There seems to be some anger or a sense of betrayal at Sasha Grey's disappearance from porn, particularly over claims she's made in the past about being proud of porn and never intending to leave it behind. I gotta say, do you really think an 18, 19, or 20 year old really has a concrete idea of what they want in life? Or in their career? People grow (hopefully) and change, opportunities are presented and you go for them. Can you really hold it against her, this interest in pursuing new avenues outside what she's done recently? This has nothing to do with stigmas. She's not obligated to her fans to continue to do porn for the rest of her life. Her only obligation is to continue to pursue her own interests, particularly those that may offer opportunity for growth in her career (whatever it may be) and in her self. Same as anyone other person.
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realtip Deactivated User
2301 Posts 6/04
Posted - Aug 24 2010 : 2:19AM
It's hard to believe that they were ever paying that much to begin with. $2K for anal!? Gee Willikers! Do these girls have diamonds stored up their asses?
^ Ha ha. Just look at all the demand on these boards. If the producers thought they could actually sell the product, rather than watch it being ripped off on the internet, they'd gladly pay two grand for a popular performer.
I don't know about anger in this thread but I think people are just expressing their opinions on what they'd like to see happen. I think most respect that one can do whatever they want of course, but it's how they'd like them to handle their porn career that is the main point. No different than a hall of fame baseball player being held up in the same light that fans would like them always respect the game for the career it gave them, and the fans who admired them. Remember sports athletes often start their careers early in life too, so I don't think one's age affects anything. Maturity comes in many ages. Well yes, I think fans can hold an actress accountable for how they behave in their "attitude" towards their career. Look, I don't think people look down on Sasha for exploring some mainstream gigs; I'm sure her fans understand that it's that person's choice to try new things to expand themselves. The main reason I started this post was to get good discussion about an actress or ex-actress having a positive viewpoint on her porn career and remain faithful to her start, assuming that actress had always been positive about it from the beginning. Like many posters here have said, and I agree, Sasha probably won't ever denounce porn. She's too sex-positive I think to do that. But I think many hope that she still talks openly about it, with a positive attitude, which thereby makes it more attractive as an industry. This accomplishes several things: One, it helps her fans realize she has not forgotten them or doesn't regret anything (assuming she has no regrets but I've never heard her say anything overly negative about porn). Two, it further helps reduce the mentality that porn (and sex in general) is this evil thing that can still corrupt society (in a bad way, lol). To me, the more that happens, and the more sex-positive energy she brings to everyday men and women, it's just got to be a positive for the porn industry. But many people have given great feedback on this thread and for that I say thank you and I'm glad it brings out good conversation. Time will tell how Sasha deals with things. It may be and probably is, that she is just too damn busy right now to do much of anything except the primary things she's focused on. I'd like to believe that, and that she'll someday drop in and say hi, or at the least, just always speak about porn in a positive light.
#SDNY he's all yours. -- Michael Steele 5110 Posts 3/03
Posted - Sep 17 2010 : 9:51PM
You sure you're not confusing the actor with the role? "Vince" is a likeable but shallow and vapid prettyboy who bops through life without trying very hard, because he doesn't have to, and acts in movies which are mostly either dumb but successful at the box office, or turkeys. Just because Adrian Grenier is convincing in portraying that doesn't mean he's actually like that. I enjoyed watching Sasha this season, and I think she was at least as successful in playing some version of herself as Jamie-Lyn Sigler was last season. But I have to say I thought the writing was really weak this season, and the celebrity cameos mostly totally pointless and crowbar-ed in. I don't know if the guys behind the show figured that they weren't going to put much effort in if HBO was only going to order ten episodes, or if they're just losing interest, or what. Other than Sasha, the only real bright spot for me was Scott Caan, who I thought was really good at playing the douchebag agent.
At the end of the day, it is what it is. 629 Posts 12/09
Posted - Oct 1 2010 : 11:13PM
Askmen's annual top 99 is a who's who of beautiful models, actresses, singers, etc. I don't know if they've ever included a pornstar before, I've looked at it several years and I don't remember such a thing! the top 25 this year includes Emmanuelle Chriqui, Marisa Miller, Kate Beckinsale, Alessandra Ambrosio, Jessica Alba, Beyonce, Penelope Cruz, Eva Mendes, Miranda Kerr, Megan Fox, Giselle Bundchen, Bar Rafaeli, Erin Andrews, Padma Lakshmi, Kelly Brook, Natalie Portman, January Jones, Monica Bellucci, Paz Vega, Kristen Stewart, Keely Hazell, Scarlett Johansson, Adriana Lima and Layla Kayleigh. The bottom 10 are: Carrie Underwood, Julia Allison, Carey Mulligan, Audrey Tautou, Alexa Chung, Erin Burnett, Diora Baird, Sasha Grey!, Arianny Celeste and Jamie-Lynn Sigler. [ invalid url ]
I don't mind Sasha going mainstream, I never did. I know that there's a lot of nice depraved good porn of her that i can watch and I'm good with that. Plus she doesn't go and downplay/ bad mouth porn like others once they head that direction. ----Dread----
I don't mind Sasha going mainstream and wish her the best of luck. The only regret I have is that I probably won't see a scene of her in her mid-late 20's when her overall look matures. For example Jenna Haze, I enjoy her scenes more now because not only does she looks good, but looks more like a woman than before she was on hiatus. Plus Sashas' scenes would have gotten even better and better.
Honestly, why do you think Sasha is gone for good? Not trying to put her down or be negative but at this point do you think her mainstream success is so big or will be so big that she'll never return to porn at some point? Sasha may very well end up with a big successful mainstream career but at this point I don't see it being so successful that going back to porn is out of the question.
I think she is getting to a point where she's "famous" enough to earn enough money without going back to porn. The chances that she will return are pretty slim - but I wouldn't put it past her that she will do a few scenes just for fun ;-)
At the end of the day, it is what it is. 629 Posts 12/09
Posted - Oct 2 2010 : 6:46PM
I heard that a lot of girls are still pulling only 3 figures a scene. Someone like Sasha probably pulls 4, but that's nothing compared to TV or even stripping for that matter.
^ Yeah, but the Hollywood jobs aren't as plentiful. In porn some girls can work as often as they choose. In Hollywood there's a lot waiting and hoping for the next gig. Plus the fact that depending on the project porn will actually pay more.
I disagree. I can't think of very many mainstream Hollywood jobs (in front or behind the camera) that pay LESS than porn. In fact, even "extras" who work regular in mainstream movies & TV earn more than porn performers. There have been several threads and articles about porn performers lowering their rates in order to get hired. That's still true.
Some say 'Make love, not war'.....I say you can do both, if you budget your time 578 Posts 9/04
Posted - Oct 3 2010 : 12:35PM
Certianly, I'd hope she had crossover success. She's a bright gal, and could have a better chance than some. The real question is 'Can she outrun the porn stigma?' Jenna Jameson, Tracy Lords, and Nina Hartley all had some success in mainstream media. Tracy became a fan favorite in SF/Fantasy circles. But still, there's always that tarnieshed 'porn halo' over a performer's head, even after they've left the XXX biz. I missed Sasha's 'Entourage' appearance, but I've seen my share of interviews. I think she has a good chance of having some degree of mainstream success. Appearing in Playboy and doing indie movies are steps in the right direction.
I hope she gets more "high quality" jobs like her Entourage-gig - but if that doesn't work out she can always milk her Pornstar-image and do covers in GQ/FHM/etc. or do a crappy MTV-reality show.
That's not what I've heard or read. Unless there are different levels of "extras" none that I've heard of get paid a day the kind of money Sasha gets paid for a scene. Don't extras get paid a hundred or two plus they eat free? In another thread Tabitha Stevens says the girls who star in those softcore cable movies don't make as much money as porn girls. tabitha should know because she's done those movies and her husband shoots for the cable networks. Plus, another pornstar basically told me the same thing. The extras in music videoes certainly don't even make that much because the budget is much smaller. I'm sure the scales on a hit series or big budget movies are different but Sasha or most other pornstars aren't appearing in those.
Sasha can't act... but that's irrelevant because Sasha doesn't wanna be an actress. Sasha just wants to be on the A-list. "Mainstream success" in terms of a certain degree of celebrity isn't unthinkable. Obviously Jenna, Ron, Katie Morgan, Ginger Lynn, Traci Whats-her-name, and a lot of other sluts have become household names. And if Sasha's smart [ and she's gone to extraordinary lengths to give us all the impression that she is ], she'll follow their lead and trade on her public persona. BUT... if SG thinks she's gonna be landing the female lead opposite Jake Gyllenhaal anytime soon, she needs to get real. Natalie Portman she is not. The ridiculous thing is, she'd rather be on the Hollywood D-list, than on the Chatsworth A-list. But such is the allure of fame! lol
Hyde - knock it off. If you want to be a dickhead, do it somewhere else. You'd been gone almost a year, and this kind of stuff wasn't missed. "I do not as a rule seek advice about food from thin people..." - Jeffrey Steingarten
very good topic, i'd always wanted to comment on that first of all i have to say i personally don't see why she has been so successful in the business. she is young, ok, but not above average ps-beauty-level and no ps-tits :/ that more on a personal note, its a matter of taste secondly, the play boy cover... well as mentioned before, there have been only busty stars on the cover if i'm right, no? anyways: putting a pornstar on the cover is no step forward because we have seen her doing it all on a camera.. well... because she is a pornstar, so this makes no sense to me last but not least, shes one of the few who made into mainstream movies, which is okey, but she'll always be the "ah, its the pornstar actress" girl... which therefore cannot be taken seriously, because porn is porn and always be porn, but good luck to her!
You've got to be kidding? Sadness is that I have a bad feeling you aren't. Maybe masturbation does eventually cause blindness.This can only be a good thing.What can be said? People can be assholes. Sasha Grey can be anyone she wants to be as far as I'm concerned. I'll obviously always recognize her for her time in porn but if she makes it in the mainstream, it'll obviously be despite her time in porn. Not because of it.
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oakmac34 Deactivated User
297 Posts 6/09
Posted - Mar 31 2011 : 6:40PM
Well First off she been successful in the porn business because not so much of looks but her attitude. Anyone who watched her any length of time could see that.When she got into the business, she impressed the veterans by her attitude. I think that says a lot for her. I don't begrudge her of trying something different. If you read anything Sasha writes or talks about, you can tell she's not a dumb porn girl. She pretty smart! And I don't think she ever get super stardom in mainstream but I think she smart enough to do what she wants to do and be successful at it. I think most on here will rip her because its likely you seen her last porn performance but don't count on it. But what I really think why people don't like her anymore is that she a strong woman who is making HER choices. Usually pornstars don't get to do that. That is why people in the media like Howard Stern don't like her. Because she can sniff out their bullshit! In short, She is no dummy! She smart and she knows what she doing. And I say more power to her...love to see her work in the business again but god she did leave her imprint on the porn business...didn't she?
The question is very interesting but too premature to ask. It's not like we are in 2019 and Sasha has been in many more movies and TV shows. Sasha stop filiming porn less than 2 yrs ago and her two biggest mainstream roles were as an escort and the other as herself. She just released a book of photos but from what I have heard. They are nudes or herself. How about if Sasha had released a book of photos that she has taken and which do not include any nudes of herself. Do you think this book would have sold as many copies?
Well since I started this thread, I thought I'd come full circle and comment on everyones' nice takes on the topic, especially considering I'm back on this board for the first time in a while, and after she made her retirement announcement. The one thing I don't get is why wait so long after stopping to perform to make an announcement like this? It almost makes me sense that an opportunity came up/is coming up, in which she needs to cut the cord on her porn career. Of course this is just hypothetical and based off nothing, but the timing just seems weird to me. Of course she had a new book to promote, so... I am glad that she has answered my post's question in that she is not badmouthing the industry and looks back on it in a positive light. Whether she ever continues her (stated) quest to enlighten womens' sexuality through her actions/thoughts, remains to be seen, but the door is open. In fact, IF that is a goal-here is one major opportunity that no one has thought about or brought up really: What IF Sasha in fact crosses over and gets some good mainstream roles/activity? Not A list things, but definitely gigs which are worthy of an actress/celebrity? Remember, she doesn't have to be able to act to get in the mainstream-there are plenty of actors in gigs which require no acting skill, such as comedies-it all has to do with presentation/content... So assuming IF she makes it to a decent-sized crossover status, what if she THEN came back to porn, to show the industry and mainstream that the crossover can be done and it's not the demeaning adult industry really any longer? It's an interesting theory to see what the reactions would be on both sides. Now before anyone goes saying she can't act, or it'll never happen, of course I'm throwing a long shot out there but if it did, wow, that would be revolutionary. But assuming the above doesn't play out, I wish her well and hope she continues with the positive outlook on the industry. I for one, would still like her to address it even vocally, if only to legitimize the industry even further.
To begin I've never gotten the feeling that Sasha was in porn for any other reason than to use it as a stepping stone to better things. I don't find anything wrong with that attitude. She got a huge break with The Girlfriend Experience and that opened the door to some mainstream work or at least semi-mainstream. Her performance in that movie made her appear on the radar of mainstream producers and that is probably the reason why she got a job on Entourage. The problem with getting these 2 acting gigs is that she's not expected to do a major stretch of acting playing an escort in one of them and playing herself in the other. If you look at her IMDB page than you'll see that she hasn't been offered any starring roles since leaving porn except for the movie Skinny Dip and frankly this is not necessarily going to be great cinema. It might even go straigth to video. Now the reason why I think Sasha waited so long to make the annoucement is because at first her association with porn was a plus to her mainstream career because she was known as the pornstar Sasha Grey appearing in a mainstream acting gig. Reporters wanted to interview her because of her association to porn rather than her performance in that show or movie. At some point reporters stopped wanting to interview her because there was nothing else to ask her about her porn career and they were never really curious about what she thougth of her characters emotional state in such and such episode. The other reason is that no matter how good your acting talent might be. An active pornstar will never get a huge acting gig. It would be impossible to market your movie with a performer who's better known for doing gangbangs than her acting abilities in that movie. Quitting porn means that she's no longer refered as a pornstar but as a former pornstar and I suspect the former gets less popular. Mind you I still don't think that Sasha has a chance at a long term mainstream career but I'll be very happy if she proves me wrong.
Keeping an eye on the intersection of Pop Culture Blvd. & Porn Culture Ave. 151 Posts 7/11
Posted - Jul 5 2011 : 9:15AM
Sasha seems to be doing more DJ gigs than mainstream acting in order to earn a living. The route to earning a living post-porn for those pornstars with a high enough profile to crossover to mainstream will probably involve all the other oportunities pop culture provides. Look at the money and celebrity available in the "reality TV" world for example. My biggest beef with Sasha's route is how she so strongly panders to the hipsters and they are not my favorite social class. It probalby is a smart move on her part to pander to the hipsters because you want a strong base to sell yourself too.
"the futures uncertain and the end is always near" 689 Posts 2/10
Posted - Jul 5 2011 : 9:17AM
I find Sasha more interesting as a "personality" than as a pornstar or a c-list star. She should be replacing Mikey Imperiolli on those tequilla commercials.......No really, I like Sasha but the fact that her career "cross-roads" are mach-levels higher than other girls should not be held against her but only stand as reason that it is nearly impossible to cross over. Her lack acting skills have been exposed, but i think her "buzz" and style could get her a show on G4 or something like that........Geez if Norm McDonald has a show anyone can.
Pat362, I agree with every take you have here, except the "stepping stone to better things". That may be the mindset of most people, that mainstream is better than porn, but until that mindset changes, the attitudes that would prevent any kind of crossover will remain in place. Your point is well taken though in that's how most view it currently. I for one, however, just don't buy into that mindset.
Well bottom line is, as much as we all loved Sasha as a porn star, she is a terrible actress. So, the shock value of her being a porn star and trying to work in mainstream...could've only gone so far. She might still do ok'ish getting small jobs and cameos here and there, but I highly doubt she'll be able to make a living out of acting, as people who can actually act....are jobless in mainstream most of the time and it's only a few who get consistent jobs. She would have to do these sort of DJing and similar type of gigs to support herself on the side I would say. I too agree, that it does seem like she just thought of doing porn as a stepping stone or a ladder, and use that to her advantage to get into mainstream.
^^^ I think you are correct in what has transpired. But I always remember a quote from Sasha saying she wasn't looking as porn as a stepping stone and that if someone didn't like doing porn, then she shouldn't. Now these two statements don't needfully go with each other, but she definitely played coy about wanting to go mainstream. I will say however, that yes, many good actors are out of work, but it would be precisely because of people like Sasha; that is, people without any acting history or education taking roles away from actors who have spent their lives working at it. I mean, come on, we are living in the age of reality television. There's probably fewer "actors" on tv than reality stars (and yes, to me, those reality stars are actually "acting" but it's a different, easier form). So imho, hell, anyone can get famous in the right scenario these days. Which makes me feel sorry for actors actually, lol.
The reality is that mainstream is so much better than porn that there are almost no comparaison. This is even more obvious now with the world economic recession and the way the porn industry is suffering. IAFD has 233 movie titles with Sasha's. Let's say for argument sake that she averaged 1500$ per scene. That means she grossed 350,000 in 4 years. That's a decent amount of money but she had to have sex with strangers. She performed anal in at least 60 of those movies so not a simple vag's B/G shoot. She was rumoured to have gotten anal warts so you have to add major health issue to things that aren't great about porn. Now compare that with a steady gig on Entourage where all she had to do was appear nude on screen and play herself. I know she's been invited to host DJ parties and I wouldn't surprise me that she has also been invited to clubs. All these little side gigs usually pay pretty well and none of the involve getting pile drived in the ass in an upside down position. Just look at Tila Tequila. Here's a woman who's claim to fame is that she's done some reality television and was often in rag magasines and on celebrity sites. She did one sex tape but her's was a planned thing unlike some others. This has increased her notiriety and there is no other mention of a porn career because she's able to get these little club opening gigs and so forth. Edited by - pat362 on 7/5/2011 7:14:41 PM
Keeping an eye on the intersection of Pop Culture Blvd. & Porn Culture Ave. 151 Posts 7/11
Posted - Jul 5 2011 : 6:41PM
^ Well said. If you are a pornstar whose primary goal is to make money, and you would have to be strange if that was not one of your primary motives for getting into porn, then you should leap at the chance to do anytype of mainstream given the economics Pat mentioned. A top ten pornstar such as Sasha Grey would have to do 12-20 scenes just to make what she got posing for Playboy. A small supporting role on a season of Entourage probably earns what a top star might make in a 40-50 scene years (assuming they can get 40+ scenes). Hosting for a club or a DJ gig proably earns Sasha what she would make in several scenes. Any pornstar, given the economics of the industry, would be stupid not to grab the chance to move into even the lower rungs of mainstream celebrity.
Your points make a lot of sense. However, one important aspect of what you consider better, may not be another's. What if said star actually enjoys being piledriven in the ass? That mindset certainly is at play here from other posters such as Rob, in which he describes talent he's shot as not really having money as the primary motivator but more the experience of doing a live shoot. So someone could actually enjoy having sex on camera more than, let's say, hanging around with attitude-driven Hollywood types while filming Entourage. I'm using that as an example and have no insight into anyone on that set being a jerk-I'm just using that scenario to make a point as we all have heard Hollywood horror stories just like porn has their's. As for std's, yes that is a hazard to the industry talent somewhat, but that could be caught also by the general population a person would sleep with, not counting any Hollywood casting couches, which we have to believe really exist. But your point is well taken. Lastly, you use Sasha and Tia as an example of them generating some celebrity to get club gigs. This doesn't take one big thing into account and that is that both of them probably enjoy doing that-Sasha we all certainly know enjoy's dj'ing, so if porn led her to a way of getting paid for stuff like that, then that's great, and more power to her. She's getting paid to do something she enjoys, but not everyone enjoys something like that, which could earn them extra money. And where in porn, a superstar could probably work as long as he/she wanted, the expiration on club gigs for a celebrity, probably has a shorter life-span. No stats on that, just imho. So in the end, I guess it just depends on what really the star really wants to be doing with their life. Edited by - The Edge on 7/5/2011 11:10:38 PM
Not sure on the certainty of this. Let's say money is a prime motivator; that's debatable, but let's say it is. I don't know the finances of what Sasha earned for the Playboy shoot (it sounds like you do) and I don't think either of us knows what she earned for Entourage, so we're just guessing at the finances here. But the Playboy shoot and her porn career are symbiotic on each other, so that's a wash. That's akin to a top star comparing what she earns feature dancing compared to doing scenes. But one thing other posters have mentioned is that her celebrity, while probably on a higher level than any other star so far, is still bargain-basement and until mindsets change, she probably won't get other, bigger opportunities, regardless of her acting chops. The endgame here, as I've stated elsewhere, is what the talent wants as an objective. Lower-rung mainstream celebrity doesn't really amount to much as others have pointed out manytimes. Only time will tell if Sasha can generate momentum to cross higher, and I hope she does if that's what she's looking for, but the obstacles that were always there remain. With the level of celebrity that she currently enjoys, that is 15 minutes of fame material and I would think a starlet would want to consider A list porn compared to D list celebrity, as another poster labled it. It's not so cut and dry once you look at all the intagibles and the LONGTERM prospect of celebrity. I think it's just what the star wants to do with their live, and money isn't needfully the endgame. Edited by - The Edge on 7/5/2011 11:22:07 PM Edited by - The Edge on 7/5/2011 11:23:06 PM
