Our readers have told us time and again that video games have changed their lives, once or twice for the better. Did you know that celebrities love gaming just like we do? That’s right: passionately, obsessively, and often to the detriment of their hygiene and mental health. Here are your favorite celebrities sharing the games that have transformed them into the modern demigods that we selectively exalt or destroy at a moment’s notice!
Jenna Ortega
“Paper Mario: Sticker Star taught me that stickers weren’t just fun things to glue onto the headlights of my dad’s police car. They were my closest friends, some with voices so beautiful that only I could understand them. It’s also the reason I always carry a hammer in my overalls.”
Chris Pratt
“When I did bad at shot put the coach used to lock me in the school basement, and the only thing there was to do was play this game Bible Adventures on NES. I played it over and over, until the words of our savior Jesus Christ were burned into the back of my retinas. That’s where my famous raptor-training pose comes from. I’m trying to baptize them, but they’re just too fast.”
Megan Fox
“I mean I’d say Mortal Kombat 1 since it helped me afford the bodyguards who currently keep Michael Bay from sniffing around my dirty laundry hamper.”
Ariana Grande
“I like GTA V because I can pretend I’m cruising by Nickelodeon Studios in LA and really letting the producers suck shit. Screaming ‘Die, die, die!’ while gunning down a pedo is my most important vocal warm-up.”
Lil Nas X
“Hades was the inspiration for ‘Montero.’ There were so many fuckable characters hanging out in Hell that the music video kind of wrote itself.”
Nicholas Cage
“You ever play MadWorld on the Wii? You got this chainsaw arm that you slice up people with. VWEEE! VWEEEEEE! You know what I mean, junior?! Other than that I would say Hello Kitty Island Adventure which is a transcendent delight for the senses.”
Keanu Reeves
“I love classic horror but hate performances that pull you out of the movie. That’s why I love Bram Stoker’s Dracula for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It’s a great way to experience the film without having to hear my slipshod British accent.”
Sean Penn
“My favorite game is Superman 64. And I know what you’ll say: ‘That’s a really edgy unexpected choice.’ And rightfully so. I work really hard to cultivate that image and make you forget the Madonna stuff. In a way, I’m kind of like Superman. Fighting tirelessly for a better world that’ll never come because everything’s a broken piece of shit.”
Timothee Chalamet
“I’ve said this before, but I was obsessed with Final Fantasy 7 until Cait Sith broke my heart. I loved that beautiful bastard. I even took him on the ferris wheel at Gold Saucer, and he cucked me over just like Princess Bubblegum cucked Finn. I’d harbor that resentment every day of my life until I got my revenge, releasing a version of Willy Wonka so repellant that it would destroy old people’s will to live, just like Cait Sith did to me.”
Kylie Jenner
“The ladies in my family swallow a lot of hard-to-find umbilical cords as part of our youth-inducing blood ministries, so the game that made me feel really seen was Bloodborne. But for the past month or so, I’ve fallen in love with Lies of P! Timothee is amazing in it!”
Scarlett Johansson
“I absolutely adored Ghost of Tsushima. It helped me connect with the both suffering and the strength of my ancestors.”
Pedro Pascal
“Anything by Microsoft! Sony ponies wish they had the games we got! I mean, fuck. Delete that! Off the record! Off the record! Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
Gordon Ramsey
“I actually became a TV personality because of Cooking Mama. An agent saw me shouting profanities at this baffling two-dimensional cunt on my screen and told me that if I was that good at demeaning fictional women, I’d be able to make a career out of decimating real ones.”
Nick Cannon
“Pikmin helped me realize my truest fantasy: spreading my seeds worldwide. RISE, MY CHILDREN! DEVOUR AND PROPAGATE!”
Jonah Hill
“I’m a big fan of the original Bioshock. There’s just something very… compelling about the idea that you can control a human being’s thoughts and actions with your words. I’ve tried and it’s a lot harder than it looks.”
Armie Hammer
“I love eating them and absorbing their powers. When you get the cutter, throw it, and take someone down from a few feet away, it’s very satisfying. But in terms of games, I love Destiny.”
Brie Larson
“For like forever I’ve wanted to play Samus in a Super Metroid movie. It’s my favorite game. I’ve spent hours with gymnasts and trainers and yoga gurus trying to curl into a perfect little ball like Samus, but none of the so-called experts have the guts to shatter my spine and roll me down a bowling alley like an armadillo. Fucking pussies.”
Millie Bobby Brown
“Did I hear a Rock and Stone? That’s it, lads! Rock and Stone! May your beards be thick and your gold satchels heavy! Where is that damn M.U.L.E.?! Rock and Stone in the heart!”
Leonardo DiCaprio
“This might sound phony because I’m getting older, but I exclusively play modern games. Tears of the Kingdom, Hogwarts Legacy. Basically anything that’s less than 25 years old.”
Jennifer Lawrence
“I’ve been accused of pandering in the past, and I’m like, WHUT. Girl, no.” (NOTE: Lawrence proceeded to dance and make goat noises for approximately 30 seconds.) “But like, DUDE. Chrono Trigger and like- (reading) Twilight Prin- Pringles? Those games are bonkers fun.”