Page 26 - AVN February 2016

LIGHTS,CAMERA...
ON THE SET| |By Tod Hunter
Seeing Triple
Jacky St. James exposes the cast of ‘Emma Marx’ one more time
perfect record with an on-camera giggling fit, leading
Pax. Psych!” leading St.
St. James to bark “You’re fired!” in mid-take, opening
James to respond with a
the door for everybody to crack up, including St.
long-suffering “Really?” The
James.
conversation starts with
“This is the third time I’ve played this part, and
St. James pointing out that
thankfully the character is not exactly the same
Reid and Pax have played
character that we started with in the first movie,” Pax
sisters in three movies (“And
says. “She’s evolved and grown up over the past two.
we still haven’t fucked! On
I think she’s more mature and in tune with herself,
camera...”) and reflecting
making herself happy as opposed to doing what
that the first Emma Marx
everybody else wants her to do to make her happy.
movie was one of the first
It’s gratifying to be able to come back again and keep
productions they had done.
changing things up, having a different character to
St. James asks them if they
play each movie. That I like.
think this will be the last in the series, adding a
“I don’t want to give away too much, but Emma
serious “And we won’t say the spoiler” before they
has had some things happen and she needs to deal
can respond.
with the grief and move on from that. So we see
“I was stoked, I was really excited when they said
her move on in this movie and try to find happiness
they wanted to do a third movie,” Pax says, after the
again.”
interview is done. “We were shocked that they even
Pax’s reluctance to “give away too much” is
wanted a second one. I guess people dig this story
mirrored through the rest of the cast and crew.
and dig the characters. I was in love with the way the
Everyone is very circumspect about prematurely
second one came out, and I’m certain that the third
revealing plot details, to the point of keeping scripts
one is even going to top the second one.”
under wraps.
I believe it.
and thankfully the character is not exactly the same
”This is the third time I’ve played this part,
character that we started with in the first movie.
She’s evolved and grown up.
—Penny Pax
The Submission of Emma Marx—Exposed, the latest
It’s a laid-back day on the set of Jacky St. James’
episode of the story of Emma Marx. Actors Penny
Pax, Riley Reid and Van Wylde are reprising their
roles as the titular Emma, Emma’s outgoing sister
Nadia, and Nadia’s husband, Ray. Richie Calhoun,
who plays Emma’s husband/BDSM partner, William,
is not here, having already wrapped his participation.
Eddie Powell and Paul Woodcrest are behind the
cameras, and the mood is it’s almost over, let’s get this last
part right. Kind of like the last day of finals.
Writer/director St. James is intense, conferring with
her actors and techs to get the right look, the right line
reading, the right angle. When rehearsing a dialogue
scene, a voice from behind a camera asks, “Can we
just get this in one wide? One big mega-wide?” and
St. James agrees immediately, helping frame the shot
as the actors continue rehearsing but still managing
to chide the actors as they improvise off-script with a
sharp “This dialogue is critical.”
St. James keeps it loose when shooting, calling
for a roll-sound and getting a clapboard sync before
checking with everybody to see if they are ready and
eyeballing the shot through the camera (“Watch
that mic, you’re in the shot”) before starting with a
“Ready... Set... Action!” At the end of a good take,
rather than calling “Cut,” she breaks the silence with a
laconic “I believe it.”
Pax, who has earned the nickname “One-take
Penny” from her dead-on line readings, spoils her
Riley Reid describes the arc of her character in
the three movies from mocking Emma and being
horrified by Emma’s bondage play (“I was the
disapproving sister. I had sex on a bed covered with
rose petals, all romantic and soft”) to getting more
sexy in the second movie (“She’s dipping her feet in
the water, but she’s only going waist-deep”) to full-on
role play by the third. (“I’m doing light bondage. He
blindfolds me. That was a big step for my character,
allowing my husband to take control of me.”)
Reid says she had to scale back her performance to
match the sexual progression of the Nadia character:
“It was extremely hard, honestly. I was told ‘Don’t go
so sloppy on the blowjob.’ Me, I’m always gagging on
the cock, so it was a challenge to play this innocent
character. It’s out of character for me, because I’m a
horny-ass person. Nadia being able to develop more
makes it easier for me. I haven’t gone full crazy yet,
but you can see a physical difference in my character.”
St. James gets Pax and Reid in a bedroom for a
girl-talk interview for promotion and BTS. They
start by misidentifying themselves, with Pax saying,
“I’m Riley Reid” and Reid saying, “and I’m Penny
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