Women on the Verge: Summer Altice

Who is she?

A quintuple threat -- actress, model, athlete, deejay and aspiring singer -- Summer Altice is the star of Zalman King's sexed-up series chromiumblue.com, setting sail on Showtime Beyond. You saw her last spring as warrior woman Kai opposite The Rock in The Scorpion King

What has she done?

A natural athlete, Summer became a local San Diego celebrity during her high school years with her achievements on the volleyball court. At 15, the honor student won YM's national teen cover girl search, yet continued to play ball through her years at San Diego State University and, later, UCLA, where she majored in communications and journalism. Summer became a Playmate in August 2000 and used that as a springboard into blockbuster movies. Currently, she's shopping a music-themed TV show called Rock Chick to cable networks.

Why do we care?

The tall, well-rounded beauty is forever at the top half of magazines' "Most Beautiful" lists, and she's caught the attention of Hollywood's hottest leading men on and off the screen. But she's more than a pretty face and a hard body. Summer's heat is matched by her drive and ambition.

Playboy: First things first. How do you say your last name?

Summer Altice: It's pronounced "ALL-tiss," but you can pronounce it any way you want. Whatever flies up your skirt is what I say.

Playboy: What can you tell us about your new show chromiumblue.com?

Altice: It's a fantasy series, very much like Fantasy Island, but we don't have an island; we have a boat. Each episode we're in a different location with new fantasies that need to be fulfilled for these people. For some reason something ends up going absolutely wrong.

Playboy: Are all the fantasies erotic?

Altice: Yes and no. When you think of Zalman King, everyone thinks of Red Shoe Diaries and 9 1/2 Weeks. It is erotic, but it's also very tasteful and it's very comedic as well. It's something I don't think people are expecting from Zalman, but they're going to be happily shocked because it's something new.

Playboy: What's it like to work with Zalman?

Altice: It depends on Zalman's mood and how many rewrites we got in the morning. [Laughs] A lot of directors feel chained down by studios and executives, and Zalman always does what he wants to do. Sometimes he can be a little confrontational, but it's always for the best.

Playboy: Who do you play in chromiumblue.com?

Altice: Maria, the limo driver. Maria is a feisty little thing. I can pull a lot of personal characteristics from her that I have. She's very comfortable in her own shoes. She does what she wants to do when she wants to do it, how she wants to do it. She loves to drive fast. She loves bad boys because they're more fun. She's a tomboy at heart, but she's also a sexy vixen who can kick your ass just as much as she can be loving.

Playboy: At 15, when you went to the YM modeling finals, you said, "My boyfriend thinks I'm going off to New York and I'm going to forget about him." Do you remember who he is?

Altice: Oh, yeah. He was my first love. He was a water polo player at Pepperdine. I still talk to him all the time. I believe as much as possible you should always remain to some degree in someone's life who you've loved because you just don't stop loving someone. He always makes sure I'm OK, and vice versa.

Playboy: You've been romantically linked with a number of famous guys. What can you tell us about Vin Diesel?

Altice: He's one of my best friends, and I'm so happy and proud of him and all his success. It's well deserved. He's one of my biggest supporters, and it's always good to have someone in your immediate group of friends who's almost like family and who's also in the business.

Playboy: Fred Durst?

Altice: We can skip right over that one. I don't feel like I need to help that man out in the press department anymore.

Playboy: Charlie Sheen?

Altice: I adore Charlie. Charlie and I dated three years ago right when I was leaving school. He was three weeks sober. It was more of a platonic friendship relationship. He was a very giving and caring person, and he was getting his life back together. I am so ecstatic at how happy he is with Denise Richards. They're so in love.

Playboy: Are you currently seeing [Hard Rock Hotel heir] Harry Morton?

Altice: We went on a couple of dates. He's a good guy. The minute you're seen with someone in a picture, it's like, "That's your boyfriend." It's so annoying and irritating. It's the only part of celebrity and notoriety that I can complain about. What people don't know, they don't need to know. If they want to assume something, they can assume it, but unless it comes from the horse's mouth, then it's just coming from the horse's rear.

Playboy: Last year a tabloid issued retractions after romantically linking you with a Hollywood actor at the Playboy Mansion right as he announced his high-profile divorce. How did you deal with that?

Altice: I laughed that off. It was a joke. That night I was across the country, in the Hamptons, with six other Playmates, at a party that was being thrown for me when my issue came out. I'll be honest with you -- no press is bad press, and they didn't do me any injustice, but they just made themselves look more like an absolute gossip magazine. If it would have been true, that's another thing, but I had never met him. When a couple gets divorced in the public eye, it's hard enough. It's hard enough having entertainment magazines cover it, let alone tabloids. I was more affected by how it made them feel.

Playboy: What impact has being a Playmate had on your career?

Altice: If you've got a rocket, and the fuse, Playboy was the lighter, but I did everything else.

The positive thing that Playboy can do is give you the exposure, and it's a classy, respected magazine. If you capitalize on your exposure at the time, and you have a plan and you focus on that, Playboy can be an amazing springboard, and it was. I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to be in the magazine and I thank Mr. Hefner.

Playboy: Did you ever get caught up in the Hollywood party scene?

Altice: I think that everyone does at first. It's like being a little kid in a candy store or being a deer in the headlights. It's overwhelming. In LA you have to stay focused and not get caught up in the glitz and the glamour and the parties and the clubs. When you're young it's easy to do that and I absolutely do not regret going out and spending years having the greatest time of my life. I didn't get to have that much fun in college because I played volleyball. But if you want to be successful, you have to stay focused on what your goals are. So I had to get out of that.

Playboy: And now you've starred in one of the year's biggest action movies. Any stories about The Rock on The Scorpion King?

Altice: He's a big teddy bear. A big sweetheart. There was one incident when Michael Clarke Duncan and The Rock were doing their fight scene. They had rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed it. Well, Michael was a little tired that day and didn't remember to duck and The Rock elbowed him right in the mouth and knocked him out. A week earlier, one of the stunt guys had gotten accidentally grazed by The Rock's hand, and The Rock got him a Rolex because he felt so bad. He's such a good guy. The next day, Michael was like, "Where's my watch?"

Playboy: Having done Scorpion King and chromiumblue.com, how would you feel about becoming the next action heroine, following in the footsteps of Lara Croft or Xena?

Altice: That's my dream job right there, like Jennifer Garner in Alias. There's only so many women that have natural God-given abilities to be athletic. I was an athlete for 11 years and I'm tall. It's getting a little harder in Hollywood to be tall as a female actor because you have to have tall male actors. But now there's The Rock and Michael and Tyler Mane is 6'6" and you've got Vin at 6'4". So they're getting up there. The guys are growing finally.

Playboy: What would you be doing if you hadn't won that YM modeling contest?

Altice: I would be playing volleyball, professionally, on the beach. But I definitely, at some point, would have gotten into acting.

Playboy: When you started modeling, you told a newspaper, "Not everybody is Cindy Crawford. I would be happy not even being a supermodel. Being able to get a taste of everything that I want a taste of makes me happy." Do you still feel that way?

Altice: I was 15 when I said that, can you believe it? I will always feel that way. One of the major philosophies I've always tried to live by is, "The only things you regret in life are the risks you don't take." If you're taking a risk and it makes you happy at that moment, do it. I'm very spontaneous and I believe in destiny, so follow your heart.

Photo courtesy of Zalman King