Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon revealed last night that she is expanding her ping pong club empire and has fully immersed herself in the sport that she said isn't always fun and games.
"I take the ping-pong world very seriously," Sarandon told Niteside at her Gramercy ping pong club SPiN as she and the two owners hosted a star-studded World Champion ping-pong match like no other the States have seen.
"You can’t really be half-involved with a venue like this. You know we're even opening more locations. One in Milwaukee and then on July 20th we’re opening one in the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles. We've put together a little guidebook to owning a ping-pong club for the new locations. You know, so they don't make the same mistakes we did! It’s hard work."
The event last night featured matches between unrivaled talents in the sport, like three-time World Champion Jan Ove Waldner and Swedish World Champ Mikael Appelgren. Proceeds from the two-day event are going to Artists for Peace and Justice, the same charity Sarandon was supporting in Haiti when she injured her leg, which required surgery 10 days ago, and left her in crutches.
On hosting duties was “30 Rock” star, comedian and self-proclaimed World Champion of All Sports Judah Friedlander. While Friedlander was busy demoralizing the competitors, a celebrity cheering section consisting of Sarandon, Olivia Munn, Mike Myers and Heather Graham were there to build them back up. Not to mention the support of an actual stunning cheerleader, sporting pigtails and pom poms, who admittedly proved to be a substantial distraction for ballers through out the night.
It's been a whole new experience for the actress -- running a business all while trying to juggling the pressure of being under the media's eye. But she is obviously proud of what they have achieved, sharing the victory with co-owners Andrew Gordon, Franck Raharinosy and Jonathan Bricklin, of whose friendship with Susan has been scrutinized by the press.
When we asked how she felt about the recently delayed release date for "Wall Street 2," in which she stars alongside Michael Douglas and Shia LeBeouf, the response was casual.
"You know I've seen the movie and I loved it. I think it will do better opening in September than being just another summer flick," she said.
