Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

Céline Tran

Céline Tran
Tran at 2010
Born (1979-04-09) 9 April 1979 (age 45)[1]
Lyon, France[1][2]
Other namesKatsuni
Years active
  • 2001–2013 (pornography)
  • 2014–present (mainstream)
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1]

Céline Tran (born 9 April 1979)[3][4] is a French actress, writer, martial artist, blogger, and former pornographic actress, previously known under the stage name Katsuni,[1][5][6] and before that Katsumi.[7] She started her adult film career in 2001,[8] working first in France, then in the United States.

She received numerous awards in the course of the adult career, most notably the AVN Award for Female Foreign Performer of the Year which she has won three times.

She retired from pornography in 2013 and returned to France to pursue a career in mainstream entertainment under her real name. Tran has appeared in films such as the French comedy Porn in the Hood (2012), and Cambodian action film Jailbreak (2017). She also released an autobiography, Ne dis pas que tu aimes ça, in 2018.

Early life

Tran is of French/Vietnamese heritage.[5][9][7] Her father is Vietnamese and her mother's family is French.[10][11][12]

She studied for a year at Grenoble Institute of Political Studies.[13] Finding herself ill-suited for political science,[14] she dropped out and then studied literature for three years,[15] envisioning a career as a teacher. During her studies, she did gigs as a go-go dancer, which led her to be spotted by a photographer working for Penthouse. The magazine's French branch was then looking for actresses who would appear in its adult pictures.[16] Tran accepted Penthouse's proposal for a shoot as a manner of challenge and because she thought it might be an exciting experience.[14]

Career

Adult film career in France and in the United States

Having enjoyed her first experience, she decided to pursue a career in the adult film industry.[16] For two years, she shot movies while continuing her studies but eventually renounced becoming a teacher and decided to pursue a career as a full-time adult actress.[14]

During her career in the pornography industry, which she began in 2001,[8] she appeared in over 400 releases.[1] In 2004, she was voted "the French's favorite porn actress" in a readers' poll organized by trade journal Hot Vidéo.[17] She also appeared in several Italian and Spanish productions, working for directors such as Mario Salieri. She performed alongside Rocco Siffredi in Who fucked Rocco ?, Fashionistas Safado: The Challenge and Fashionistas Safado: Berlin, the latter two being directed by John Stagliano.

Tran in 2007

She shot her first American films in 2003. In 2005, she decided to focus on her work in the United States whose industry offered better opportunities. During the next few years, she divided her time between France and the US, working mostly in the latter country. In December 2006, she became the first French actress to sign an exclusive performing contract with Digital Playground.[9]

She originally performed using the stage name Katsumi (a common given name in Japan for both sexes), but she was barred by a French judge in Créteil in January 2007 from using the name, after a woman named Mary Katsumi sued over the resemblance to her own name.[5][7] Although she had informed the websites that she had changed her stage name, many outlets kept referring to her as "Katsumi". She was eventually sued again a few months later[18] and, in September 2007, was fined €20,000, having been deemed responsible for various violations of the ban.[19]

In May 2006, she got breast implants.[1] Her first film with her new breasts, French ConneXion of Marc Dorcel Productions, came out at the beginning of 2007. In the meantime, Tran also modelled for the cover of Marquis magazine, a leader in fetishism. She also continued working and touring as an exotic dancer in nightclubs of various countries.[20][9]

Tran at the 2008 AVN Expo

In July 2008, Tran released My Fucking Life, a French-language film made for Marc Dorcel Studios. The movie is partly a documentary on Tran's daily life over a year, with a look at her shoots in Las Vegas, on set during filming in Porn Valley, along with a bit of her personal life.[21] In 2008, she was part of the cast of Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge, one of the most expensive pornographic films ever produced. In 2012, she directed another feature for Dorcel, In bed with Katsuni.[14] In 2011, Complex ranked Tran fourteenth on their list of "The Top 100 Hottest Porn Stars Right Now"[2] and third on their list of "The Top 50 Hottest Asian Porn Stars of All Time".[5]

Other media

In the mid-2010s, Tran hosted the weekly French TV show En attendant minuit, broadcast by TPS Star.[22]

During her adult career, Tran's personality and success in the United States attracted the attention of the French mainstream medias.[8][23] In October 2009 she was a guest in the popular talk show On n'est pas couché. In the early 2010s, she wrote articles about the pornography industry for the magazines Les Inrockuptibles and Le Nouvel Observateur.[24]

In 2010–2011, she hosted on the French channel MCM Katsuni's sexy mangas, a TV show dedicated to hentai.[25] The show was eventually canceled in March 2011 due to a decision of France's Superior Council of Audiovisual content.[26][27] Among other appearances in the French mainstream media, she played herself in the successful comedy film Porn in the Hood (2012). In 2013, she was one of the porn stars interviewed in the American documentary film Aroused, directed by photographer Deborah Anderson.[28]

Retirement from pornography

On 14 August 2013, Tran announced that she was retiring from pornography to focus on "a new kind of entertainment".[29] She relocated to France and has been using since then her birth name, Céline Tran.[30] A few months after her retirement, she was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame.[31]

Post-pornography career

Tran signing her comics at the 2017 Japan Expo

Tran has since appeared in several mainstream productions. In 2014, she played a recurring character in the French web fiction Le Visiteur du futur.[32] Also in 2014, she wrote the script for Heart Breaker, the sixth volume of the French comic book horror series DoggyBags.[33] In 2016, she started working as a DJ[34] and writing a blog focusing on cultural and sexual themes.[35] She also underwent three years of martial arts training to secure roles in action films.[36][37] In 2017, she hosted on Facebook Live, for the French community website NextPLZ a show about sexuality aimed at youngsters,[38] published a second graphic novel in the DoggyBags collection,[39] and created a YouTube channel dedicated to sports.[40]

Also in 2017, she made her debut in an action feature film by playing the main villainess in the Cambodian film Jailbreak.[41][42][37] Screen Anarchy reviewed her performance positively, commenting that she "displayed tremendous ability to handle the choreography and swordplay" and praising her fight scene with the film's female protagonist, Tharoth Sam.[43]

In 2018, her autobiography, titled Ne dis pas que tu aimes ça (Don't say you like it) was released in France.[44][45][46] At the same time, she started working as a publisher for Glénat Editions.[45][46]

In 2022, she is announced in the credits of the series The Witcher: Blood Origin as the stunt double of the actress Michelle Yeoh.[47]

Awards

Katsuni at the AVN Awards 2011

Non-pornographic appearances

  • 2006 : Destricted, segment We fuck alone, directed by Gaspar Noé
  • 2009 : Lascars, directed by Emmanuel Klotz and Albert Pereira-Lazaro (voice only)
  • 2011 : Xanadu (television series)
  • 2012 : Porn in the Hood, directed by Franck Gastambide
  • 2014 : Métal Hurlant Chronicles (season two, one episode)
  • 2014 : Le Visiteur du futur (web fiction), directed by François Descraques
  • 2015 : Epic fitness (web fiction)
  • 2015 : Les Tutos : le noël de Camille (web fiction)
  • 2017 : Jailbreak, directed by Jimmy Henderson

Comics

  • 2014 : DoggyBags volume 6 : Heartbreaker, (co-wrote the script with Run; art by Jérémie Gasparutto, Florent Maudoux and Guillaume Singelin), Ankama Éditions
  • 2017 : Doggybags présente : Heartbreaker, (co-wrote the script with Run and Hasteda; art by Sourya, Maria Llovet and Chariospirale), Ankama Éditions

Autobiography

  • 2018 : Ne dis pas que tu aimes ça, Fayard

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Katsuni". IAFD.com. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
  2. ^ a b Paul Cantor (8 July 2011). "The Top 100 Hottest Porn Stars (Right Now)". Complex. Archived from the original on 10 December 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  3. ^ Marsh, James (30 December 2014). "Watch Celine Tran Slit Throats And Kick Ass In BURST". Twitch Film. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  4. ^ Dellicour, Jonathan (9 September 2013). "Entretien exclusif: Céline Tran (Katsuni), en tournage à Charleroi: "J'arrête les films X pour d'autres défis" – lanouvellegazette.be". La Nouvelle Gazette. Copiepresse. (in French) Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d Gabriel Alvarez (19 September 2011). "The Top 50 Hottest Asian Porn Stars of All Time". Complex. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  6. ^ "KATSUNI – By the way I announce you that this week-end is..." facebook.com. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  7. ^ a b c "The 50 Prettiest Porn Stars of All Time". Complex. 18 May 2010. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  8. ^ a b c Katsuni : « Les prostituées et les actrices porno sont en quelque sorte cousines », L'Express, 22 February 2012
  9. ^ a b c David Sullivan (28 December 2006). "Digital Playground Signs Katsumi". AVN. Archived from the original on 22 July 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
  10. ^ a b Staff. "Katsuni before she was a fleshlight girl". hot-fleshlight.com. Fleshlight Girls. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  11. ^ West, Anthony (28 October 2010). "Porn Star Interview – Katsuni". hush-hush.co.uk. Hush-Hush Adult Directory. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  12. ^ Profile. "KATSUNI VIEW ALL 20 SCENES". 21sextury.com. 21Sextury Productions. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  13. ^ Katsuni : « Je reçois beaucoup de messages de joueurs » , Sofoot, 31 December 2009
  14. ^ a b c d Katsuni : «Je n'ai pas l'impression de m'être enfermée dans le porno», 20 Minutes, 13 March 2012
  15. ^ Katsuni : «J'ai aussi fait Sciences Po' et fac de lettres », La Dépêche, 1 December 2007
  16. ^ a b Katsuni : « Le live, l'avenir du porno », Masculin.com, 30 mars 2012
  17. ^ Katsumi : l'actrice X préférée des Français. Hot Vidéo n°164 Archived 2 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, mai 2004 sur hotvideo.fr
  18. ^ Une femme réclame 82.000 euros à une star du porno qui utilise son nom, 20 minutes, 28 août 2007
  19. ^ AFP. "Porn star Katsumi ordered to pay 20,000 euros to a homonymous". liberation.fr. Liberation.
  20. ^ (in French) Katsuni, redevenue Céline Tran, s’attaque à la BD Archived 27 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, L'Opinion, 13 June 2014
  21. ^ Interview – Katsuni (My fucking life), Ecranlarge.com, 21 June 2008
  22. ^ Thomas, Julian (13 September 2010). "Katsuni: "I leave the TV come to me"". programme-tv.net. Tele-Loisirs.fr. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  23. ^ Katsuni, Libération, 17 novembre 2007
  24. ^ Katsuni : « Les prostituées et les actrices porno sont en quelque sorte cousines », L'Express, 22 février 2012
  25. ^ "Les mangas sexy de Katsuni : découvrez l'univers des hentaï avec l'actrice dès vendredi sur MCM". premiere.fr. 18 September 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  26. ^ Le CSA choqué par les mangas sexy de Katsuni sur MCM Archived 2 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Télé-Loisirs [fr], 22 March 2011
  27. ^ Katsuni et ses mangas sexy, c'est fini, Mangas Sanctuary, 23 March 2011
  28. ^ Sex Stars as People, With Dreams and Worries, The New York Times, 2 May 2013
  29. ^ L'actrice Katsuni arrête le porno, Le Figaro, 15 August 2013
  30. ^ Céline Tran (Katsuni) "Le porno n’est plus un monde de fantasmes", Les Inrockuptibles, 4 January 2014
  31. ^ a b "AVN Announces 2014 Hall of Fame Inductees". AVN. 26 December 2013. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  32. ^ (in French) "Katsuni dans la saison 4 du Visiteur du Futur !", Madmoizelle.com, 4 September 2013
  33. ^ (in French) "interview Comics Céline Tran (Katsuni) et Run", Planète BD, 13 June 2014
  34. ^ (in French) "Céline Tran, la dernière recrue de Tête d'Affiche", Villaschweppes.com, 15 May 2016
  35. ^ (in French) "Le tout nouveau blog perso de Céline Tran, à mettre d’urgence dans vos favoris", Madmoizelle, 28 December 2016
  36. ^ "Jailbreak : Interview avec Celine Tran (ex-Katsuni)", Ciné-Asie.fr, 11 janvier 2017
  37. ^ a b "EXCLUSIVE: Celine Tran – From Heartbreaker to Jailbreak-er…" Archived 19 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Impact Online, 18 June 2016
  38. ^ (in French)"PLZ Yourself : l'émission facebook live avec Céline Tran (ex-Katsuni)" Archived 4 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine, NextPLZ, 2 February 2017
  39. ^ Doggybags présente Heartbreaker, Planetebd.com, 4 June 2017
  40. ^ "Ma Vie de Ninja: la chaîne YOUTUBE!", maviedeninja.com, 26 June 2017
  41. ^ (in French) Jailbreak : Céline Tran en mode badass dans le trailer, eklecty-city.fr, 30 December 2016
  42. ^ Jailbreak busts out as satisfying Khmer action film, Khmer Times, 1 February 2017
  43. ^ Fantasia 2017 Review: JAILBREAK, An Exceptional Addition to Martial Arts Cinema Coming Out of Southeast Asia, Screen Anarchy, 23 July 2017
  44. ^ Katsuni ou le féminisme jouisseur et badass, Vice, 8 March 2018
  45. ^ a b Céline Tran, ex-Katsuni : "Il est plus décent de dire 'J'ai fait du X mais j'ai souffert' que 'J'en ai tiré du plaisir'", LCI, 13 March 2018
  46. ^ a b Céline Tran : "Quand j'ai abandonné Katsuni, on m'a dit que je m'étais suicidée", Rue89, 14 March 2018
  47. ^ "The Witcher : Céline Tran dans le spin-off Blood Origin". Eklecty-City. 16 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  48. ^ "2002 FICEB Award Winners & Nominees". archive.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  49. ^ a b "AVN – 2014 AVN Awards Show – History". Avnawards.avn.com. 18 January 2014. Archived from the original on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  50. ^ "2004 Award winners & nominees". archive.org. Archived from the original on 11 October 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  51. ^ "Festival De L'Erotisme und European-X-Awards 2004". German-Adult-News.com. 10 March 2004. Archived from the original on 10 March 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  52. ^ "XRCO 2004 Winners!". 2 June 2005. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  53. ^ "VENUS AWARD Winner 2004" (PDF). venus-berlin.com. 22 October 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2006. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  54. ^ a b c d Jared Rutter (9 January 2005). "The 22nd Annual AVN Awards: A Jenna Jameson Kinda Night". AVN. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
  55. ^ a b c d "AVN Award Winners Announced". AVN. 9 January 2006. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  56. ^ "Venus-Paris parte II: Awards". VM18News. 12 May 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  57. ^ a b c d "2007 AVN Award Winners Announced". AVN. 16 January 2007. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2007.
  58. ^ Joanne Cachapero (9 October 2007). "Barcelona Film Fest Winners". XFanz. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  59. ^ "Winners of the 2007 FICEB Ninfa Awards", h.b., 10 October 2007, xstarsnews.com. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  60. ^ "X Stars aux Ninfa Awards 2008: Les Gagnants!". 27 June 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  61. ^ Rutter, Jared (12 January 2008). "2008 AVN Awards Winners Announced". AVN. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
  62. ^ a b Paul Fishbein (21 October 2009). "Pirates II, Evil Angel Big Winners at 2009 Hot d'Or Awards". AVN. Archived from the original on 25 October 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
  63. ^ a b "Hot d'Or archives presse x, articles sur les Hot d'or". Hot-dor.fr. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  64. ^ a b "AVN Announces the Winners of the 2011 AVN Awards". AVN.com. 9 January 2011. Archived from the original on 10 January 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  65. ^ "2011 XBIZ Awards Announced Last Night". AVN.com. 10 February 2011. Archived from the original on 13 April 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  66. ^ XBIZ Award Winners, XBIZ, January 2012

Media related to Katsuni at Wikimedia Commons