Interview: Why Seth Green Loves Geek and Gamer Girls

Seth Green unlocked new achievements in geeking out this week. On Monday, he tweeted (@SethGreen) and played  HALO for the very first time, “getting my ass sadly handed to me” at Nathan Fillion’s HALO party. Shortly before that, the music video “G33k & G4m3r Girls” (a.k.a. “Geek and Gamer Girls Song”) in which he raps his praise for geeky and game loving women reached its millionth view at Break.com.

Seth’s wife Clare Grant and her Saber co-creator Rileah Vanderbilt had joined Michele Boyd (The Guild) and Milynn Sarley (Street Fighter High: The Musical) in creating and performing their personal geek anthem as Team Unicorn – “unicorn” because as with unicorns, some folks believe geek girls do not exist. After I interviewed Team Unicorn themselves, I got Seth’s thoughts on the video, its controversy (see “G33K & G4M3R GIRLS Fangirl Furor: Should Geek and Gamer Girls Go Sexy, Sexless, Something Else?”), and the glories of geeky girls.

For those of you who’ve holed up in a cave since the Eighties, actor Seth Green has played a zombie in Idle Hands, a werewolf on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, a master hacker in The Italian Job, a megalomaniac’s son in all three Austin Powers movies, and many other roles on the big and small screens his whole life. In March, we’ll see him star in the Walt Disney film Mars Needs Moms, directed by Robert Zemeckis. He also does voice acting (Family Guy) and writes comic books (The Freshman), but the project that keeps him busiest is his Emmy-winning stop-motion animated series Robot Chicken which lampoons pop culture as part of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.

On December 19, Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III will air featuring Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Billy Dee Williams, and Ahmed Best reprising their roles from George Lucas’s Star Wars films, joined by Zac Efron and a host of celebrity guests.

Previous posts:
* Interview: G33K & G4M3R GIRLS (Geek and Gamer Girls) Video – 1 Week, 1 Million Views
* G33K & G4M3R GIRLS Fangirl Furor: Should Geek and Gamer Girls Go Sexy, Sexless, Something Else?

AFC: You start the video by asking viewers if they’d like to meet a nice girl. What’s particularly appealing about a geek or gamer girl?

Seth: I can’t speak for everyone, but I like girls who have common interests, so we can have conversations and play together. If you spend all your time with someone you can’t share anything with, chances are you won’t fall in love.

AFC: Why do people expect women to “prove” their geek cred?

Seth: That’s funny isn’t it? I think that’s just a holdover from the days of high school cliques. Most geeks and gamers have suffered for liking the things that are typically unpopular with the ‘cool kids.’ But in recent years, the more geeky stuff has become mainstream and super cool. So it’s logical that the hardcores, the ones who fought for these interests, would want proof from all the trendy bandwagon jumpers. And since typically most geeky things have historically been repellent to women, you can understand geeks’ hesitance to accept beautiful women that want to play video games. But I got to a peaceful place about all that where I optimistically believe we are all just sharing common interests and am not threatened by the mainstream popularity of the formerly niche things I love.

AFC:  Have responses to the video surprised you?

Seth: I thought it would get some good buzz since it looked good and had these authentic nerd girls looking hot and playful, but never expected it to be seen internationally and so debated.

AFC: Clare and Rileah made the award-winning Star Wars fan film Saber, Milynn and Michele got together with them to make “G33k & G4m3r Girls”, and we know how famous The Guild made Felicia Day. Do women, any more so than men, have to make their own opportunities not only as performers but as creators in entertainment media?

Seth: Everyone has amazing opportunities in today’s age. Wide distribution has never been more available to the consumer. You can literally make anything and have as good a chance as a major studio of getting it seen by millions of people.

AFC: Here’s a related question I’ve been asking a lot of people for the past year. Clare Kramer, who was also on Buffy (as evil goddess Glory), helped us talk about this at San Diego Comic-Con this summer: Why, despite the popularity of characters like Ripley, Xena, and Buffy, aren’t there more roles for ass-kicking women?

Seth: I don’t know that there’s an actual dearth of roles, but there is a glut of content. The really great characters and performances become unforgettable, like the ones you mentioned.

AFC: Knowing the women of Team Unicorn, what roles do you think would best suit each of them?

Seth: They’re all shockingly versatile actresses. I’d be interested in seeing each of them out of their natural comfort zone as performers. Though I’d love to see them as a team of international super spies, who use their looks and wits to conquer their enemies…

AFC: In the course of your experience with fanboy/fangirl culture, have you seen changes in perceptions of geek and gamer girls over time? Or changes in the women themselves?

Seth: Absolutely. The geek and game culture as a whole has been more accepted in the mainstream and proven to be a financially viable for the major studios and product companies. That affects everyone’s (men and women) willingness to wear their geeky interests on their sleeves.

Big thanks, Seth!

This is the Action Flick Chick, folks, and you just got kicked in the ass – this time with extra kick from Scott Evil.

Clockwise from Seth: Seth Green, Clare Grant, Lawrence Green, Michele Boyd, Yarvo, Rileah Vanderbilt, Milynn Sarley, Tom Brink, Katee Sackhoff.