Page 16 - AVN May 2016

WHO’S WHO
MEN OF ADULT
Damon Dice: The Dice Man Cometh
Home State: North Carolina | Age: 28 | Height: 6 feet | Weight: 170 pounds | Hair: Brown | Eyes: Brown
happened to have a certain connection
in adult through whom he found his way
into its fold: a fellow student from his
alma mater, East Carolina University,
who’d begun to generate buzz as a starlet
to watch by the name of Carter Cruise.
“I started a company in college and
she was one of my first interns,” Dice
recalled. “So I kind of knew her when
she was one of those girls dancing on
top of the bar at the club not knowing
their direction in life. So, I moved out to
California and started a tech start-up that
didn’t go the way I wanted it to. Carter
had just gotten into porn when I first
moved out here. So I was exposed to it,
and one thing led to another. I just kind
of got in.”
Because of the success he’s seen
performing, 2016 AVN Best
B efore trying his hand at porn
Male Newcomer nominee
Damon Dice was charting a
course for himself as an entrepreneur
in the tech arena—something he’s
continued to pursue. But he just so
Cruise have with her pursuits outside of
porn, Dice views his choice to enter her
line of work as no obstacle to his own
non-adult ambitions.
“From watching her, and the
path she’s taken, I’ve seen that my
getting into adult won’t inhibit my
entrepreneurial endeavors or my charity,”
Dice said. “I’m building my own bridge
on this, and we will see where it goes.”
Yes, that bridge also incorporates
as part of its foundation a steadfast
commitment to charitable endeavors;
before ever shooting his first porn
scene, Dice recruited Cruise and all-girl
performer Vanessa Veracruz to co-host a
fundraising event in West Hollywood for
another former ECU schoolmate of his
and Cruise’s who was battling leukemia.
“It’s just the way I was raised,” Dice
proffered. “I was raised to give to others
less fortunate than you.”
He said he hopes to continue to merge
his philanthropic pursuits and his adult
ones, explaining, “I have a lot of people
outside of the industry who want to help
out with charity events, so there’s a lot
of things I can tie to the adult industry.”
As for the actual performing side of
the coin, Dice said it was no big leap for
him to take. “I was making sex tapes in
high school,” he divulged. “I’ve always
been an exhibitionist, so it was a natural
progression for me. My friends back
home say they aren’t surprised I’m
doing this. ‘We knew you were going
to do this the whole time.’ So instead
of being gay and coming out of the
closet, I am a porn star coming out of
the closet.”
Looking ahead, Dice hopes to be
a “kind of a liaison between adult
and branding mainstream stuff. I’m
opening up those avenues and tying
them together to charity as well. It’s
really an amalgamation of several
different things.”
Summing up his own philosophy,
Dice submitted, “You reap what you
sow. What you put in, you get out. You
can’t sit around and be lazy and expect
things are going to happen. For me,
I’ve always created my future.”
—Peter Warren
Dray Stone: Texas Beef
Home State: Texas | Age: 33 | Height: 6-foot-3 | Weight: 200 pounds | Hair: Blond | Eyes: Blue
only job that could offer bigger thrills than
huge way to show an employer or an
fighting fires. According to Stone, “There’s
agency that you’re setting yourself apart
no way after you’re a firefighter that you
from everyone. I just studied, researched
could do anything else. … If you’re sitting
and everything. I knew my best shot
here as a guy saying you’re a firefighter
would be at the AVNs [AVN Adult
and a porn star, I don’t see that there’s two
Entertainment Expo]. I turned down
[better] professions anywhere.”
three or four agencies—people were
When he spoke to AVN, Stone had just
offering me contracts—because I wasn’t
done some scenes for BrickYates.com and
ready. I didn’t feel it. … And then I hit the
had signed recently with OC Modeling. “All
AVNs and—it was crazy. ... I don’t even
the dudes from OC are booked solid,” he
remember half the time. But it was cool.”
said. “That was a factor with me signing
At the show, Stone said, “I learned how
with them. I’m taking on one of the hardest
many people are in the industry, from
things to do—trying to be male talent. It’s
the back to the front to the tech guy. I
not an easy thing.”
mean it’s a huge thing—it’s not just
But maybe the challenge is part of
shooting a scene and uploading it. It’s a
the appeal. “I do a lot of anything in
big, big industry. ... I’m going to take in
competitive sports. Golf, pool, bowling,
everything like a sponge. The directing,
Dray Stone, one of adult’s
O K, ladies. Take a gander at
newest denizens. Buff,
blond and blue-eyed, he’s
6 feet and 3 inches of Texas beef.
And he’s looking to add “porn star”
to a résumé that already includes
bartender and firefighter.
Why go into adult? Perhaps it’s the
chess—I’m really good at chess. Nobody
the editing, where the camera is, the
can even beat me at chess; I’ve been playing
photographer, my agent, the producer—
since I was 7,” Stone said. “I get good at
what they’re all doing.”
things that are hard to get good at. … I just
Stone is from a small community in
like bettering myself.”
Texas, but it was just a half-hour away
As part of the path toward bettering
from a metropolis. “I was always going to
himself, Stone did his homework. “I
town,” he said. “I slept in a small town,
researched the industry and I knew the
I grew up in a small town, but I was
industry inside and out. ... That’s a huge,
always in the city.” Since last September
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he’s been in California, splitting his
time between two very big cities: San
Diego and Los Angeles.
Asked which he likes better, Stone
said, “I fit more in L.A. The people,
I get along better. The girls are way
more my type. But San Diego is so
beautiful. … Downtown is gorgeous.
Every girl has the biggest booty, the
littlest dog and the most money.”
But when it comes to his career,
he’s got his eye on L.A. He wants
producers and directors to see “This
guy’s dope, he’s got an 8-pack, he can
pop huge, he’s reliable,” Stone said.
“Once I get that reputation, then I’m
going to find a place in the valley.”
Follow Stone on Twitter
(@DrayStonexxx) and at
DreamLover.com/draystonexxx.
—Sharan Street