The Hooksexup Interview: Sasha Grey

Has being "the smart porn star" become your shtick? Is that a fair way to characterize your persona?
I’ll leave the shtick up to the consumer. I pride myself on being myself. That’s one of the reasons I don’t want a contract. There’s something wrong with confining somebody into one little box — to say, "This is who you are and this is how we market you." As humans, we are allowed to change. I don’t want someone telling me to do this or that. I don’t want to be told that every other word that comes out of my mouth has to be cock or pussy.

I think that’s the first time you said either cock or pussy in this interview.
[Laughs] Well, that’s the point. You can call it a shtick or a persona, but it doesn’t really mean very much. People just don’t fit into those labels as easily as we would like. I mean look at me, I’m a porn star, but it’s not like I fit that classic porn-star image. I’m not blonde with big, fake tits and tons of makeup.

Do you have a lot of female fans? What do they like about your films?
I do have a lot of female fans. You don’t get that one-on-one exchange all that often. But the most common comment I get is that women say they feel unabashed about who they are sexually when they watch my movies. I really like that.

What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever seen happen on a porn set?

I’ll leave the shtick up to the consumer. I pride myself on being myself.

That’s a tough one. I don’t know if this is funny, but I saw a girl defecate on a couch by accident when she was filming. She wasn’t even doing an anal scene. I felt pretty bad for her.

What did the guy in the scene do?
It was kind of second nature to the guy. I guess that had happened to him before. He wasn’t grossed out, but he didn’t help, either. He just walked off-camera.

What’s next for you?
I’m working really hard on launching my website, so I’m building content for that. I’m also working on a graphic book but that hasn’t been solidified yet. It’s sort of a coffee table book about sex and philosophy, but a lot more involved.

Would you ever want to direct? What story would you want to tell?
I direct stuff for the website I’m building. But as far as non-adult directing, that’s a few years off. I’ve written a few scripts, but I’m still working on them. I lean toward dark comedies and drama.

How did the sex scenes in The Girlfriend Experience compare to your prior work in porn?
[Laughs] You’ll have to see it.

Comments ( 10 )

The thing I don't like about her is that she seems overly self-satisfied, and just not very nice.

JMH commented on May 06 09 at 12:49 pm

What the fuck is so glorious about being a porn "star"? It's like talking about the "miracle" of birth.

anonymous commented on May 07 09 at 2:36 pm

Don't know if she's mean-spirited or anything, DO know that reading Hunter Thompson ain't like reading the Bible in the original Aramaic. I mean, jeez, did anyone feel real challenged by, say, 'Hell's Angels'? I know, at least some times, attractive people claim that people automatically think they're less-than-intelligent; well, here's the flip: for some attractive people, the bar for 'ooh, she's intellectual' is so low you can step over it. I'm not a fan of Ms. Grey's just because she's like about a million other young porn stars: stares at the camera, a whole line of phony-baloney patter, that spit-sucking sound that drives me up the wall, the drooping eyelids meant to imply passion but always making me think of Get Shorty's Chili Palmer saying, what are you telling me, you're sleepy, you need a nap?.... Yawn. Gonzo WAS gonzo, at least originally, because it was (more or less) real people, not 'porn stars' who exhibited all the above behaviors, getting it on. Now it's more of the same. Don't know if I'll see this movie, maybe on cable. DO know, based on about 2 minutes of Redtube, I ain't renting none'a Sasha's porn. Is she good enough to make it with her pants on? I forget, did Sofia Coppola ever get better after Godfather 3?

slc commented on May 07 09 at 11:02 pm

Sometimes I don't like knowing too much about actors and actresses before I see a movie. It brings too much baggage and I can't help thinking about their personal life makes me view the film less objectively. I watched GFE on Amazon VOD, it was good.

gmd commented on May 11 09 at 8:46 pm

I don't get why she is the "smart porn star." She sounds like an angsty 15-year-old high school girl name dropping Sartre and Hunter S. Thompson. The bar must not be too high in that industry.

JCB commented on May 19 09 at 4:50 pm

I totally agree with you; there is a very unappealing detached quality I don't like. Also it seems like she's pulling intellectual rank when she mentions how it's "sad" that some other porn star wasn't familiar with a Hunter S. Thompson. It's so condescending. It seems like she's trying very hard to be smart and "edgy" but she just comes across as mean spirited and grandiose.

S.S commented on Jun 01 09 at 5:48 pm

I'd rather not know anything about her. Why would I be interested in some "smart porn star"? Noah Lieske

Noah Lieske commented on Jun 03 09 at 11:54 am

Apparently the author did not watch Sasha's Grey's interview with Tyra Banks; the intent was not to "mainstream" her, but to point out her wicked ways in an effort to reform her. That inaccuracy at the beginning of the article invalidates the entire piece.

Tricia Lee commented on Jun 06 09 at 2:11 pm

[...] Read Hooksexup’s interview with Sasha Grey, here. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The Girlfriend Experience", url: "https://entertainment.hooksexup.com/2009/06/22/the-girlfriend-experience/" }); [...]

The Girlfriend Experience | Entertainment commented on Jun 22 09 at 9:49 am

Ive bn in her shoes but im a psychologist now.Sahas "whoreporn" i found very disturbing,had to turn off-i felt embarrassed for her.how will she feel when shes 50& if she has chidren?.Her eyes are so disassociated,dead,damaged...When girls are abused- often some memory's are suppressed-a shock reaction. Alot of girls act out their abuse,trying to exert some control over their demons ,trying to prove their not victims anymore.They become highly sexualised engaging in risk taking behavior,trying to do something extremer than the initial abuse to bury the old abuse i.e gangbangs, been very hard& sexually aggressive-become abuser themselves,trying to exert control,block out their conscious or unconscious past victimization.Lets face it if she wasnt so beautiful,if she was unattractive and did what she does,men would say her "whorepornos" are self-abusive& desperate.a sad society it is.hpefully she gets some healing people around her.good on steven.s for helping her.

tracey commented on Jul 20 09 at 8:47 am

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