Page 20 - AVN January 2016

MILESTONES | | By Dan Miller
A New Spin Celine Tran, aka Katsuni, makes DJ debut in France
with an agency in Paris, Tête D’affiche,
is getting started in her new career. The French-Vietnamese beauty
Celine Tran, the actress formerly known as porn superstar Katsuni,
which books famous DJs and celebrities.
played her first DJ set at the opening exhibition of Doggybags in
To be a part of this event was the perfect
France.
opportunity to start and announce my first
Doggybags is a grindhouse-style comic book series created by the French
step in this field of entertainment.
artist Run and published by Ankama Editions; Tran co-wrote the sixth
“Other dates of bookings are already
volume, titled “HeartBreaker,” which is dedicated entirely to her character
planned but I’m very excited to start with
and is now available online in English on Comixology.com.
this special event.”
Tran debuted as a DJ on April 14 at Aeronef concert hall in Lille, France,
Tran’s career as Katsuni started in
about two hours from her native Paris, where several authors and illustrators
2002 and included performances in more
from the comic series gathered to meet fans.
than 400 adult films before she stepped
“A few weeks ago the Aeronef asked me if I wanted to play a DJ set,” Tran
away in 2013 to focus on her mainstream
told AVN. “The fact is that I recently started to learn to mix as I signed
entertainment career. The ex-Digital
Playground contract star retired as one
of the winningest female performers
of all time with more than two dozen
international awards—she is the only
three-time winner of AVN Female Foreign
Performer of the Year (2005-07).
“Since I’ve quit porn I really enjoyed
challenging myself in new fields,” Tran
said. “I did aerial silks, contortion acts
with a circus troupe. I started to train
martial arts and shot action videos ... I’m
very eager to learn; it’s an endless path.”
“HeartBreaker” starts on a porn set in
the Valley, but soon things take a turn for
the worse.
Billed as “Sex, Vice & Horror!” the
synopsis reads: “Los Angeles, present day.
After a painful breakup, Celyna, ingenuous
young student, meets a charming young
man in a nightclub who convinces her to
star in a pornographic film. What was to
be a fun, life-changing experience turns
into a nightmare when, on the set, she
is savagely attacked. Brutally bitten and
nearly drained of all her blood by a group
of inhuman, sinister-looking men, she
is left for dead. In the days that follow
the shooting of what was clearly a snuff
movie of a very particular nature, Celyna is
overcome by violent fevers, and driven by
strange, bloodthirsty fantasies…”
Tran said she now is working on the
second part of “HeartBreaker,” which
could ultimately turn into a trilogy, “so
consider this first comic as a big intro to
present the main character.”
“There will be much more action and
characters in the next part,” Tran revealed.
She starred in an all-action promotional
trailer for the French version in which
she’s seen executing numerous elaborate
martial arts stunts, slinging guns and
being an all-around badass.
“It’s my very first video since I quit
porn,” Tran said, noting it was shot in
WHO’S WHO
20 | AVN.com | 6.16
2014. “Since, I didn’t stop training and did
more action videos with the same stunt
team.”
Those short films feature Tran
displaying serious skills in brutal fight
sequences as the star of Bladed Minds
(2014), Burst and Dust Machina, both of
which were shot in 2015.
In addition to her growing mainstream
acting career, she is equally excited about
establishing herself as a DJ.
“I had no idea I would enjoy so much
learning to mix,” Tran admitted. “It’s
another way to express myself and be
connected with the audience. It’s a very
‘physical’ experience in fact. I like the
idea that people can ‘vibrate’ with me,
by listening to the same sounds, at the
same rhythm.”
Tran said her playlist includes electro,
metal, industrial rock and several movie
soundtracks.
“As always the goal is to invest myself
100 percent and enjoy what I do ... this is
the best way to share,” she said, adding
she is “super nervous” with “very positive
excitement.”
Tran also was featured in an exhibition
in a contemporary art museum in Paris,
collaborating with artist Iglika Christova
on a project called “Imaginary Zones.” The
project is about Tran’s perception of the
body.
“It’s funny how some people will
like you as a porn star because you
represent a symbol of freedom, of
emancipation and provocation. But as
soon as you change direction to express
yourself in another field, these same
people will judge you by saying that you
are not capable, that your role is to remain
undressed,” Tran said.
“These people, men and women, from
the adult industry or not, fans or not,
do not realize how much they reify porn
actresses. They forget that each of us
can be a symbol of freedom under the
condition to never limit or judge itself,
to be also able to choose to get dressed
or express itself in a completely different
field.
“When I decided to do porn, it was in
order to allow myself to do everything I
wanted and free myself of norms. With
the benefit of hindsight I know now that I
do not need to ‘become free,’ because ... I
already am! From there, nothing is limited,
anything is possible.”