If Chloe Sevigny can suck Vincent Gallo's dick on camera in "The Brown Bunny" and still get mainstream tv/film work (including a Golden Globe win for her role in "Big Love"!), then why can't some of these porn actresses? Perhaps they just don't have the talent to do it, who knows. I was very convinced by Jessie Andrews non-sex acting in "Portrait of a Call Girl" though. She was brilliant. * I also forgot to add German-Turkish actress Sibel Kekilli who is a popular award-winning mainstream actress in Germany who began her career in porn. She's now breaking into the english-language market with a major role on the hugely popular HBO tv show "Game of Thrones". But I'm going to guess the Germans are alot less uptight about porn than Americans. Edited by - Vanity on 4/16/2012 10:06:53 PM
On the licking stick, Mr. Magic Dick! 3309 Posts 2/09
Posted - Apr 17 2012 : 7:32PM
An actress giving head in an art house flick, regardless of how lame the film may or may not be, is known as "pushing yourself" or "taking chances" as an actress because its "essential to the plot" whereas a porn actress giving head in porn is just that, giving head in porn. There's a big difference. Kind of like when Charlize Theron got fat and uglied herself for her Oscar winning role in Monster serveral years ago, the quotes were, "She was brave and taking risks" by putting on the weight versus the producers just hiring a fat ugly actress.
I was going to say something like that. Let's face it, most girls in porn really are not given character roles that they can develop nor do the productions lend themselves to showing an actresses ability. Of the times thay do, truth be told, most of them are shitty actresses.
Sandra's Oscar might suggest otherwise, as well as both of their abilities to simply move units. The "it" factor is another ballgame all-together. I simply believe a porn background works against most. For whatever reasons, mainstream films have always been reluctant to accept anyone who wasn't originally one of their own. A lot of child actors can't really cross-over, as well as stage or soap actors. Mainstream singers seem to have the most success from what I see. Again being able to generate money always helps.
^Actually it does. You may not think that what they do is acting but if you watch a lot of movies, like I do, then it gets easier to identify the quality of the acting. What you often see are what I consider one dimensional actors like Tom Cruise, Arnold, Keanu, Silverster, Meg Ryan and a slew of others that will remain nameless. These actors tend to play the same character in all of their movies because that's the level of acting talent that they have. They will sometime play one great role and that's normally when they get nominated and can win an award. Of course great acting does not equal an oscar anymore than average acting equals no chance. You can have a great actor do a bad movie but a bad actor can never do a great movie.
There are a series of reasons a pornstar will have trouble crossing over. But the biggest hurdles have to do with public reception. Far too many people have hangups about sex and the thought of watching a pornstar in a movie in a "legit" movie upsets them greatly. You also have to deal with the fact that so many people tend to think a person is only capable of doing one thing. Like..."She's a pornstar she can't act...", "She's a singer, why is she trying to act?...", "I can't believe that actor thinks he's an artist...", "OMG! That actor wants to put out a record...". It's pretty strange that most people are convinced that a person can't be good at more than one thing. Then you have the overall lack of respect pornstars get from the public as well as many porn fans. The general public think pornstars lowlifes and many porn fans are only fans or like pornstars as long as they are doing what they want them to do but the second they stop doing what the "fan" wants they are pretty quick to turn on them. Realistically, there are pornstars who are just as capable/talented as their Hollywood counterparts. People keep talking about acting abilities but Hollywood is filled with so-so actors that have found steady work and success. In many cases the biggest difference between a pornstar and the average Hollywood actor is having the time to properly hone their acting. In porn you have novice directors who don't know how to get a performance out of the "actor" and does everything in one or two takes. Often has a subpar "script" to work with and casts people in roles that aren't suited to their strengths because the talent pool is so small. Then there's just the overall attitude of "It's good enough...it's only porn..." So even if a pornstar has the natural ability to be a good actor it'll be very hard for their talent to develope in porn. I'm not saying every pornstar has the natural talent to crossover but I think some do if they were given the chance and given the oppurtunities to hone that talent.
^^^ Sorta what he said for me too. Public stigma. Some moms group threatening a boycott of all theater chains and studios that make/distribute/show the movie. The major studios being linked with something that is viewed that negatively, regardless of the fact that if you show me someone who claims to never have enjoyed some form of porn, I'll show you a liar, is a factor. Some old dude in a suit just won't take that risk. Having an ESTABLISHED porn career before you try mainstream movies is just bad as far as they see it. Nobody in some multi-BILLION dollar industry is going to put money, effort, and their reputation behind someone the public can't even google outside their own bedroom.
I may have veered off the topic but my basic point is that you have to be able to act to sell a movie, get nominated for awards and by default win some of those awards. Unless you know someone who can't act and was able to sell movie tickets. if that's the case then you'll have to give me their name.
Good point. Girls think that if they stop doing porn when they try to crossover will make a difference but it really doesn't matter. For many people it doesn't matter if the woman made porn 5 years ago or 5 days ago they'll always be the porngirl and be judged the same. 5 movies or 500 movies it doesn't matter. It's just like when a woman in a teaching or normal job is found out to have done porn or has nude pics floating around it doesn't matter if it happened years ago or was just a one time thing they get treated like they've done it a million times and still do it. I think a pornstar's better off if they don't try to to downplay the fact that they were a pornstar. If a girl was a big deal pornstar that means they have an audience that they might bring to a project. At the end of the day that all most film-makers want...as big an audience as they can get. Otherwise, it's pretty unlikely that a porngirl will be overlooked for doing porn anyway unless they are so great at whatever they're doing they eclipse the porn thing and make people forget about it or decide it doesn't matter anymore. Think about it...The only reason THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE got most of the publicity it did was because it starred an actual pornstar. If that movie just had some unknown playing the part no one would've cared. The reason Mary Cary got any attention when she ran for Governor was because she was a pornstar. If she were just an ordinary girl no one would've mentioned her trying to run. Ron Jeremy's cult celb statis is totally based on him being a pornstar. Otherwise, what the interest in a strange looking freeloading guy? Jenna Jameson: succesful business woman isn't much of a story but Jenna Jameson: wealthy pornstar grabs attention.
Quite curious to me too. I know Sasha Grey has been on Entourage and Jenna Jameson is obviously mainstream now but some of the most beautiful girls in the world are in the porn industry when you think they could easily be Hollywood Stars. I know Sunny Leone is on a Big Brother show in India and is going to work with aa top Bollywood director there. I know thats not Hollywood but it is Bollywood! Sunny Leone is a pretty as anybody in Hollywood and probably more talented in my opinion. Other girls who are favorites of mine are equally as stunning as Sunny Leone and I have no idea why they have no career possiblities in Hollywood. At least a horror movie or a comedy should be hiring the most gorgeous girls in porn. I know Audrey Bitoni is a really funny girl and she would be perfect in any Van Wilder type of movie or any slasher/horror/thriller movie where she should be the main star, like Jennifer Love Hewett in I Know What You Did Last Summer. Jayden Jaymes I think is also perfect for any comedy, stoner-type movie or a horror role. Same with Kagney Linn Karter, but probably better in comedy because she has that bright smile and makes good funny facial expressions. Phoenix Marie is just as hot as anybody in Hollywood too but she is blacklisted because of her porn history? Strange to me. But I think film-makers, producers and directors dont want to be seen as perverts or something althought they most likely probably are!
pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07
Posted - Apr 21 2012 : 4:44PM
What about the already mentioned Keanu Reeves? Can't act to save his life, his performance in the tremendously successful Matrix movies is laughably bad.
That's another mistake. Jenna Jameson is NOT mainstream. Mainstream doesn't mean that most people know who you are. Mainstream means that most people know who you are AND don't mind being associated with you. McDonald's is mainstream not only because everyone has heard of them, but also because nobody is embarrassed to be seen eating a big mac. Just because she was on a few shows here and there, and everyone knows who she was, and anyone with eyes can see she was sexually attractive, does NOT make Jenna Jameson mainstream. That logic is false. By the same logic, PORN itself is mainstream. Everyone knows what it is. Everyone has seen it in some context or another, even if just box covers or comedy spoofs about pizza delivery guys and pool boys. Anyone who has every watched some knows it is physically enjoyable. That doesn't make it mainstream.
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Rosco Fuji Deactivated User
On the licking stick, Mr. Magic Dick! 3309 Posts 2/09
Posted - Apr 22 2012 : 12:15PM
If you got past the fact that Sasha Grey was a porn star and looked at her actual performance in Entourage, you'd see that her delivery was stiff and wooden at best and the directors say it also as they did not give her more than one line at a time. Thus, her acting ability is suspect at best. As far as the rest of your picks, nothing you mention about any of your faves would indicate that they have any sort of actual acting talent. Instead of looking at the concept from a Fanboy aspect, look at it from the top down. You're a studio exec of some sort who likes being in show business and making the fat $$$$. The only way that would continue is to make $$$$ for the people putting up the $$$$ to finance your pictures. Are you going to risk your $5+ mill a year salary and dating an actual movie star by casting as the leads in a movie some porn stars so they can hone their craft? If I'm the money guy financing your picture, I'm going to be pulling the financing real quick, IE your salary, as you clearly aren't thinking with your head. I want a return for my investment, not you getting laid. The only way I'm going to approve of a porn actress in a non eye candy/third girl in shower/lap dancing stripper role is if she's doing porn to pay for her tutition at Julliard or the Lee Stausberg Acting Academy. As I mentioned before the acting profession has a 95% unemployment rate, so you better have a damn good reason for hiring a big titted blonde porn star who has a nice smile and can make some funny facial expressons over a classically trained actress when I'm signing the checks. Everyone (not literally) in LA is a show business wannabe and there are a lot more projects that people want to make versus people making them so you better have a damn good reason to be casting a bunch porn stars in one. As far as honing their craft, one can look at Andy San Dimas, she's all over the porn parody genre taking on actual acting roles. Check out her performance in the parody Glee where she's singing and dancing in addtion to the sex. She's done other character roles in porn where she can work on her chops a bit and it's allowed her to branch out a bit into a small non nude role in Drive.
See that's where you and I disagree when it comes to the judging good and bad acting. I think that Keanu can act. It's just that he's more or less a one dimensional character so he's always playing variation of the same character in all his movies. I've already named plenty of actors that do the exact same thing but they can still act.
While I see your point and can't totally disagree with it, I do think that Jenna has entered the edge of the mainstream media. When she published her book, I ran across it at a Barnes & Noble bookstore and it was displayed in a prominent end display under, "New Releases". She has appeared on network television as an interviewee on non-porn topics such as fasion. Granted, she's not getting supporting roles in boxoffice blockbusters but I think she's a bit in the middle.
pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07
Posted - Apr 24 2012 : 2:31AM
When I first saw him in River's Edge I thought he did a decent job playing a stoned teenager, but then in subsequent films it became clear that his wooden inability to deliver a line naturally or express emotion convincingly was not a 'part' but simply his inability to meet the basics of any competent actor. If he's not a bad actor, I don't know what would qualify as bad acting. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. Edited by - BlackSix on 4/24/2012 5:29:40 AM
Because they're pornstars. I'm not trying to be offensive, but it's like saying why can't Best Buy employees crossover into mainstream? You're not talking about famous musicians, comedians, or professional athletes. The idea behind crossing over to a real acting career is about fame and talent, but mostly fame. Like a random retail employee, a pornstar can become an actor if they have the talent and are ridiculously motivated, but that's not a crossover. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the only true crossover is Sasha Grey.
I'm affraid the only movie I can think off right now is Plan 9 from Outer Space. If you have never seen it then please take a moment to watch it and you'll see plenty of bad acting. Actually you will see some awful acting but this should give you a good idea of what is bad acting and what is one dimensional acting.
^ I personally think the vast majority of acting ranges from "okay" to "solid" and most people can only truly identify really "bad" acting but have much more trouble being able to judge acting in that "okay" to "solid" range. So much of the time people judge acting based on how much they like or dislike the actor/film, get thrown by bad scripting and directing, or get fooled by great or terrible casting.
pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07
Posted - Apr 25 2012 : 3:04AM
I've seen Plan 9, I've seen plenty of films with bad acting. One of them was called Point Break, watch Reeves in his scenes with Busey for a master class in bad acting from Reeves.
^Yes but it was never meant to be which is why many people like to watch it. It was so bad that it became a cult movie that people still watch today. Ed Wood would probably be thrilled to know that at least one of his movies has become so popular.
Back in the 70s and 80s you had some pornstars who were failed actors or wanna-be actors who had actually studied acting, tried acting as a career, and some even appeared in some mainstream movies or TV shows or theater before entering porn (e.g. Paul Thomas, Wade Nichols, Jamie Gillis, Georgina Spelvin). Most of them don't "cross over" for the same reasons they end up doing porn. They don't want to deal with the hassle of going to auditions and working as waitresses to pay the bills and be on call for auditions. And once you become known as a pornstar nobody wants to risk financing a production starring a pornstar. Most of the acting gigs pornstars have gotten came from knowing people in positions of power like directors or producers. None of them actually auditions like everybody else. Wouldn't be surprised if the director/producer banged them so that goes back to the old casting coach. Or the director/producer casts them to get PR or thumb their nose at the establishment. They rarely if ever get acting gigs on their own merit or acting skill. Of course I'm not talking about the type of acting required for those softcore porn movies shown on Showtime cable.
I read somewhere a while back that the dick she was sucking was a prosthetic. Dont know how true that is but if that is the case- that is a notable disticntion.
I've seen the Brown Bunny scene and it isn't a fake penis. I applaud Chloe's desire to be as real as possible but I must question her mental state at the time because she must have known that doing a BJ in a mainstream movie would have serious repercussions on her acting career. The fact that she has been able to get more acting jobs since that scene don't chnage the fact that she might never have been able to do so and who knows what she now has to do to get those jobs.
^For the record she did that movie back in 2003 and if you check her IMDB page she has definitely gotten acting gigs since then. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001721/ And she definitely gave the guy a bj for real. He was her bf at the time. But you guys are forgetting we live in the age of celebrity sex tapes which tend to boost your career nowadays instead of killing it (e.g. Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, and so on). Not to mention all the celebs posing nude and flashing their tits and pussy for the paparazzi to get free PR.
Traci Lords here here and here Not to be dissing any of the awesome porn MILFs currently performing but Ms Lords is one 80's porn star that definitely does not need to cum back - she can act.
Traci probably couldn't return if she mysteriously wanted to. She burned too many porn bridges in her desire to crossover. Aside from trashing porn and taking little to no responsibility for her own actions, her limited success is mostly due to her being infamous. Unless they take the same approach, I doubt most modern pornstars would get let in the door they way she apparently has been. I certainly wouldn't wish it on them.
^ If a pornographer thought s/he could make money out of Traci Lords returning to porn I doubt her 'burning bridges' would count for much - if the fans want to see it and someone can make a buck out of it seems to be the limit of the porn industry's moral hand-wringing in most things. Somewhat bitter tone to your post, might I add.
I'm quite aware that the BJ wasn't a career killer but who knows what offers she might have received if she hadn't done it. Chloe has always been a great actress and was more into art house flicks than actual big studio stuff so that may have a lot to do on why the BJ didn't end her career. No one will ever know because that scene is pretty much forgotten now. Sex tapes were more popular a couple of years ago but I think that most girls have come to realise that it isn't such a great way to get mainstream offers. I think that pnly Kim and Paris have been able to make a killing from their sex tape and an argument could be made that this is because they both came from money and had Hollywood connections. Of these two. Only Kim seems to still be able to make serious money from that because Paris most recent reality show tanked and I don't think anyone else will be willing to pay her rates to do another one. I also think that Kim and her family may have bull shitted themselves into a corner where they may never be able to get out of and the amount that E paid for their show may cause them some serious financial problems.
The director of the Ryan Gosling film Drive, Nicolas Winding Refn actively auditioned fporn stars for one of the supporting roles, but claimed he none made the mark... whatever you want to read into that
pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07
Posted - May 31 2012 : 11:15PM
That's a bunch of nonsense, he didn't say they weren't up to the mark either, he used Andy San Dimas and Bobbi Starr in the film but the scene with Bobbi was cut for other reasons (probably for time, the scene in question is in the book though).
Well I had issues with her, so guilty as charged. I don't doubt someone would hire her again. Money always talks and suckers are born everyday. She wouldn't be the first to return to eventual coldness though. There are people still around the industry from back then, and most people in my general opinion, have long memories.
Sorry if my post made you think that I thought they were indadequate beause that wasn't my intention. It's just that a director actively interviewing many porn performers for a role smells of trying to get a free one. Whether the girl who makes it on screen has talent is not all that important because plenty of mainstream actresses and actors have to do a casting couch to get parts and they also don't necessarily have any talent once they get the part.
If Traci Lord wanted to make a comeback in porn then I can assure you that there isn't a single studio that wouldn't jump at the opportunity to hire her. Yes, she caused a lot of trouble but that was a long time ago and business is business. A porn movie starring a legal MILF Traci would be cash in the bank and no one passes on a sure thing.
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QuivverSoftly Deactivated User
53 Posts 6/10
Posted - Jul 23 2012 : 9:08AM
Chloe Sevigny is a very talented actor. The same can't be said about most pornstars. They are talented for sure. But not when it comes to acting. And that's why they can't crossover. It's as simple as that.
Posted - Apr 16 2012 : 7:03PM
