Why can't porn stars become mainstream and transition to film/tv?

Yes.

The Weinstein years are over.

It’s because of the fact they’re sick and dirty people.

Oh, and they can’t act.

Just because they’re in porn doesn’t make them good actors

All of the above.

Sylvester Stallone made a porn long before he was Rocky. Yes, he's tried to cover it up, but facts are stubborn.

Attitudes are changing. At some point acting on a sitcom and in porn simultaneously will be seen as normal.

I always assumed that they only got into porn because they couldn't hack it in the mainstream. Actors (ostensibly) need some degree of talent, whereas porn stars just need to look fuckable. Anyone who looks the part gets the part.

True R7.

Can’t wait to see who the commercial sponsors will be for Will & Grace, and Bambi & Ram Rod.

Because people who do porn are just not normal hon. You can try to sugar coat it all you want but it’s just not normal.

It's takes talent to suck dick on camera.

Have you seen the acting in porn? They have no talent.

Honestly if someone was talented/luckyenough they probably could go into a mainstream career. The stigma over sex work is not what it used to be.

[quote] Oh, and they can’t act.

Big generalization.

There actually are some who have shown they can act. But like all actors, they need a decent script, a good director, and equally-talented screen partners for this to be realized.

I agree with R3. There are a few who could do a convincing performance in mainstream movies or TV, but the vast majority of them can't act for shit. I well remember the gorgeous Steve Rambo. Bless his soul, he was so damn, hot but when they gave him lines to read he came off like a low grade moron.

There are enough talented actors to choose from for any role without having to risk your production by bringing in an untalented porn star last seen with his tongue up some rando's asshole.

Once you’ve had ropes of splooge dripping from your lashes and lips, it’s hard for viewers to unsee it.

Wasn't used-up Kleenex Johnny Hazzard in something mainstream?

Traci Lords probably had the most successful porn-to-legit crossover.

They are both performers but the skills aren't usually transferable. Really successful porn stars have charisma but it's trapped in dysfunction. If they had genuine talent they wouldn't be in porn, at least not in the post-internet world. Besides who wants to insure a former porn star? It would be easier to get a policy for a movie shooting in Wuhan.

Fredrik Eklund is probably a more contemporary example.

Decades ago, it was announced that Cal Culver (a.k.a porn star Casey Donavan) would be starring opposite Maggie Smith (!) in the film version of Mary Renault’s “The King Must Die.”

Never happened.

(Too bad, because the Renault historical novels have never been filmed, and they make great movies.)

1. Most aren't good enough actors

2. Studios don't want the financial risk of people staying away once it's exposed that the person was in adult films - and it would be exposed and the word would spread quickly.

Bit parts where their porn past is part of a joke can work.

Industry blacklist, the FCC, the MPAA, Asian and Muslim countries, etc.

Stallone’s movie was softcore. The ones that had some acting skills were the stage actors that did porn in the 70s.

Also full length features aren’t really made in porn anymore its mostly all sex and clips.

Fredrik Eklund Isn’t an actor and had a super rich family with world class connections to fall back on.

The most recent porn star I could think of that made a go of a mainstream career was Sasha grey which hasn’t really worked out.

Sick and dirty people? how can you think that!

And now, Mr. DeMille... I'm ready for my close-up.

James Deen was in The Canyons, that terrible movie w/Lindsay Lohan.

Sylvester Stallone did a porn film.

We know, Jackie!

Conversely, there have been mainstream films with non-porn actors who performed hardcore sex on camera. "Shortbus," and that one with Oscar, Tony (three-times), BAFTA and Olivier award winner Mark Rylance getting a blowjob, for example.

There is no "stigma" OP- porn actors are mentally unwell and riddled with disease which is why it's not surprising that so many mainstream actors try to cover up a porn past as it exposes their mental deficiencies

There was that one 80s porn guy who was a soap actor for a long time. Soap acting isn't much better than porn I guess but it's still mainstream.

Sorry, you guys are way off. Do you think it was an accident that James Deen was attacked as an abuser just as he was making the transition. Once you are in the porn industry, you are not allowed to leave. There was another porn star from the 1970s who actually started to have a modeling career and the porn moguls squashed it. Traci Lords was able to transition because she was underage during her porn work and, therefore, had leverage.

I had an acquaintance during the 1980s who had done some porn. He moved to LA and was actually getting work. Suddenly, he could not get an audition. His manager told him,"Sorry, but your friends want you back in porn." (I can't remember his name at this point. He was blond and had striking celadon green eyes.)

The one exception seems to be Jean Val Jean/Emmanuel Delcour. According to IMDB, he does seem to be working.

Zay Harding did.

R32: I think Delcour has retired from porn. He does paintings.

Worked for the First Lady...

Ginger Lynn could actually act but she went back to porn at 40.

Maybe because in order to be good at porn you need to completely turn off your emotions and completely desensitize yourself, and to be a good actor you need to be hyper-aware of your emotions, and observant of other people?

Really, it's not the same skill set.

No acting talent is required for porn. All you have to do is maintain a hard-on for an hour of filming. Having said that, some actors working in porn can actually act.

[quote] Also full length features aren’t really made in porn anymore its mostly all sex and clips.

Jake Jaxson at Cockyboys still dabbles in more film-like projects. .. I enjoyed "The Haunting," and thought both Christian Wilde and Dale Cooper gave good (acting) performances. Jaxson's "Answered Prayers" was an interesting project, perhaps a little too avant-garde, because it was so personal to Jaxson and used a lot of symbolism, but still entertaining. .. I remember liking Dean Monroe and Max Ryder's acting in it. .. Also the three twink bullies that played "Cain, Pain, and Vain" (Duncan Black, )asper Robinson, and Frankie V) were both funny and believable. It also convinced me that someone like the BBC or PBS should hire Monroe as a narrator for their documentary specials .. lol! .. Besides his acting scenes, he also did some of the narration of the story, and he has such an easy voice to listen to and makes great choices for inflection and cadence.

It will be interesting to see if anyone can make the leap a la Traci Lords. Mia Khalifa is on the current season of Ramy (on Hulu). Colby Keller was in an episode of HBO's High Maintenance (even though he was mostly having sex in the episode). There were some porn actors who had decent ensemble roles in Boogie Nights.

Actually, now that I think about it, there is Sasha Grey. She gained a cult following from her porn films and parlayed that into a recurring arc playing herself on Entourage, and several mainstream movies (with quite well-known legitimate actors too). She even played the lead in a Steven Soderbergh film (The Girlfriend Experience). I would say that's an example of transitioning to film / TV. She has worked quite steadily.

I wonder if in a few years, the lines will become more and more blurred. Celebrities are increasingly turning to nude content and OnlyFans pages etc. And casting directors are now looking at who has the most followers on Instagram or Tik Tok or YouTube or whatever as part of their process when screening actors. It's not out of the realm of possibility that others can transition into the mainstream in the next few years.

"Why can't porn stars become mainstream and transition to film/TV?"

I've been asking people this for years...

Joan Crawford was able to.

R17 he was in some gay indie film. Then he supposedly "retired " because he was going to try to do mainstream acting. When that didn't work out he then "unretired" from porn before "retiring" again to now making occasional appearances in Naked Sword and foot fetish videos.

There's a bollywood actress who went from doing porn to a successful career in Bollywood films.

German actress Sibel Kekilli starred in a few porn movies before her acting career. I suppose calling her an international star would be a stretch, but she made it to a supporting role in Game of Thrones and was a regular on one of the most popular German crime series… not bad for a former porn whore!

Probably because most of them are terrible actors when it comes to delivering lines.

Bill Harrison starred in "Bijou" and also had a supporting role in Anna Christie opposite Liv Ullmann on Broadway. He was billed as Ken Harrison.

I find a lot of big Hollywood stars terrible as well. Even Oscar winners. Especially Oscar winners. In a world where people like Leonardo DiCaprio are considered outstanding thespians, I don't think it's primarily a lack of talent that keeps porn performers from breaking into mainstream acting.

And think of all those pretty girls/boys who got cast in a few eye candy type roles in their early 20s, or landed a role in some stupid teen show, and managed to coast on that fame forever.

When was Hollywood ever about talent?

Sasha grey doesn’t work steadily and her mainstream resume since she quit porn is a bunch of obscure things or walk in parts.

The film SCORE (1974) has a softcore and a hardcore edit. One of its performers, Claire Wilbur, went on to win an Oscar as producer for Best Documentary Short Subject.

Spalding Gray did porn and had a decent mainstream career.

The woman who played Shay in GoT was an ex porn actor. And she played a hooker.

Porn actors don’t generally cross over to mainstream because they can’t act for shit. They’re also, often kind of ugly and almost always incredibly stupid. Actors have to be able to take direction and understand the script.

The posts in here about porn actors being denied mainstream roles by porn bigwigs is interesting. I suppose it's no secret that the powerful people in porn are sleazy and dangerous-most likely mafia types

A few have done some mainstream but it was long ago. Paul Thomas did Jesus Christ Superstar after starring in some gay loops.

Georgiana Spelvin did quite a few appearances under various names.

Traci Lords is John Waters favorite.

But as most here have pointed out the majority have NO talent.

Also, the acting careers of almost every actor in Shortbus pretty much ended afterward.

What is happening is that actors with careers will do some "homemade" porn and most people will accept that.

I think nobody would care if actors under 30 years old today are revealed to have sex tapes. What will be interesting is when someone really decides to monetize it, while still having a legit acting career.

There was some 20someething female star - the name escapes me - in some 20 something series, maybe 15 years ago, who went into porn in her late 30s but her legit acting career was over.

We are waiting for a Taron Egerton type to say "why not" and open an OnlyFans and rake in millions.

I think the issue is they would have to do the porn for some psychological reason because a legit actor in a really big ticket career is already making good money and is hoping to make a LOT more, through legit acting. Then ever could be made through porn.

Is it true that Kristan Alfonso got her former gay porn performer costar fired because she refused to work with him?

Wade Nichols was a gay and straight porn actor in the 1970s. He recorded a disco album and had a recurring role on "The Edge of Night" soap opera for five years.

Veronica Hart was a porn actress for many years. She's had several small roles in mainstream films. She played a family court judge in the movie "Boogie Nights" and had a role in the Jack Nicholson film, "Ruby."

Arnaldo Santana was a gay porn actor in the 1970s who went on to a small role in "Cruising." He then played one of Al Pacino's thugs in "Scarface," then had a recurring role on the TV show, "AKA Pablo."

Bet Broderick, who played one of Melissa Joan Hart's aunts on "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch" made her film debut in the X-rated movie, "In Love." She then had roles in "Bordello: House of the Rising Sun" and "Sex Appeal."

Marilyn Chambers of "Behind the Green Door" fame later played the lead in David Cronenberg's "Rabid," but eventually returned to porn.

Sunny Leone is said he name I was think of. She is currently still having success in Indian films despite her porn past and being on one of the Maxim list. Nerdish ho Will Braun is just as good as some of these current younger soap actors on DOOL and GH. Which is not saying much.

1970s and 80s X-rated superstar Annette Haven had a small speaking role in the movie "10." She was Brian DePalma's choice for the lead in "Body Double," but the studio overruled him because of her porn past. Melanie Griffith was cast instead, and Haven was relegated to playing the part of the woman dancing in silhouette in the window.

Sonny Landham starred in dozens of 1970s porn movies before breaking into the mainstream with "Predator," then moving on to "48 Hours."

[quote]Why can't porn stars become mainstream and transition to film/tv?

Because they never trained in the legitimate theatre.

R62 Not necessarily true. Eric Edwards was a huge porn star for decades who trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts and had done tons of theater before entering porn.

He was on his way to a mainstream career, signing with the Ford Agency and making some commercials. But Ford found out about his porn work, which violated the morals clause of his contract, so he was dropped. After that, he was unable to move out of the porn world.

Jeff Griggs did gay porn as Tony Erikson in the late 80s/early 90s while also being on Days of Our Lives, but was fired when it all came out, because an actress on the show wouldn't perform lover scenes with a faggot. He managed to keep a career going on tv, in guest and supporting parts. he's still pretty hot. It's min R31 is referring to , I think.

Character actor James Hong, who is now in his early 90s, has a couple of porn credits in his resume - early 1970’s, non-sexual roles. He’s been in everything...from “Here’s Lucy” to “Chinatown” to “Blade Runner” to the “Kung Fu Panda” series.

R65 Hong wasn't exactly in porn - those movies were more like softcore drive-in movie type films. He directed one of them, "Hot Connections."

Also most of these names are from over 40 years ago and a number of them had some training as an actor.

R67 Correct. Because 40 years ago, porn movies had actual plots and scripts and were training grounds for not only actors, but also directors, editors, cinematographers, and screenwriters. The porn of today is basically high gloss loops. No talent required - just genitals.

Even Wes Craven started in porn. He wrote, directed, and starred in "The Fireworks Woman" in 1975.

Is Griggs on the Socials?

Chloë Sevigny and a porn actor : Difference without distinction.

The curious career of character actor James Hong.

Kevin Williams' line delivery when he plays the young guy getting a massage was pretty good. Wonder if he might have been a good actor. You know that classic scene I'm talking about, his parents pre-paid massage etc. His hole wasn't as good though at playing virgin ass. The dick slipped right in.

“This is my bed and this is my parent’s bed...and this is where I sleep.”

The hell you say!

Thank you Kev @r73! You still remember your lines.

Tje obvious answer is that porn stars generally have no acting talent. Oh, they might be good at fucking and sucking and have no objection to being filmed doing it, but acting talent? They don't have it.

Poor Steve Rambo is the whipping boy for bad gay porn acting on YouTube. There are multiple variations of this scene in particular.

That’s him, r64. Thanks for figuring it out. I remembered “Jeff” was in there somewhere but all I could think of was Jeff Quinn.

G did transition after failing in the porn business. A source told me.

R79 Huh?

R79, if you have to ask, you shouldn't be here.

Stallone did what they used to call a stag film-- no coming, no penetration. Just his flopping average-sized dick. Not even a hard-on. That was a much more palatable transition into legit films.

G did transition after failing in the porn business. A source told me.

What does this mean?

Sigh, R82.

I assume you know M is a "stand-in" for Meryl and G is a "stand-in" for Glenn. The rest of is it just deliberate bullshit.

No, I guess we don't all know that, R83.

^^

LOCK 'ER UP!

OP = Blake Mitchell, waiting for his Oscar.

Anyone who has ever seen the "acting" in porn knows the answer to that question.

I had never known about Jeff Griggs starting out as a porn star, so I went online and checked out a couple of his early movies, and I have to say, he's probably the only guy I've ever seen in a late 1980s gay porn movie who could truly act!

He had beautiful, deep voice, and he had a natural acting style about him. He definitely had star quality. I'm glad he was able to get out of porn and become a mainstream working actor.

He'll never be more than a background actor though at least in mainstream movies.

R89 He's had a good, long career in TV, though, so he's done pretty well.

True R90 but never as a lead.

David Pevsner still gets some legit acting work, despite being a nekkid whore, no?

Why can't mainstream stars transition to porn?

R91 He's probably just happy to have been able to work steadily for over 30 years in the mainstream.

Was David getting much work before porn R94, because the only thing I've seen him do acting-wise is that web series about older gay guys and his friend wrote that part for him?

David has a lot of mainstream credits along with web stuff. Check out his IMDB. Not bad.

Veronica Hart, Ginger Lynn, and Marilyn Chambers weren't half bad in their mainstream films. Certainly no worse than most Hollywood starlets.

The real surprise was Traci Lords who turned out to be quite a skilled comedienne and she recently surprised me with her dramatic skills in a movie called Excision where she played, of all things, a repressed suburban mother. Her performance in that is fantastic.

Most of his work is small walk on parts and glorified a glorified extra.

Here’s the god awful painting he gave president bush in 2004. He claimed he did porn so he could buy his family Christmas presents.

Wow where did you find that, r98? I grew up in Kingwood.

In case anyone wondered, the Griggs Gallery in Beverly Hills is a mail box center.

Johnny Hazzard has a film in post production that he wrote and directed that stars Marlee Matlin and Alan Cumming, so that’s pretty mainstream. It’s on his IMDB just adjacent to his acting credit for Ass Bandits.

Johnny Hazzard got good reviews by nearly every review for Tiger Orange. Granted most probably weren't expecting much, but he did show he has some acting talent.

His new film, "Run", seems to be a challenging role, we'll have to see how well he pulls that off. I hope it gets released, it was shot a few years back. It's not easy getting an indie film released, but it does have the benefit of having some 'names' in it.

Because most of them can’t even convincingly act out the little bit of dialogue they have in their porn films.

Rocco Siffredi has acted for Catherine Breillat

R100 He wrote and produced it, but he didn't direct it.

The trailer makes it look like your typical low budget "personal journey" movies, but good for him trying to break out.

[quote]Because they never trained in the legitimate theatre. -- Arlene Francis

Casey Donovan, billed as Calvin Culver, was in a 1972 Broadway production of George Bernard Shaw's "Captain Brassbound's Conversion" that starred Ingrid Bergman.

Sam Ritter/Stephen Geoffreys is the best example I can think of, of a porn actor who came from theater, and clearly could act. He has a Tony nomination. Just because you're in porn doesn't mean you can't act. Porn doesn't give you an opportunity to act.

But porn does carry a stigma. Most people can't return to mainstream projects, after doing porn. This might be changing, but it hasn't fully changed yet.

R106 Except Stephen Geoffreys STARTED in legitimate theater and films, then went into porn AFTER he had established himself as a mainstream actor. That whole career path was really odd.

Yes, that's what I said.

The fact that he came from theater and movies, and had won awards, meant he could act. I'm sure there are plenty of wanna be actors who ended up doing porn. Just because someone's in porn, doesn't mean they can't act.

r29 In which film did Mark Rylance receive a blowjob onscreen?!😘🔥👍

Wasn’t geoffreys supporting a bad drug habit when he did porn?

R29 It was a film called "Intimacy." Very graphic for mainstream actors.

You're never gonna be a star, Blake

r112 Cheers

[quote]r89 He'll never be more than a background actor though at least in mainstream movies.

Mr. Griggs has appeared in the legitimate theater.

99.9% of porn stars are mentally ill.

[quote]99.9% of porn stars are mentally ill.

This is also known as the sour grapes of repulsive fat men who couldn't get sex with a porn star even if they offered to pay for it.

Ashley Ryder, British gay porn fisting actor extraordinaire stared in the bleak art house film Uncle David and I guess made another short film after that.

I seem to remember reading long ago that Canadian art house director Bruce La Bruce used porn actors in some of his films. He recently did a collaboration with Cocky Boys, but I can tell if the four short movies were actually porn or art house films?

He did a full on porn for Cazzo - a trite skinhead thing.

Stay down freaks.

99% of them are too fucked up to do anything BUT fuck on camera. Easy to fuck or get fucked when you're high but not easy to work a real job.

Granted Mia Khalifa is no A-list celebrity, she has leveraged astronomical fame on IG compared to other porn veterans & considering how brief her stint was within the industry, she’s incredibly lucky. She’s endorsed by many popular mainstream celebrities like Emily Ratajowski & Dove Cameron, but why? What makes her exceptional when her adult content is so sparse/mediocre ?

Jackie Chan is the only one who truly made it in my book (in terms of Hollywood transition) though he only engaged in like one skin flick.

Sylvester Stallone made it.

He only performed in softcore.

Jackie Chan performed in hardcore?