Porn Stars Who can actually act

[brk549]

I always thought Joanna Storm was about the most natural in front of the camera.She played lots of different roles but you could never tell which was the real Joanna.All of her scenes she seemed to really enjoy herself and I read in a magazine when they weren`t shooting she prefered hanging out with the crew over the stars.She sure was pretty.

[Goldageguy]

Originally Posted by knobby109

Ron Jeremy could play being Ron Jeremy; this wasn't acting.A good actor loses his own identity in that of the part he plays and Ron never did that.Neither did any male pornstar I can think of act to save his life.

Agree completely about Ron Jeremy but I think the other comment is a bit harsh. John Leslie was excellent when he put his mind to it but overall was too inconsistent to be considered a good actor; Paul Thomas was a decent actor most of the time; Jamie Gillis was sometimes superb and rarely less than good; Eric Edwards was a consistently good actor.

Some here have praised performers who were "natural in front of a camera". That's all well and good but it doesn't constitute good acting, let's be honest.

Btw, am I the only one who thinks Georgina Spelvin, though good, was a bit overrated and didn't have that great a range?

[Goldageguy]

Originally Posted by BigAl123

He was working, getting better parts, when one day his agent said: " I cannot work with you anymore." He vividly described the whole sordid situation in a special on porn
for, I believe, it was Showtime. Either Showtime or HBO. They interviewed Eric Edwards, who now does film editing work in the adult industry, Kerman, Herschel Savage
who appeared in the same segment as Kerman and talked about re-entering the industry at age 41 "because of cash flow problems". Those are the ones I know for certain were in the special.

The documentary was, in fact, a British production by Channel 4 and was part of their Dark Side of Porn docu series. This one focused on Debbie Does Dallas and you can watch it here:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfiIhM4qKRM

[Goldageguy]

Inari Vachs does a very good acting job in the film The Awakening. She is playing a character based on the late Golden Age porn star Kristine Heller. The film is directed by Paul Thomas and Heller was his ex gf who committed suicide in 1989. Kobe Tai is also fairly good in it.

[TCO95]

Although very few pornstars have crossed over to mainstream some have done it successfully. Michelle Bauer began her career as Pia Snow and is in the original Bad Girls with Anna Ventura, et al. Jewel Shepard began her acting career in Collection Video 107 with Mike Horner. Then of course there is Traci "I'm Banned At VEF"" Lords who has done some credible work in television and in movies. However, there is probably more work to be found behind the camera for ex-porn performers. Many retrain and work in make up and hair styling or as camera operators, grips, etc.

If you have talent, then being in a porno won't kill your career. Helen Mirren, John Gielgud, Malcom McDowell and Peter O'Toole were all in Caligula and they somehow found work after that film. Michael Douglas and Richard Dreyfuss learned to direct by making low budget pornos.

Michelle Bauer : http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000292/
Jewel Shepard : http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0791636/
Traci Lords : http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000183/

[Festerplink]

I agree with Doyle in post #29. Spelvin was a very good actress, porn or not. She certainly did a variety and range of strange characters and was believable in all of them.

Originally Posted by TCO95

If you have talent, then being in a porno won't kill your career. Helen Mirren, John Gielgud, Malcom McDowell and Peter O'Toole were all in Caligula and they somehow found work after that film. Michael Douglas and Richard Dreyfuss learned to direct by making low budget pornos.

I mostly agree with your post. But to be fair, concerning your Caligula reference, that was a very era-specific time and most likely will never be repeated. The sexual attitude in the 70's was very open. Cocaine, always gets labeled as an 80's drug in this country, but in actuality it was extremely rampant among the jet-set crowds of the 70's. Cocaine only amplified the sexual attitude. Nudity in general became "popular" for lack of a better word.
Even where I went to school in the burbs, the teachers wore mini skirts and skin tight tops ( often braless). This was normal then.
There was tons of sexploitation movies, sex, cocaine, and dance clubs became synonymous.( Platos. Studio 54 etc...)
Bob Guccione became celebrity status due to Penthouse being the anti-Playboy magazine that went mainstream. His wealth bought him a lot of clout in those days, even in Hollywood. Which is really why Caligula came to be.
Hollywood was ripe for an X-rated mainstream feature then. I dont ever see that happening again.

Michael Douglas learned to direct by making pornos? Why didnt he just hang out at the sets with his dad? I mean directing wasnt his thing, producing and acting was, so I thought. IMDB, shows he only has directed one episode of the TV show " Streets of San Francisco."

[Goldageguy]

Originally Posted by Festerplink

I agree with Doyle in post #29. Spelvin was a very good actress, porn or not. She certainly did a variety and range of strange characters and was believable in all of them.

She was good in Ecstasy Girls playing a repressed, sexually frustrated, middle aged spinster. But didn't she pretty much always play that role? I haven't seen all her movies by any means, can someone give an example of where she plays a different type of role?

She's ok in Devil in Miss Jones and Desires Within Young Girls but, well, she's a bit mannered and overwrought in both, really.

[tygrkhat40]

Originally Posted by TCO95

... Richard Dreyfuss learned to direct by making low budget pornos.

IMDb also shows Dreyfuss with only one directing credit, a short film done in 1995. Now he was in the movie Inserts, which is about a young director fallen on hard times and makes porn films to make ends meet.

[TCO95]

Originally Posted by Festerplink

...

Michael Douglas learned to direct by making pornos? Why didnt he just hang out at the sets with his dad? I mean directing wasnt his thing, producing and acting was, so I thought. IMDB, shows he only has directed one episode of the TV show " Streets of San Francisco."

MDb also shows Dreyfuss with only one directing credit, a short film done in 1995. Now he was in the movie Inserts, which is about a young director fallen on hard times and makes porn films to make ends meet.

Just to clear this up. I got the information while watching them on talk shows. They did not direct under their own names and I forget what they said they called themselves. They both chose something goofy like Frank Wankenstein. They also talked about other actors who had done the same thing but I don't recall who they were. According to Mr. Douglas it was almost common practice to cut your teeth doing low budget porn or horror films. The money would often come from studios under special budget items and the films rarely seen the light of day. It was all meant as a training exercise so they wouldn't be learning on the job with real money on the line.

[tygrkhat40]

Thanks for the info TCO. But there's this. They must not have learned the craft too well or didn't like it too much if they only have one official director's credit.