Louis Theroux: Twilight of the Porn Stars

This programme contains scenes of a sexual nature

This programme contains very strong language

That's the price we pay for being cheerleaders. Yeah.

Oh, my God!

'In 1997 I made a documentary about the world of male porn performers

'in Los Angeles...'

I don't want to cause offence when I say that I look at him

and I don't automatically think, "There's a porno performer".

Are you John Dough? Hey. What's up? How's it going? Louis from the BBC.

Break a leg.

'..finding out how difficult and stressful it can be

'having sex on camera for a living.'

Action.

Let's cut. Cut! Let's break.

It seems like the easiest job in the world, really. Let's face it.

It's not. Really?

Many, many men have tried and very few have made it.

And action!

'Fifteen years on, I'd heard about big changes in the industry.

'Porn was struggling, under threat from piracy on the internet.'

PornTube sites pretty much... killed the business.

Killed it.

If you've got a guy who's seen 500 porns, you know,

whatever you're gonna do isn't gonna particularly astound him.

How you doing? How are you, my friend?

'And so I'd returned to LA, curious how my old friends were faring...'

Good to see you.

'..and to meet the new performers pursuing a dream of porn stardom

'in an industry where a stable career was more elusive than ever.'

You like girls, you like boys, you like getting tied up.

The only thing... Actually, you like everything.

Everybody has to be something at some point in their life

that they may not want to do, but they do it because they have to.

I am someone that does blow bangs, I am someone that does anal scenes.

That's who I am. That's...who I'm becoming and I'm OK with that.

'My journey was starting in the San Fernando Valley,

'America's capital of porn.

'Faced with competition from free YouTube-style porn sites,

'studios have responded by making films with higher production values

'for the couples market.

'I'd been invited to the latest shoot by Wicked Pictures.

'The male lead was the rising star Xander Corvus.'

How we doing? Nice to meet you. Good. Nice to meet you too.

I'm Louis. Xander.

Xander.

You're a performer in the business. I am.

How long have you been doing this? About a year... A little over a year and a half.

You will be having sex with someone this afternoon on camera? I will.

Erm... I feel like an asshole.

Alex... Alexa I think her name is.

Have you seen her yet? No.

Have ever you done a scene with her before? No.

Is it important that you find her attractive?

I've had to do scenes with girls I wasn't particularly attracted to

but, you know, I'd get it up anyway.

I mean, I'm 23... I just turned 23, so it's usually not a problem,

and if it is, it's like, "OK, Cialis. Cool, we're good".

Cialis? Boner pill.

It's like Viagra? Yeah. You get it at any doctor.

But we go to, like, the porn doctor, basically.

So what is this called, this movie?

Erm... I don't know.

I forget.

We have the white virginous kind of look here. Mmm.

'The film's director, Brad Armstrong, was also an occasional performer.'

Brad, have you worked with Alexa before? I have indeed. Yeah.

Let me just say that Alexa's a lot of fun.

I mean, you've directed her, but did you mean that you've also performed with Alexa?

Oh, we've made the sweet love a number of times. Yeah. She's fun.

Step.

Step. Step.

Step.

Step. Look deep into each other's eyes without touching.

Is it set in a period, a certain period of history, Brad?

It's not so much a specific period, but it's period-esque.

You know, in the romance novel, there's always that guy with the open pirate-esque shirt

and the girl in her little kind of Spanish...

It's just sort of in romance land. Romance land.

And kiss.

Do you recommend it as a lifestyle,

because it's a very particular kind of a business to be in, isn't it?

It depends on the person.

If you're straight and business minded,

like Nicole's going for her Bachelor's right now. Who's Nicole?

Sorry. Erm...

What's the chick over there? What's the girl's name?

LAUGHTER Alexa, sorry.

Alexa or Nicole? Alexa Nicole.

Her first name is Alexa and her last name is Nicole? Exactly.

So you very much get a wide variety...

You've had sex with her a couple of times

and you didn't remember her name. No, I just blanked.

And action.

Michael...

I can't.

My father will never allow this, you know this.

Do that line one more time. Which one?

Hers. "I know that my father will never allow it. You know this".

Not "this" and "this'. OK.

And go from there, and action.

I know...

Fuck! And I too.

I know, and I you. As in, I love you too.

Are you enjoying the scene?

Yeah, dude, she's great. I'm really feeling her.

I think we have a pretty good chemistry going so that's good.

It's work, isn't it? Yeah, it's work. It's not sex for pleasure.

It's fun, but it's definitely not sex for pleasure.

How you doing, Brad? So far, so good. Are they OK?

Are they just moving... He's walking around with his willy out.

Yeah, it's... Isn't that... look at that.

Some people are a little more...

..flamboyant than others with their penis out.

Yeah! Oh!

Oh!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh!

No, less porno.

"Yes, yes, yes".

Yes, yes.

Cool. You got it and I got it.

How did that go? Do you feel closer now that you've just had sex?

It was a pretty romantic scene.

We're not gonna run and get married but it definitely, like,

opens a lot of doors to a person we're more comfortable around. Yeah.

There's something quite touching about seeing you there like that,

how your legs are crossed over like that.

It's almost like you've just had a romantic moment. We did. Yeah.

Sure did.

Do you have a boyfriend, Alexa? Yeah. Yes, I do.

Who you live with? Yes. Kids? No.

Would you like to have kids one day? Definitely.

You're not worried about your kids seeing something, seeing one of your scenes?

Not at all. And if they were to, I think sex is perfectly natural,

so I don't think it's anything that someone should be ashamed of.

'My next stop was the offices

'of one of the industry's leading talent agencies, LA Direct.

'Its founder and CEO is the performer known as Ben English.

'His real name, Derek Hay.'

Louis. Hello. How you doing?

Ah, how are you? Nice to meet you. Yeah, good.

Now, you've got a busy day. What have you got going on?

I'm not sure how many shoots but there's today's schedule.

She's doing an unusual shoot, actually.

She's doing a gangbang, which a lot of people say 'gangbang'

when you're talking about the porn industry, but actually it's pretty rare.

Is there a rate for a gangbang?

Would there be a going rate for something like that?

Anywhere from...

3,000 to 8,000.

I don't know if people consider that a lot or not.

I don't know. Yeah.

For a gangbang, is it a lot? I don't know.

'A few doors down from Derek is his number two, Fran Smidor.'

Hello. Hello. You must be Fran. I might be. Who wants to know?

Louis. Louis? How do you do?

So is that what you pay the talent with?

Erm... some of it is for the talent, yes.

Most of them are cheques.

How's business? Could always be better.

Do you think the internet and piracy and free porn on the internet has had an impact?

Yes. Devastatingly.

How has that had a knock-on effect on the industry and the performers?

Less work.

There's less work and there's an abundance, because of the economy, of performers.

There aren't enough people shooting to give everybody a day's work.

You see a lot of people coming in here and saying that, you know,

they want to be in adult movies, right?

Do you give them a talk where you explain what the consequences are

and how it's likely to affect them and have they thought it through?

No. Why not?

Because I would talk half... three quarters of the girls

out of the business and we wouldn't be in business.

I'm here to promote the adult industry, not put a curse on it.

Jinx, Jinx, Jinx.

Fran, do you get on with Jinx pretty well? Can't stand the sight of her.

Can't stand the sight? She's a good earner for you. Is she? Are you a good earner?

What have you got? Because you're always trying to short me.

This is what they do. They think I was born yesterday.

Well, she's come in to give you the money, Fran. Here you go.

Are you working this week, Jinx? Yeah, I'm working tomorrow.

What are you doing? I'm getting a pound in my ass tomorrow.

Do you have respect for what they do, the performers?

Because it's a lot of work, isn't it? Or it can be.

I think working 64 hours a week in an office is hard work.

I don't think going to set and fucking someone is as hard as we have to do on a daily basis.

It's not something I would want for my child. Why not?

Because it fucks with their heads and I don't want to be the mother of a whore.

I take care of...

Hi.

Hi. Brownie cam.

I'm Louis. I'm Stefania. Stefania?

Stefania is another of your clients?

Yes.

Performers? Yes.

And how long have you been doing it, Stefania? I just started.

I did, like, three shoots so far.

Oh, well. OK, so you're pretty new... Yes, I am.

..to the whole thing. And how's it going for you?

It's going pretty good. Yeah? Yeah. I like it, I enjoy it.

How old are you? I'm 22. 22? Yes.