Home
Back to Essays
|
While reporters often seek to sensationalize personal conflicts within
the adult business, I took the opportunity to examine day-to-day issues
affecting adult performers: breaking in, working environments, relationships,
medical and financial issues.
Former adult star Tricia Devereaux consented to talk to me about her career.
With the immensely appealing look of the voluptuous girl-next-door (I
never did go for silicone platinum blondes who look like Barbie Dolls
on steroids), Tricia jokingly refers to herself as a "nerdy high-school
wallflower. After a brief career stripping, she moved to LA to do videos
for large companies such as Vivid, Wicked, VCA and Elegant Angel. I interviewed
Tricia at Evil Angel, where she currently works in production and sales.
We talked about some of the stresses frequently encountered in the porn
business.
"Just being a member of the industry in general, we have to worry about
some of the perceptions that people have of the adult business, she says.
"That's my main conflict that I deal with on like a daily basis.. I have
to think about, if it wasn't for people that don't even know me, probably
being very happy to look down on me because I'm in the adult business.
Male performer Jeremy Steele who I spoke with concurs with Devereaux on
the subject of relationships. "A girl I liked dropped me when she found
out I was a porn star, said Steele. "She was shocked; she never called
me back.
As Violet Blue, winner of AVN's "Best New Starlet of 00 and "Best Supporting
Actress of 00", says: ". A lot of things get fabricated into a lot
worse than they are. It's kind of like reading The Sun or something because
no one really knows about the adult industry in the outside world so things
that are perfectly normal to us are outrageous and degrading to them.
As Devereaux adds: "Actually my friends and family are fairly cool,
but there's lots of people that I don't even attempt to make friends with,
because I think that, you know, if they got to know me too well and found
out that I worked at a porn company. Even now, with me just working inside
the company, as a behind-the-scenes person, even that, like I don't really
blurt it out because I'm afraid of what their idea of me is going to be..
A bright woman with a Bachelor's Degree in Biology, Devereaux was [illegally]
kicked out of Medical School due to her video work.
"I then decided I didn't want to be part of such a hypocritical community
anyway, she said, no pun intended. "For me, definitely one of the reasons
I came into the business was because I wanted to be able to explore more
things and be with more people without having to do it in the so-called
real world. And part of that was because I didn't want to bring in emotions
that bordered on relationships. As Tricia says, laughingly, "I hate first-dates,
they suck!
As Violet Blue says, most girls are in it for the money or fame. "Some
come for the drugs I guess, but I never went that route so I wouldn't
know. I came to have sex. Lots of sex.
As Steele adds: "Girls in this town are usually after one (actually
two) things, money and fame. If you're not a stepping-stone to either
of those two things, it's not worth their time...
As for the drugs, Steele says, "It used to be that girls didn't show up
on time or were on drugs. It was a minor annoyance [to me]. Now it's getting
better.
When she first started, Devereaux was "nervous that I really wouldn't
know what to do. It was a new situation that I didn't know if I was going
to end up being comfortable with. I was just nervous that I going to feel
stupid. But the first couple of shoots went really, really well. I think
if the first couple of ones had been a nightmare, I think it would have
totally scared me off forever.
Much to her shock, Devereaux discovered that she was HIV-positive immediately
after winning "Best All-Girl Sex Scene at the '998 AVN Awards.
In spite of her HIV status, Devereaux hasn't been scared off from the
business at all. She still does magazine layouts, dances, and is looking
forward to directing her own movie with the help of husband Stagliano,
who is also HIV-positive.
Regarding HIV, she says: "I was a really trusting person, and I
trusted that, you know, a person telling me that they got a test, and
then seeing a photocopy of some test from a clinic that I didn't know
what it was, I'm like 'okay, it's cool.' And, you know, one person lied
to me.
That person was long-time porn performer Marc Wallice, who starting in
'998 was infamously considered (though Wallice would say rumored) to be
"ground zero for a spate of HIV infections that spread through the industry.
Known as a "woodman famous for anal sex scenes, Wallice had been performing
since the early '980s.
As Devereaux says, "I definitely believe that [Wallice] knew. [But] that
could have easily happened if I had been promiscuous outside the industry
as well.
Says Violet Blue: "Sometimes people forget to bring their tests,
but most of the time you can just call AIM and get the results over the
phone. AIM is also setting up an Internet site where selected Production
Managers can look up and print talents' tests from the Net.
Tricia and her husband John Stagliano recently gave birth to a baby girl,
and both parents and daughter are doing fine. The child is negative and
Tricia claims no health problems in spite of five years living with HIV.
"I go see a doctor every three months. They do a full panel of blood tests
to see how my whole body's doing. And I've been doing fine ever since..
Every once in a while I'll think that I'll be feeling something, then
I'll think back and realize, 'Wait, no I've gotten that before.'
She adds: "During my pregnancy I took the cocktail.. I'm not a
health nut, Actually I ate at Arby's today. (laughs) In fact John yells
at me because he likes to eat healthy. and he'll yell at me about how
much I eat at McDonalds and stuff!
Another potential source of stress in the adult industry is the fact that
most performers work freelance and don't have the benefit of company insurance
or worker's comp.
As Devereaux says: "I don't have an insurance plan through the
company here, but I make enough money that I go out and I get my own insurance.
I talk with a financial advisor to help me figure out how to budget my
monies so I don't end up with absolutely no money in my retirement.. I
always make sure that I'm okay for myself.
Porn superstar Tera Patrick, coincidentally, also has a degree in Biology.
A former nurse and fashion model currently on contract with Digital Playground,
Tera was baffled by the issue of company benefits. "Workers comp? Are
there that many people in my industry claiming on workers comp? asked
Patrick. "Injuries? What? I have really never seen much of this in my
industry. I have full medical and dental benefits and I have never had
a need for workers comp.
As Violet Blue says: "We do have some funny problems in the industry,
like getting too much lube on you and sliding off the table you're getting
f-cked on. Or not being able to hold your ass cheek open for the camera
because of too much lube. Shaving rash is a big problem because most the
guys shave and two shaved whooies makes for a ruff ride! Lights falling
or catching on fire, PA's feet being in the shot, running out of baby
wipes, and when the crew eats all the food before you get too it. Those
are a few of the major problems.
Adds Violet: "I think the most f-cked-up shoot I ever had was for
Jill Kelly. We were in a mansion in the middle of summer and the kitchen
was about ''0 degrees. I did a DP with Dillion Day and Chris Cannon on
the counter and it took about three hours because Dillion Day had wood
problems from the heat. I don't know how I made it through that one.
Hardly the stuff Valium prescriptions are made of!
Male performer Jeremy Steele, known for his ample cum-shots, ironically
says the biggest pressure he faces while performing is the cum-shot. "My
biggest problem is sometimes it takes me too long to pop, says Jeremy,
"but I always give a big pop shot.. As for the girl, she can always fake
an orgasm. There's an awful lot of patience you have to have as a performer.
It takes a lot of patience in terms of... you're not going by your own
grooves alot, there's so much sh-t going on, You have to use your most
basic, most animalistic form of lust to propel you forward.
Tricia Devereaux handled potential stress issues coming into the business
by "approaching it as a career, and by thinking 'what can I do to make
it the best thing for me at this time?' And I don't know that a lot of
girls do look at those options.
"I sought to be friends with the companies and especially the owners that
treat their girls really well, adds Devereaux. "Like I worked for Evil
Angel a lot, I worked for Elegant Angel a lot, I worked for Wicked and
Vivid and VCA. And I worked for some of the smaller companies now and
then and that was fine. But I really made it a point to make friends with
people that could help me and make everything a better situation for me."
As Tera Patrick says: "Any job has stresses involved.. I am sure
that people who work everyday jobs 8am to 5pm have it much worse than
I do.
As Violet says: "I only work about four times a month at most so
I really don't have any stress concerning the industry.
"Stress is something that you allow to happen to, says Steele. "You have
to get to the point that you don't allow it to faze you.
However, Steele admits to being oversensitive at times.
"There was time that I actually cried - It was my first year in the business
- a combination of emotional sh-t going on and an actress who was being
a bitch, she wasn't even looking at me. I needed some kind of attention
for the pop-shot, she said something like 'it's not my job.'
Says Devereaux: "It seems like there's always been the girls here
and there who've been able to handle the stresses better than others have.
Because there's always been girls like Serenity and Julie Ashton. there's
been Tina Tyler, and before that there's been girls who could handle it
mentally and emotionally, and there will be in the future too.
"Even with the girls that are here, a lot of times, it takes a while for
them to open up to a new girl. The directors and the guys want to bring
in the new girls, but the girls that are already here don't really want
the new girls to come in because that mean's there's fresh talent on the
scene. But as far as the directors and everything they pretty much use
the same crew over and over, so it's very difficult for somebody to break
into the business, unless they're female talent.
Steele, who considers himself an unusual character in the porn business
due to his outspokenness and sometimes unpopular views, talks about flakes,
falling in love, and the pitfalls of rumor-mongering.
"I discovered quickly that people are major flakes, I remember I had three
or four jobs lined up and they all fell through. When people look you
in the eye and smile at you and say they're going to hire you, you believe
them.
Steele was also the subject of a rumor that he still had Gonorrhea a year
after it cleared up. "I once tried to share alternative information on
AIDS, says Jeremy, "and people called me a whacko.
As he comments about work: "At first it was hard trying to get
work, scrambling, trying to get jobs. It's the opposite of many girls,
who think the jobs keeps coming and can go on a shopping spree anytime
they want.
"I'm sure some people have problems with the fact that they're making
a lot of money, adds Devereaux, "because all of a sudden they go off and
spend it. (A fact confirmed to me by producer Rob Spallone who cynically
told me "None of these girls have any money. They look like they live
in their cars.), which to me, making lots of money is not necessarily
a problem. There's lots of competition, because there's lot of girls in
the business.
As Violet Blue says: "If you get newbies they will be the most
depressing. And that's why most don't last more than a few months. The
people that stay are the ones that already live like the adult industry
lives - healthy normal lives. Sure some go through the whole drug thing
and depression I'm sure. But isn't that how it is in the mainstream movie
industry too? (As Violet adds: "But hey, sex and depression are the highest
sellers, just look at Viagra and Prozac!) They snort more sh-t up their
nose than porn people do. Of course we don't have to stay up all night
to shoot a movie! I think that an interesting story would be to compare
the mainstream and the porn industry by sticking insider spies in both.
Of course the public might not believe what the mainstream industry does!
Devereaux recommends that new performers "talk to lots of other people,
and use the people who have been here for a while to get ideas from, to
see which people you shouldn't work with, if there's anything you should
watch out for - you should just get it from the other performers at that
point in time. Because things change, because someone who may have been
a great person five years ago not might be such a great person today.
So just because you haven't heard anything about a person who hasn't been
around for five years or so doesn't mean anything.
Regarding specific pointers for newbies, Devereaux advises: "Don't
try to negotiate difficult issues on set, negotiate them in advance. Make
sure you don't get talked into anything if your first instinct is no,
keep that as your answer.. If a producer did something that made you uncomfortable,
you don't want to work for them anyway, so why care what they think of
you? No single producer has so much clout that they can call every other
producer and convince them not to hire a certain girl. It took me a little
while to learn that. I used to be afraid of what people would think of
me. And then I was like, you know what, enough people like me that even
if I make one or two people mad, that's okay. Those are the people that
I'm not comfortable anyway.
As Violet says: "When you first start you have a bit of problems
with showing up to the set thinking you're going to have sex with one
person and it ends up being another one. But that only causes stress if
you're a dim-witted princess bitch that doesn't understand that being
an actress is a job and a dick is a dick. If the guy smelled really bad
or was ninety [years old] I could understand. But the main guys in the
industry are very hygienic and considerate.
As Tricia Devereaux says regarding the stud switch: "You know, I heard
somebody else say that too, and it baffled me when I heard it the first
time.. I was a performer for two years, and it never happened to me. Maybe
I was more aware than some people are. But it's everybody's responsibility
to be aware for themselves, and there's going to be some issues where
a person is aware and they're still going to walk into some sleazy situation
that they just wouldn't have been able to hear about, because it's a new
company and people don't know it's a bad company yet."
Once the potential problems are dealt with, Devereaux implores new talent
"to always make it seem fun, and if it's not fun, it's not something that
you should be doing."
As Tera Patrick adds with a tone of excitement regarding the perks
of the business: "I work when I want and I get to travel the world!"
|