Sasha Grey is not for the faint of heart. She’s a brash, intelligent, indie-styled porn star who references Godard and Sartre in interviews and whose filmed sex scenes include rough anal and bondage play. A great many of her films are unsettling; they certainly push the boundaries of porn’s typical “I’m here to fix the cable” scenarios.
From June 6 to 8, she’ll appear at the Erotica L.A. convention, an annual gathering of large names in the adult industry and all the various satellite industries that support themselves in its wake. Grey was recently named Adult Video News’ Performer of the Year—akin to winning porn’s Best Actress Oscar—so it seemed like perfect timing to run a Q&A. In the video interviews I’ve seen, Grey is composed and almost regal, curled in a chair, fielding questions with a sly twinkle in her eyes.
I was excited by the prospect of brainy discourse with a hot girl who gets paid to have sex on camera, and I hoped we’d eat ice cream and talk about Philip Roth’s “The Dying Animal.” All the pieces would fall into place. She’s a Pisces; of course we’d get along.
The only problem: She was leaving town, shooting her first mainstream role in Dick Rude’s indie film “Quit.” I sent her a list of questions over e-mail. To put it bluntly, the responses were not what I was expecting.
Q:You’re from Sacramento, originally?
A:No, Mars…?
Q:What did your parents think when you told them what you’re doing?
A:”Oh, honey, it’s so sweet that our little gal is being f****d in the a** by 15 guys. We’re just so tickled…” I hate this question because honestly most parents don’t like it. Duh. They either learn to accept it or pretend that it’s not really going on. My siblings support me and love me. My mom loves me and we’re somewhat estranged, but neither one of us is going to just throw away our ideals. She probably won’t ever get my philosophy on sexuality. I’m fine with that because I’ll never understand nor truly accept her devotion to Catholicism.
Q:What are your first memories of Los Angeles once you’d moved here?
A:Disneyland is f*cking huge. I mean just massive. The mouse has mad money.
Q:How do men approach you? Do you find a lot of embarrassment, a lot of intimidation?
A:Men approach me the way they would any young woman. If they recognize me, they usually don’t say anything, or they tell me how much they appreciate my work. Why would I be embarrassed for a man to approach me? Do I come off as a “Bambi-like” porn star who is intimidated by life or men? No.
Q:How do you balance your off-screen sex life with the on-screen one?
A:Days are scheduled for sex scenes, so I avoid rough sex the day before I have a sex scene. You get very used to it after the first couple of months.
Q:In your experience, does love exist? And how is it affected when the physical act of sex becomes commonplace?
A:Love isn’t established by any one thing, and just because sex is commonplace in my profession doesn’t mean it becomes that in my personal life. There are different ways of exploring intimacy for me (sexual and non-sexual).
Q:Because of the limited time a woman has in the porn industry (and what some consider a woman’s limited time on her attractiveness and her desirability in life), are you thinking toward the future?
A:First, yes, I’m always thinking towards the future. I’m not some mono-dimensional bimbo. Sex symbol or not, I try to encompass the temporal threefold: where we’ve been, where we are in the present, and hopefully where we will arrive. Nobody knows for sure. However, after some more reflection, I feel that this is kind of a sexist and failed question. “Woman’s attractiveness and her desirability in life?” I’m sorry, but were do you get these one-dimensional stats from? People can only speculate what the “jizz biz” is going to be like in the future.
Q:In your Vice TV interview, you said you wondered how many 18-year-old porn stars are existentialists. It seems as if, though they might not know what the word means, they would probably ascribe themselves that characteristic.
A:If you are trying to belittle me, you’re about a year and a half late. I asked that question when I was 18…hence the definition of age in my question. I don’t think anyone (insert stereotype of porn stars here) would be so idiotic to ask that question without “knowing what the word means.” Existentialism is hardly a characteristic; it’s a philosophy, and for many, a way of life.
Q:What’s the last book you read that you enjoyed? And what are you reading now?
A:“Indestructible Wolves of the Apocalypse Junkyard,” and “The Instant Expert’s Guide to Single Malt Scotch (2nd Edition).”
Perhaps we should have just gone out and had a scotch. Sasha Grey will be at the Teravision booth at Erotica L.A. from Friday, June 6, through Sunday, June 8. The three-day event will also feature hundreds of naughty vendors, adult-star signings and the F.A.M.E. (Fans of Adult Media Entertainment) awards Saturday, June 7.