anybody. You have to practice with people on the same echelon as the people you’re going to be competing against. A lot of the competitors will practice with each other to get that insight into their competition. It just continues to escalate their skills and gaming abilities.

For example Vanessa practices against Master, who is one of the top DoA players. I think that really improves her game to compete against a guy who is at that level. Whereas if she was just playing against other gamers, people online or whatever it is, she probably wouldn’t be that good. I think all those elements contribute. It’s a huge time investment. Since I’m more into my performing career right now, I think I’m going to stick to that while I can.

You’re going to E for All this year.

CT: It’s going to be a lot of fun. Tons of huge booths! They didn’t do E3 [this] year, so it’s going to be a big comeback. It’s going to be a little more open with public being able to come in and buy tickets, so that’s really nice. And it’s so much fun there, it’s like a huge arcade. They have these huge, amazing sets, all these great costume characters, great opportunities to win prizes. Everybody’s going to be there. Fatal1ty is going to be a doing a huge both. WSVG (World Series of Video Games) is going to be having practically half of the entire event there. That’s going to be pretty huge in itself. We’re going to be doing a couple of shows there as well. There’s going to be a little bit of Jeopardy going on where you’ll be able to say, “Motherboards for $200.” That kind of thing. The sets are going to be huge. There will be celebrities who have their own games like Snoop Dogg and Tony Hawk. It’s going to be a day longer than normal [press-only E3].
 

Yeah, I’m really excited for that.

CT: So you’re going to be there?

Definitely.

CT: Right on, we’ll see you there!

Did you attend E3 this year?

CT: I wanted to but I think I was working. It’s been really tough. I know they were trying… They spent a lot of money a couple years ago and it didn’t quite work out the way they expected.

I’m coming to [E for All] for Stermy and Fatal1ty. They’re my friends and I really do it for them, being able to hang out with them and party and have a good time. It’s not really work when you have that much fun.

So you’ve attended E3 before?

CT: Yes. I’ve worked with Phantom and Microsoft before and did a lot of product presentations. I wanted to go anyway, so if they’re going to pay me anyway, you know…!

Exactly. I think E for All is going to be a little more relaxed. But I hope there are some brand-new demos to play. Have you heard anything about that?

CT: There are a couple of products that are supposed to have surprise releases, so we’ll find out.

I’ve heard that Nintendo is going to be there but for some reason Microsoft said no.

CT: I don’t know what’s up with that. I think their booth was supposed to be right next to ours. I don’t know what happened. Maybe it’s a little too much competition for them.

This gives Nintendo a clear shot at having lines wrapped all through the convention center for the second year running.

CT: No competition whatsoever. I think this is a pretty poor marketing decision by these companies. Obviously they got the money to invest in it. But it’s hard to come up against the Wii. I’m pretty addicted to it. I haven’t used my Xbox in a while. I’ve had a lot of fun with Wii [Sports] and Zelda and all that kind of stuff.

Mario is going to be amazing.

CT: Oh I can’t wait. And GameFly just sent me Mario Strikers Charged right when I left. I can’t wait till I get back to play that!

Now tell us about your TV shows.

CT: Destination X TV is a show that I host and participate in. Basically we do all kinds of action sports. We went to Hawaii and filmed our first season, that was really fun. We did everything from skydiving to shark diving to mountain climbing and all kinds of fun stuff like that. We are just starting to do our second season which is more of a wild west thing. We did some horseback riding through the vineyards and wine tasting.

How does wine tasting fit in with the others?

CT: The extreme sports, I know! It [the show] is just about enjoying life and taking it to the fullest extent. On top of the horseback riding we’re going to be rodeo-style cattle roping. But in addition to that it’s about enjoying the quality of life, and one of the most beautiful experiences I had was horseback riding through the vineyards. Touching all the grapes and having a glass of wine afterwards and bringing the audience to those places, giving them that insight.

We do a lot of sports car racing. We really enjoy precision driving. This Monday I’m going to be flying some mach jets, which should be fun. Hopefully I won’t [vomit] all over myself! All those g-forces really get to you. I’m going to try to tighten it up a little bit, because it definitely feels like there’s an elephant sitting on you when you’re in one of those planes. They do a lot of aerials and things like that. Most of the girls in the show – I’m the lead host, but we have a couple other girls, Lauren Fray, she’s really amazing too. A lot of the girls end up puking in the airplane! It’s hard when you’re on camera and you’re like, “Oh man!” I’m going to try to contain myself and hopefully get through it.

Are they giving you a motion sickness pill?

CT: I think I’m going to take that myself. I won’t let anyone know about that! [Laughs] They don’t provide that for you. I think they do that on purpose.

We do red carpet events in LA as well. The girls just went to the Wave House in San Diego. I wasn’t available for that shoot, but the girls took on one of the largest artificial waves in the world. One of the girls almost sprained her wrist doing that, because it is very powerful. We [also] did some surfing in Hawaii. We have a lot of fun doing these water sports and other sports and get a really great fan base around the country of girls that aren’t used to seeing other girls do these kinds of things.

It’s cool to get mail from kids who say, “Wow, you’re living my dream! I’ve never seen girls do that kind of stuff before! All my parents told me I’m crazy to want to do this!” It shows you that anybody that has the adventure spirit, male or female, of all ages. We had an investor on our show that was about 65 years old, had a triple bypass surgery, and ended up going skydiving! So, a lot of inspiration there for young people out there who are used to being stuck in the house all the time and don’t get to go out and experience these things. Show them some other avenues of life – that you can be an adrenaline junkie, travel the world and have a good time, experience all these things, and come home at night and play video games! [Laughs]

During the competition you mentioned Direct TV. Are you doing something with them?

CT: Direct TV has the Championship Gaming Series. I might be hosting that if it doesn’t conflict with my schedule. I’m doing a couple of films next year and I know that we might have some schedule conflicts. They did want me to host that, but I’m doing a film in Hong Kong and a film in Alaska. I just finished up a film called Room Nine that just got into the Hollywood Film Festival. It’s been in a couple of festivals in New York and Florida and it’s actually going to be playing at one of my favorite theaters in LA called the ArcLight. It’s a really beautiful theater, so I’m really excited about that. They’re going to do a red carpet gala. I do everything in that from Russian knife fighting to blowing up my car to all kinds of fun stuff. I’m kind of in the development of trying to pursue an action career. And they might be developing a video game based on Destination X!

Awesome!

CT: So hopefully you’ll be seeing some hot girls doing hot stuff. [Destination X] wants me to do Great White Shark hunting. I don’t know how I feel about that but it sounds pretty interesting.

When you go hunting like that, what is it you actually do…?

CT: With the shark diving we didn’t go hunting because it is extremely dangerous to be in their territory. We were in a cage for that. But being that it’s open in so many places, your hands and legs just kind of slip through. You really want to reach out and touch the shark but kind of know better. If you touch it the wrong way it’ll slice up your hand like sandpaper. Salt water and blood don’t really mix when you’re in a cage with sharks. There were about 20 sharks swarming around us. You can fit about 10 people in the cage, but the sharks are actually larger than the entire cage. It gives you a sense of the scale there and you really don’t want to mess with them.

The Great White Shark hunting we’ll probably do from the boat, and it’s more like harpooning and things like that. We won’t end up eating the shark or anything like that. It is a very extreme predator. I haven’t decided yet if I want to do it, so we’ll see.

What can we expect from Envoy?

CT: We’re doing a 13-episode one-hour drama series. I play Alex, [who] inherits $500 million dollars. I’m kind of an adrenaline junkie on that show as well. In the first scene I roll up in a Ducati and do all kinds of sports activities as well. Basically it’s about traveling the world with a couple of friends and pursuing the history of my father, finding out what his history was after he was killed, and it kind of goes into the Japanese mafia, it goes into all kinds of things. We’ll be filming in Dubai and Japan and kind of all over the world.

You haven’t done any shooting yet?

CT: We did a little shooting in London. It went into some production changes where they decided to release the first two movies as a two-hour movie prior to the season airing so that we don’t have to wait all the way until the fall [2008] to get it out there.

Thank you for your time, it was great speaking you.

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