Page 87 - AVN January 2016

That trip introduces us to scene mate Anthonie (“Forrest”
from Sean Cody, who notes, “What I hate about modeling,
you can’t eat what you want” as they share a meal before the
shoot, where Ben also exclaims “Why the hell would you not
do this?”), porn star assistant Ernie and director Jason—who
stresses that they take STD testing very seriously, mandating
every model take a full panel test. (“I didn’t have to bottom,
which was awesome,” shares a happy Ben after the shoot.)
A career chat with Jason later proves promising to the
burgeoning porn star—Jason notes that Ben is one of the more
popular models (“You’re the prettiest girl in class”), and the
studio has plans for him—with a good five to six years of work
easily possible if Ben wants it. At the end of the episode, Ben
had done eight films and counting.
He comes across as conflicted in many ways, but not nearly
as much as counterpart Luke—a 20-year-old in West Palm
Beach, Florida. “To me, it’s just a job, and at the end of the day
when that job’s over I completely forget about it,” he says. “I
don’t care what people say about gay for pay. I like women, I
have always liked women, never liked guys, never will…I just
wanna get my money and that’s it.”
Luke shares that he was born in Russia and moved to the
United States at age 8, facing increasing hardships in his teens
after his parents divorced and the financial situation while
living with his mom deteriorated. He was found by an agent
who got him into porn. “Literally I became a quote unquote
‘gay porn sensation’ on the internet overnight…and everybody
found out. Once they knew I did gay porn, I lost my whole
life—literally all my friends, my family, my sports career,
everything I had going for me I lost in days.”
Luke has aspirations of starting his own clothing line
and gym, to train people. He lives with girlfriend Katelin
and her mother, who apparently don’t know of his career.
Katelin thinks he’s a model, and he confesses to getting fully
clothed stills from his porn shoots to trick her. “What are
you modeling? You don’t even get an itinerary?” she asks him
about his upcoming trip to New York for a shoot. “You really
don’t like talking about New York, do you? You definitely keep
your modeling life away from your life with your girlfriend.”
The scenario may cause some viewers to question the full
veracity of the “truth” presented in the show, as will Luke’s
what people say
”I don’t care
about gay for
pay. I like
women, I have
always liked
women, never
liked guys, never
will…I just wanna
get my money
and that’s it.
—Luke
conversation with friend Julian—the two coincidentally confessing to each other at the same time on
camera that they do gay porn (“I don’t judge you or anything about it, bro”). Porn producers Tyler and
Mark later tell the pair via Skype that they will be performing together in an upcoming scene (“I don’t
think it’s going to be awkward for me,” says Luke), since filmed at the time the episode aired.
But the most memorable moment comes in the pre-scene ritual Luke shares before his shoot. “I
have to take this medicine or else I absolutely cannot get hard,” he says, holding a bottle of pills.
“These are not even legal to have in the United States.”
The pills apparently have “bad ingredients” that Luke read “kill cells.” They make him nervous and
give him high blood pressure and headaches (he also carries ibuprofen to shoots). He notes that he
sometimes takes three or four pills (twice the apparent recommended daily dose) if they don’t initially
work. He also uses poppers to “get horny” for a scene. “Today I am going to bottom, and this is one of
my first bottom scenes in a long, long time…but if we don’t perform well and pretend like we like it,
we don’t get paid.”
After the shoot with director Marc and scene mate Diego, Luke confesses to blurry eyes and a
headache. “My ass is on fire right now…I feel really tired. I feel terrible. The pills, they give you a really
bad headache…yeah, just worn out.” He’s also met with a text from his girlfriend (“Katelin’s been
blowing up my phone”), which he actually allows the camera to see: “Guess you don’t love me as much
when you leave for your modeling jobs, or you just don’t care to talk to me. That’s okay I guess.” (Yet
another moment that may have viewers questioning all of the true motives involved here.) “Do you
not even get breaks during the day?” she asks later during a call, wondering why he has been so silent
while away (“I feel horrible about lying to Katelin every day, but we have a great relationship”).
“You’re just living…and hiding,” says a tired Luke as he sums up his mental state—and his life.
“It’s like running away from the law every day, like being a convict. You’re scared to get caught by a
cop, you’re scared to be seen. That’s basically what it’s like. It’s just too much, the complicated life of
Luke.”
MTV posted updates about the two men after the show aired, noting that Katelin discovered Luke’s secret: “She cried
a lot and was really upset…we talked for a long time, and she came to understand why I do it. There was never any
talk of breaking up, and we still want to be together.” Luke also noted he stopped taking his pills before scenes because
of the health risks. He has continued to shoot scenes and looks to build his brand. Ben, meanwhile, continues to work
with Sean Cody, live with Kristal and is also considering getting a service job to “balance out the craziness of porn.”
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