What a surprise! Little did I know that when I decided to post up the FEROSH foto of the Masked Hello Kitty Haute-y of the Week, the person behind the Hello Kitty mask would take notice. Comments led to more dialogue and after more back and forth, I thought I’d take a chance and ask her for a little Q & A session. The result? She accepted! So, without further ado, our interview with the Haute Miss Gina Tran.

Miss Gina Tran (GT): hello =]

EDO (E): First off thanks for taking the time to interview with Edopeno.com! How are you doing today?

GT: I’mm fine, just ate taco bell. (*giggling) And you?

E: Doing good. Doing good. Just got back from dinner. Speaking of which – I # taco bell! Yo quiero…well you get the idea

GT: (*laughing) Haha. Yes.

E: Its obvious from your fotos that you are a model correct?

GT: Yes I am!

E: Where are you from?

GT: I was originally born and raised in San Jose, CA. I’m a Bay Baby! I moved to LA when I was 15 and currently reside in Orange County.

E: w00t! go Bay Area! What’s up w/ Norcal?!? Why the move?

GT: I’ve wanted to model since I was 4 so I figured LA was the place to be!

E: Oh, ya. LA is most definitely the place to be. I’m sure that I’m not the only one to say this, but…You take really good fotos! Any fotoraphers you enjoy working with most?

GT: Thank you! I have quite a few photographers that I LOVE working with. To name a few, it’d be: Uyen Vo, Henry Bernardo, Farhez Rayani, Dave Contreras, Joey Borao, Jennifer Erickson and Phillip Ritchie. They’re all great because they’re fun, creative and not so uptight!

E: (*boo) too all those uptight people! (*laughs) So…what inspired the masked Hello Kitty photoshoot idea?

GT: The Masked Hello Kitty idea came up when we all had a photographer/model party mixer. Whoever wanted to take pix can go ahead and shoot in the studio we were in. If not, you can just chill and mingle. I decided to bring whatever interesting stuff I had in my closet and see what I can make with them. So, that whole outfit, along with the contact lenses and wig, was all mine. I had a great make up artist there already so we all collaborated and made this last minute piece of art! The Hello Kitty mask was given to me by my best friend Alex who got it in Hong Kong. It pulled the whole look together!

E: Seriously! The look is FEROSH! Haute Azifug! Makes me wonder why they don’t have these photographer/model mixers in the Bay!? (*scratches head)

GT: (*interview pause) What does that mean by the way? Azifug?

E: (*chuckles) Well, I don’t like to curse too often. So when I say haute azifug, what I mean to say is “hot as F*ck.” I know it doesn’t make sense. I tend to make up words like that. But is it understandable? I mean, do you get it? Will others get it?

GT: OH! I get it! (*laughing) =]

E: Oh, good. (*chuckling) Next question. One I bet people are dying to know – What’s your background?

GT: I am Vietnamese, Chinese and French. Dominantly Vietnamese, and fluent too!

E: Ooh lala! Vietnamese? Do you play Tien Len? All my Vietnamese friends play that game, us Pilipinos also have a variation of the game called Pusoy Dos.

GT: (*laughing hard) Yes I DO play Tien Len! Its such a Vietnamese game! You see it being played a lot in those coffee shops, too! “Tien Len” literally means “Sound up” or “Number Up” You try to 1up the other players.

E: That game is so much fun! Been playing it for years! Got to thank my Vietnamese friends for that one. Which, by the way, taught me how to say a couple of phrases. Care to translate them for me and for the rest of our readers?

GT: Ok…

E: Here we go:

1) pho
2) em dep
3) em dep cua un jai nuc mac (?!?!)

GT: Well (*laughing)

1) pho is the obviously famous Vietnamese Noodle Soup
2) Em dep is how you would tell a girl shes pretty
3) And the last one…spelling is very off so I really dont know hahaha

E: (*laughing) I’ll have to ask him again.

Sorry for the side-track. Let’s get back to the modeling questions. Who or what inspires you?

GT: I wanted to model when I was 4 years old. I saw a mag ad with Cindy Crawford on it and I decided I wanted to get paid to look pretty in pictures too! (*giggling) I’m inspired by all the beautiful photos of models I see everyday. I love what I do. Its an art of its own kind!

E: True that. And looking pretty? You seem to do that VERY well! Almost too well (*chuckling) What type of modeling do you do? Type you are most interested in?

GT: Thanks (*laughing)

I do fashion and commercial. I can’t really do runway stuff because Im not 9’10 and 60 lbs. I wish I was though. But, oh well…

E: Oh really? Shoots, maybe I should model! Me being 20 ft. 20lbs and all. Where have we seen you so far? Your LOOK appears to be all over!

GT: I’ve been on the cover of Viet Beauty Magazine with a 12 page spread, and I’ve been on a lot of Asian TV channels and advertisements!

E: And, where can we see your portfolio?

GT: My website is ginatran.com but its under some major construction. I’m hoping it’ll be done soon. For now, everything is on my mypsace!

E: We’ll be sure to keep our eyes peeled for your site!

GT: Thanks!

E: Outside of the modeling world, what else do you enjoy doing? Interests/hobbies?

GT: I’m a huuuge gamer. Im currently playing Call of Duty 4. I also gogo dance on the side too! I’ve done a lot of huge events here in CA. Other than that, I just like to stay at home, play videogames, eat and chill out!

E: Z-O-M-G! I think I just heard the jaws of a million fanboys dropping. Did you hear that, too???

GT: Yes! I’m a gaming nerd! And I might add, I even have a bumper sticker on the back of my car that says Gamer Girl!

E: Oh so do you go to SDCC?

GT: I’ve ALWAYS wanted to go to Comicon! I’ve always wanted to try cosplaying too, haha! I heard its so much fun! My very close friend went as HARD GAY for a couple of years!

E: Really! Haa-do Gei desu! Hilarious! Ooh, Wonder-Con is coming up and its here in the Bay. You should make that your first CON!

GT: I’ve never heard of it, I’ll google it (*giggling)

E: Ya, you should! Ok. Serious question. PS3, XBOX, or Wii?

GT: PS3. I’ve grown up playing PS3 games and a few PC games here and there. If I do play with an XBOX, its only for Halo. That’s about it (*giggles)

E: WoW! Looks AND geekiness? Where you always this Haute in school?

GT: Actually, I was picked on a lot in middle school. I was an ugly little thing with bushy har, bushy eyebrows, braces and pimples. I was not an attractive girl ahah I was still a gaming nerd in school and the popular girls picked on me. It wasn’t until a year ago when one of the girls found me on myspace and boy, was she surprised (*giggling)

E: What doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger right? What advice would you give other gals, and maybe even guys, that are interested in pursuing modeling.

GT: My advice is simply…get ready to get rejected. haha Its a hard thing to get into. Its not just standing there with your hands on your hips. You have to know how your body works and how it looks in different poses. People think its such a glamorous and pretty life. Its not. Its hard. The shoots are hard and sometimes extreme. Not everyone will think you’re pretty or skinny. You will be rejected. And sometimes, you just gotta accept that some people are meant to be models, and some aren’t. Depends on how bad you want it.

E: Good advice. Good advice for anything in Life really.

/end Interview

A BIG THANK YOU to Miss Gina Tran for taking the time to interview with us! We had fun and look forward to seeing more of your Art in the Future!

For anyone interested in finding Miss Gina Tran on the Interwebz, check out her websites:

Website: http://ginatran.com – still under MAJOR construction
Myspace: http://myspace.com/mistressgina
Twitter: http://twitter.com/missginat

(*WAIT! THERE’S MORE! Access the foto galeria!)