April 92011 Pepperdine University will see Kappa Alpha Theta host “Kicks for CASA a co-ed soccer tournament in aid of Theta’s national philanthropy, Court Appointed Special Advocate association, a nonprofit network that supports and promotes court appointed volunteer advocacy for abused and neglected children. CASA’s main motivation is to help these children thrive in safe and permanent homes. The event starts at 9 a.m. Celebrities scheduled to play in the celebrity soccer game include Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings”) Christopher Atkins (“The Blue Lagoon”) Melissa Biggs (“Baywatch”) Latin musician Diegodiego Kiko Ellsworth (“Dexter”) Millena Gay (“General Hospital”) Amanda Gist (“Where Were You When The Lights Went Out In Rio”) radio personality Manny Guevara (“On Air with Ryan Seacrest”) Eva Halina (ex. Miss Poland) Melissa Hunter (“Entourage”) James Hyde (“Sex in the City”) Roland Kickinger (“Terminator Salvation”) Brian Krause (“Charmed”) Chris Rich (“George Carlin Show”) Richard Steinmetz (“Heroes”) WBC boxing champion Mia St. John and McKenzie Westmore (“All My Children”).
Tickets for the tournament are $10 for regular admission and $25 for VIP tickets (includes food Theta sunglasses and entrance into the VIP tent to hang out with the celebrities). Items on auction include LA Lakers tickets Tory Burch handbags K1 Speedway tickets vacation rental in Mexico and a football signed by Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger. Students interested in making a team need 13 players (11 on the field with two substitutes with at least five girls playing at all times). The winning team will receive a one-week stay in a resort in Mazatlan Mexico. In order to make a team contact Katherine Ellena by Monday April 4 at katherine.ellena@pepperdine.edu. I got a chance to interview host Sean Astin and ask him about soccer and his film career.
Q & A with Sean Astin
What is your soccer history? Did you ever play as a kid?
I never played as a kid. I have three daughters and I coached my eldest daughter for 7 years even though I never played (laughs).
Did you follow the U.S. in this past World Cup?
Oh my gosh yeah. I tracked everything that went on through my iPhone. It felt to me like soccer was accepted on a much broader scale in America and it really united so many families.
Tell me about the movie you and your wife are making based on the novel “Number the Stars” (a story about the Holocaust and a young girl who lives through it).
We’re basically adapting a best-selling children’s book. We found “Number the Stars” and we’re producing it. It’s what in Hollywood we would call our “passion project and I’m directing it.
What has been your most challenging role as an actor, and why?
I played the part of a drug addict when I was 20. It required an extremely high level of commitment.
What people, either in history, or in your personal life, have inspired you, and why?
I really like presidents. When I go into my daughter’s classroom and I see Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, and Franklin Roosevelt, I really admire them for what they did.
What one thing would you changed about this world if you had the ability?
Aside from the obvious of making peace and making sure everyone is fed, I’d change the standard of communication in the world from bickering to an elevated free-flowing ethics-based constructive discourse.