We totally get why guys want to appear in porn. It seems like the perfect job: you get to fuck beautiful people for money, right? And (in theory) there’s no real social stigma attached for men like there is for women. Indeed, the average guy might assume that he’d be considered a stud and lauded for his sexual prowess. The reality is very different.
Being a male porn star requires a very specific set of skills. At a very basic level these skills are:
- Develop and maintain an erection for a suspended period of time.
- Do this in the presence of your co-star, who you may not even be attracted to.
- Get naked, get an erection and have sex in front of strangers such as the camera operator, the sound person, the production assistant and the lighting crew. Most of whom would just like to go home as soon as possible. There’s also the director who wants certain shots and who is also keen to get the scene done as quickly and efficiently as possible because every second is costing money (equipment hire, location hire, crew hire etc).
- Have sex in numerous positions that may not be particularly comfortable, in places that may not be particularly comfortable e.g. on a cold floor under hot lights.
- Have an orgasm on cue. And definitely not before.
To put it another way: let’s say you are a straight male who is a potential porn star… could you get hard and jerk off in front of a group of other men you don’t know – say, several large bearded members of a motorcycle club – then come on cue and then do it again ten minutes later? If that sounds difficult, you might want to reconsider your ambitions. (If it sounds easy, you might want to reconsider your sexual orientation.) But the fact is – if you are straight, then even if you have the most gorgeous female co-star to have sex with and all the crew are female – it’s still going to feel pretty damned weird and impersonal and unsexy.
You may also need to be willing to take drugs like Viagra or use Caverject (which involves injecting erectile drugs directly into your penis with a large needle) to maintain a trustworthy erection. It happens on porn sets far more than you’d imagine.
So, any potential male star in the types of work we do will need to fit some or all of these criteria:
- Firstly and most importantly, you must be open-minded, sex positive, and respectful. Your attitude to the work is vitally important to those around you. If you think that porn is just about “fucking people†then we have no time for you and you should look elsewhere. We want men who are keen to create something positive when they make porn; they need to be on board with ethics and the overall director’s philosophy. This means being open-minded about sexuality, being eager to try different ideas on set and being prepared to be presented in a personal way that is potentially different to your typical porn style.
- Be OK with the idea of masturbating. In front of strangers. You may do a lot of solo scenes. Or…
- Be part of a real-life couple who will be doing a scene together – or have a willing partner. Or…
- If you need a partner to perform, this needs to be arranged beforehand.
- Do not expect to bring guests onto the set. Guys are notorious for having friends who want to check out what it’s like. No. The spectator portion of this industry is when you watch the finished product online.
- Males tend to not get the option to select partners. If anyone gets to choose, it’s usually the female model who gets to make her own choice as to partner.
- Be ready to have safe sex. That means having a very current STI test, a willingness to have a test conducted before a shoot, to wear condoms, or else have a fluid-bonded partner.
- Be attractive. Not necessarily in a standard way but you would need a certain style that meshes with what we are looking for.
- Have some kind of acting ability. You may not need to recite Shakespeare but we do require performers to be comfortable in front of a camera and to be able to set up a scene in a believable way.
- You do still need to get and maintain an erection in front of strangers (there’s going to be a large and hairy man who operates the camera for you at some point – trust us). The fact remains that this is filmed sex and erections are required most of the time. We do not supply you with Viagra.
Essentially, be aware that there are thousands of men out there who want to be porn stars but there are very few who can actually do it. Even so, there are opportunities out there for the right guy. Approach this as you would a “real†job – be prepared to be polite and engaging and to do what your employer wants.
Also, be aware that the porn industry isn’t exactly overflowing with money right now. In fact, piracy has meant that there’s not nearly as much work going around as there used to be. So even if you tick all the boxes, there may not be a job for you right now.
Finally, know that appearing in porn is a major life decision and you should be totally OK with the consequences if you do it. As much as we sex-positive people wish it were otherwise, porn still has stigma attached to it – even for guys. Once your image is out there, it’s out there forever. There is no way that you can get it back. If you stop doing porn down the track it may well still cause issues later on with employers or people you meet. We prefer to work with performers who are confident with their choice to do porn and who will feel proud of what they have done. We do our utmost to present your performances with the respect you deserve.