How to Become a Male Porn Star
Want to Quit Your 9-to-5 and Join the Adult Industry? Here's What It Takes to Make That Happen
It's no secret that men love to watch porn, but a surprisingly large number of guys also dream of joining the adult industry. If you're already fantasizing about sex with strangers on a regular basis, is it so much of a leap to ditch your 9-to-5 and enjoy the real thing?
Trouble is, the adult industry isn't as easy or glamorous as it appears from your computer screen. There's a lot of hard work behind the scenes, and it takes a special kind of person to perform under pressure (not to mention in a crowded room, with multiple lights and cameras capturing the action). Besides, the average unaware guy has a lot of questions about the job itself.
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Is a large penis necessary, or can you make do with a very firm, aesthetically pleasing one? Is there such a thing as too big, too thick or too long? Does it help to have had more partners in the past, or is inexperience not a bad thing? Do you need to be a certain age? How about a certain physical build?
With so much uncertainty as to how you could get involved, it’s easy to find the whole thing pretty confusing. What you should know is that there’s actually a pretty common (and simple) way to fast-track your career as a male porn star, and that’s by dating a female porn star.
As porn actress Julia Ann explains, "Getting into the industry isn't as easy for men as it is for women. It has always been that the most common way men became actors was when they were dating female actresses and they wanted to shoot together."
If your current partner is already shooting, you might have yourself a potential ticket to pornographic stardom. If not, well, it might be a little trickier. Aside from it being a pretty selective industry, the road to becoming a big name isn’t exactly the easy-peasy-penis-squeezy thrill ride you might be imagining.
Just like Hollywood, breaking into porn will probably involve hard work, perseverance, some insider connections, and a sprinkling of good luck.
If you’re curious where to start, AskMen spoke to the talented Ryan Driller, a bona fide male porn star, about his story.
How a Real Porn Star Got His Start in the Industry
If you speak to most celebrities, regardless of what medium or sector they happen to be in, they will explain that getting to the top wasn’t a walk in the park. For Ryan Driller, the experience was a bit of a checkered one. About a decade ago, he retired from what he called the “traditional office gig,” logging in 40 hours a week and pulling out a new button-up to wear Monday through Friday. Once he walked out of those corporate doors for the final time, he decided to embark on a new journey that led down the polar-opposite path.
"I had learned that doing what makes me happy will leave me much happier and successful,” he says. “So, since I'd always thought about getting into porn, and had the time and means to do so, I started looking into getting into the industry."
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Driller started out by applying to companies he knew from being a consumer (more on that later), but ultimately turned to Craigslist's “Adult Gigs” to build his network of contacts. "From there, the producers and others on set would share my information with other productions they were on, and I kept getting booked more and more," he explains.
What Porn Companies Should Men Apply To?
There’s plenty of preparation that goes into switching from one job to another, especially if it’s a new industry that happens to be X-rated. While you might have touched up your resume to land that first full-time job out of college, if you're going to build your career in porn, Driller says applying to companies is frankly a waste of time — if you're a man, that is.
"As a guy, there are no porn companies that you apply to. Trust me, I've tried. I'm on set with producers and not one of them has seen your email,” says Driller. “When a porn site, company or performer gets a 'give me a shot' email or direct message, they get trashed before they get opened. The assumption is, your email has some micropenis attached to a pot belly, and your grammar never exceeded second grade."
While that may or may not be an exaggeration, he notes that when he met with a producer at a Naughty America event, she was putting his email address in her phone when a message from him sent 15 months prior popped up. "She laughed that she never opened it or looked at it, throwing it away with the 200 others she receives every day," says Driller. This is how he knew that this might just be his big break.
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Instead of going straight to the big companies that produce and market porn, Driller says getting involved with an agency is a better and more successful path. "Start with three photos, face, full body and a clothed picture. If they like your introduction, then they'll ask for the other stuff and maybe you'll be able to go on their site," he says.
"You may then be thrown into a 'content trade' scene with one of their girls who is shooting content for her personal website. You won't be paid for this, but you will be put onto a real set, and shot with the production there to see if you can perform. You'll get a copy of the content for your own site for when and if you build one."
How Do You Pick a Stage Name?
Many years ago, when porn was still a relatively new sector of entertainment (and definitely not something you searched for online at any given moment), having the right name was really important. It was a way to shield actors from being discovered by their friends and family long before Google and Facebook got rid of privacy.
These days, Driller says stressing about your name is an old-school way of thinking. There's no way to hide from your adult film star life, so you might as well own it. "A stage name no longer matters,” he adds. “Just to be honest. Thanks to social media, Google, your ex and/or her friends, and your former high school classmates, you're going to be called out, and the internet is going to announce your real name everywhere, anyway.”
What to Consider Before Doing Porn
Unlike becoming a teacher, a fireman or even building a career in law, the porn industry isn’t exactly something you’ll write home to your parents about. Some might not even respect your decision. This makes it important to be fully committed before you act out a single scene, or take off one item of clothing.
If you're prepared to take on the ebbs and flows of the porn industry, Driller says it's important to take time to consider the personal and professional ramifications of making one specific body part your claim to fame:
Tell People First
Instead of having several uncomfortable conversations with your loved ones, pony up and let them in on your dirty secret from the get go. "First, tell your girlfriend, your mom, her mom, and your sister that you're doing porn,” says Driller. “They're going to find out the day your first scene is released, anyway. Do you want it to come from your ex, her boyfriend, your neighbor, or her boss? So, think about that conversation."
Have a Plan
While actors and musicians can perform well into their golden years, for adult film stars, the same isn't always true. There will come a time when you no longer want to (or are invited to) make videos, so considering your future employment is a smart idea.
If you decide you want to go into a new field after doing porn, it might not be as easy of a transition as you would have hoped. "Think about what you want to be doing in five years,” says Driller “Are you OK with probably never getting to do that? If you fail at porn, you won't be [directing porn] in five years. If you want to be a teacher, you won't be doing that in 10 years. Porn is less taboo, but porn will close just about any door where you have to work for someone else."
What Are Some Tips for Getting Into Porn?
Once you've accepted the reality of the career, exploring the industry will be confusing and, at times, disappointing. However, there are some ways to get you more auditions and gigs to build your portfolio. Here, Driller shares his pro tips:
Move to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, or Miami
Your small town probably isn’t going to have an open casting audition for an orgy that’s mass produced and shared virally. Pack your bags! "If you're serious about getting into the industry, you have to be located in one of these three cities,” notes Driller “You are not going to be booked or hired far out, for a while. Chances are, for the first year, the majority of your bookings are going to be day-of, when you get an email that says, 'Get to this location, now, if you want to work.'"
Let Go of Your Ego
"Being a guy in the industry is awesome, awful, and humbling all at the same time,” says Driller. “As a guy, you're there to make the girl look good, and deliver the scene that is needed. Ninety-nine percent of the time, you are never going to be noticed, or publicly recognized, or thought about on set, other than to make sure that you can deliver what's expected. What's expected is not necessarily what you want, like, or are thinking about. The industry does not need you, personally; they need a male performer.”
Show That You're Dynamic
"You need to be ready to do whatever is asked of you when you're asked to do it,” he adds. “You have to prove that you can give Naughty America what it wants, versus giving Digital Playground what they want. If you can't, then there's a whole line of guys behind you that can."
"The reason you only see so many guys in your porn is because we've shown that we're reliable and consistent. We've proven that we can take the direction and be thrown into whatever situation they want. The producers know what they're getting with us, and aren't having to take a gamble on whether or not the new guy can deliver. That's why you won't be booked until last minute at first, when no one else is available. You won't even be alone at first, just so that when you fail, there's someone else to take over."
How Safe Is Porn?
Over the past several years, the industry has fought several bills and measures attempting to mandate condoms and a variety of safe-sex practices for porn productions, claiming these would harm performers and workers. When it comes to his line of work, Ryan Driller considers porn to be “safer than 90 percent of the general public’s attitude and behavior toward sexual activity.”
“In porn, we monitor our health on a consistent basis so as to reduce the spread of any issues among our own,” he notes. “No, a test is not a protective measure, other than its knowledge. I know that when I was tested five days ago, I did not have anything. So, should I test for something next week, I know that it came from some time within that window. I can alert those I worked with to hopefully let them get treated and not spread further. They can do the same thing, too. Generally speaking, the industry is safe, in my mind. We look out for one another. We make sure we're all aware and comfortable, and safe."
Would a Porn Star Recommend Doing Porn?
While it might seem like porn stars are living the kind of dream your teenage self always yearned to have come true, Driller says that while he'd recommend watching porn, he wouldn't necessarily advise it as a career path.
"I love my job. I'm here because I want to be here. I don't need to be here. I've worked in 'the real world' and I've followed my own path everywhere. I thought about all the ramifications and possibilities that could happen in pursuing porn. I've had the conversations with my family and friends. I know what I got myself into and what I'm doing," he says.
"But the moment that you're labeled a porn star, your credibility is gone, your morality is seen as faulty and compromised, your intelligence is questioned, and your well-being is doubted. I do not recommend it for anyone unless they absolutely know and want to be here. If you're just considering it, you don't belong. If you think you'd be OK, you don't belong. If you've really wanted to be in porn but just aren't sure, then you don't belong. If you don't have a backup plan, you don't belong. You have to be ready and willing to do anything, and to run when you need to, too."
The bottom line? Really consider all of the possibilities, along with what you really want out of life before you get naked in front of a camera.
How Much Do Male Porn Stars Make?
As with any entertainment job, salaries vary quite a lot depending on the fame of the performer, but average pay does tend to be lower for male porn stars than for female porn stars, for obvious reasons.
According to Shira Tarrant, a professor at Cal State Long Beach and author of "The Pornography Industry," male performers can expect to make $50 per scene on the low end for a simple blowjob scene, all the way up to $1,000 for a gay sex scene. The average heterosexual sex scene, according to her data, pays between $200 and $600, depending on the prestige of the production company. To put those numbers into context, both the director, the camera operator and the lighting crew can expect to earn more money than the average male porn star. To earn just $30,000 a year — close to the median annual income – a male porn star just starting out in the industry would have to shoot a whopping 150 scenes.
What does this mean for you? If you're looking to earn a living, you're probably better off operating the camera or looking for work outside of the porn industry. But if you've got another source of income, or just want to dip your toes into the world of adult entertainment or live the life of a porn star, by all means, go for it.
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