When I was eighteen or so and living in Philadelphia, I had this roommate who was a photographer (Jonathan Sorber). He'd been published in a couple of places but was mostly treating photography as a hobby and to my knowledge he still is. Godsgirls.com and Razordolls.com both contacted him to talk about commissioning sets for their websites, and he needed a girl to photograph. I was already go go dancing for some of the nightclubs and fetish parties, and was very much more interested in doing things with my clothes off than doing things with my clothes on. We did a test shoot, I loved it, it was lots of fun, and next thing you know I was packing up to go to LA and work with people like Christine Kessler, Lithium Picnic, and Octavio/Winkytiki.
You've modeled for a number of different mediums, what has been your favorite?
Choosing one thing as a favorite is very difficult. Possibly impossible. What I really enjoy about my career is the consistent variety. One day I'm playing a blushing ingénue all trussed up in fetish gear for Christine Kessler, another day I'm a hard military dom for Holly Randall and Hustler Taboo. The next week I might be doing a hardcore scene with one or more partners for Robby D at Digital Playground or signing autographs in Vegas or Berlin. For me, the fulfilling part is documenting the various facets of my sexuality, saying "Hey, this is fun, these are the things I like," and hearing from other women that it's encouraged them to explore their own desires or be more accepting of their own bodies.
How did you transition from modeling to the adult industry?
First there was Razordolls. Jack The Zipper had signed on to direct a DVD for them, and really wanted me in his film. I had never seen porn at this point, so I went over to TLA video's back room and rented the first thing that caught my eye (The Fashionistas) and Jack The Zipper's first movie (Stuntgirl). My roommates and I curled up on the couch together and watched both movies. They were interesting, but I wasn't sure if I'd physically be capable of all of the extreme acts. On the other hand, Jack and the owner of Razordolls seemed very nice. We discussed the probability that all they'd get was a few minutes of me rolling around in lingerie with another girl, and I got on the plane to LA. The work I did for Razordolls was interesting, and parts were very fun, but there wasn't much sexual heat between the other performer and I so I decided to stick to the softcore and fetish stuff that I was really enjoying.
A couple of years later, Digital Playground contacted me and asked me to come into their office to discuss a scene with Sophia Santi. You should google her really quick. Isn't she *gorgeous*? They picked the best bait ever. Once I was in their office, Robby D asked me about shooting with boys. Everyone at the office seemed so professional, and Robby was so entertaining, so I went home and seriously thought about the potential repercussions of entering hardcore adult entertainment. A week or so later, I called Digital Playground back and told them I was into it, and they said "Sign here."
When you signed with Digital Playground you were considered to be the first alt porn model under contract, do you feel that this was an important step?
I'm still not sure that I'm all that alt-y. I am all natural (except for that period when I engaged in copious use of blue hair dye... I miss the hair, but not the blue stains on *everything*), have a different body type than one usually thinks of as being associated with American hardcore, and definitely participate in the blogging and use of social media that (IMHO) were largely associated with 'alt' models and performers a few years ago. On the other hand, there have always been adult performers working for mainstream companies with various body types and over the past few years mainstream adult entertainment has come to see female performers who expose their personality online as not only an asset but nearly a requirement for commercial viability. Maybe a large adult company like Digital Playground adding me to their roster was an important step towards that, but I think performers like Joanna Angel, Kimberly Kane, and Belladonna had much more to do with it.
You're known for your natural look, why do you think your style has had a resurgence in popularity?
I disagree with the implied statement behind your question. There have always been successful adult performers with natural bodies in adult entertainment. Where the general public's perception gets skewed is the point where Jenna Jameson went 'mainstream.' Everyone, especially the press, loves a stereotype. It makes categorizing people easier and lessens the work involved in thinking. Jenna with her perfectly engineered curvy body and bleach blonde hair became the archetype for all pornstars in the public's mind. I really have to respect the marketing and branding genius that cemented her as the picture next to 'Porn' in peoples' mental encyclopedias, and it is true that most contract stars have blond hair and implants, but the consumer has always had extremely varied taste and there have always been performers of vastly different body types having absolutely no difficulty finding work in the adult industry.
You're concerned with the USA's hypocritical attitude towards sex, why do you think people act that way?
I'm less concerned with the USA's hypocritical attitude towards sex and more slightly annoyed by it. I think that a large part of the US's puritanical aversion towards open displays of sexuality stems from the fact that the political movers and shakers during the founding of the country were escaping religious persecution because of their own religious agenda and moral condemnation has become a favorite hobby of the political commentators and luminaries who came after the first few generations of leaders. The beautiful thing about the United States is our freedom of speech. Religious zealots are free to rant about the moral corruption they see as inherent in the sex industry, and I am free to run around being corrupt and perverse to my heart's content. Interestingly, it is very rare for me to encounter a person in real life who expresses violent distaste for my career or for me as a person. The few people who are extremely opposed to adult entertainment are the most vocal about their opinions, but in my experience are not the norm.
And what can we do to change that?
Continuing to make sexual education available. Honestly discussing sex and the sex industry. Dan Savage made a very interesting point about honest discussion of alternative sexuality in "Skipping Towards Gomorrah" in his chapter on the Gay Pride Parade. To paraphrase: he advocates for the gay community to admit that actually, the gay pride parade is a giant sexy party and points out that if we say something is an educational or intellectual pursuit when it really isn't, we leave the door open for the extremist conservatives to call us hypocrites and liars and we undermine our credibility when something really is educational or intellectual. I think adult entertainment needs to do the same with various issues. We need to admit that there is a health risk involved in performing in adult movies, a risk that we knowledgeably take and should continue to do our best to minimize. We need to discuss the fact that some of the acts we portray on video aren't the norm, and require negotiation of limits or stretching of orifices that isn't shown in the final edit. Also, we need to remember that our open displays and discussions of the facets of sexuality are possible for the same reasons that pundits are able to openly condemn them.
How did you become interested in fetish/BDSM?
I was a pretty kinky teenager, and upon finding the fetish and BDSM communities was very excited to learn that there were people out there who *wanted* to be tied up and wouldn't require much convincing. I was incredibly excited to find that there were people interested in tying *me* up and understood the difference between good pain and bad pain.
Do you enjoy fetishism/BDSM play in your personal life, and if so what are you into?
I'm really into just about everything, as long as the other person(s) involved are. I really enjoy power games, love being pampered by submissives who live to wash my dirty stockings and panties, give competent foot rubs, and indulge my bitchy side. Also exciting are the occasional tops who are worth subbing for who are capable of putting me in my place. And then there's the latex *sigh*. I really like latex. I like the way it warms up and conforms to skin and ends up feeling like I'm actually not wearing anything. I'm fascinated by the way that it decays and becomes unwearable after a few years... it's kind of an allegory for the way that experiences are fleeting. They happen and then they're over and maybe they're recorded on video or in your memory but it reminds me to experience things while they're there or happening. I should probably delete those last two lines because I sound like a giant nerd.
Do you think fetish is becoming part of the mainstream culture?
I think the appearance of fetish has become a part of mainstream entertainment, for sure. Sexuality is becoming more openly discussed and represented in TV shows, movies, and in real life. Aside from the heightened visibility of the props and costumes involved in fetish, I think that the internet has made people more able to research things they're interested in without embarrassment and easily connect with other people to engage in their particular kink with. I think the urges have always been there and people are more easily able to explore them now.
What do you have planned for the future?
I've been taking a lot of classes in improv and aerial acrobatics, and may try to find a practical application for one or both skills since they're so much fun. My first Double Penetration scene is coming out in November (Joone, one of the owners of Digital Playground, said that he has never seen a performer be as excited to be on set as I was for that scene) and my line of Fleshlights is doing very well and I think it's a really fun game to see how long I can keep my sales up near the level I launched at. As far as the distant future goes, that's for me to know and you guys to find out.
What kind of music do you like?
Music isn't really my thing. I mean, music is ok, but I think the part of my brain that is normally used for keeping track of artist and track names is secondary storage for books and authors.
What do you like to do for fun?
I enjoy reading (mostly science fiction, the occasional classic, and educational texts relating to human sexuality), have recently gotten super into the improv and aerial stuff, and like walking around in cities. Also, exploring metropolitan mass transit systems.