Page 18 - AVN April 2017

WHO’S WHO
GIRL MEETS BOY
Kenna James talks about her first time
I HAD SEVERAL
COMPANIES ASK
ME AT THE TIME
I DIDN’T FEEL I
WAS QUITE READY.
THEN WHEN I WAS
READY I WEIGHED
MY OPTIONS, AND MY BEST
OPTION, THE ONE I REALLY WANTED, WAS X-ART.
—KENNA JAMES
MILESTONES | By Dan Miller
KENNA JAMES TOLD AVN she is still savoring the
moment that many thought would never come.
“Yesterday I did my first boy/girl with James Deen
and it was phenomenal, better than I ever dreamed it
could be,” the 22-year-old star said on March 7. “I’m
sitting on cloud nine.”
James not only did her first boy/girl sex scene for
X-Art, she also performed in her first boy/girl/girl—
with Deen and Natalia Starr—later that day.
K
“I have had a crush on James since I was 14,” Kenna
confessed. “I kind of grew up watching him.”
When she started her porn career in 2014 she had
no intentions of working with men on camera.
“When I first got in I had said I would never do boy/
girl and I was going to stay girl/girl,” James recalled.
“But as the past few years have gone by I think in
my mind I can really separate love and sex with guys
for a little bit—with girls it’s always been easy. Even
though I enjoy my scenes, it’s still … it’s sex. I think
what made it a little bit easier was coming in as a girl/
girl performer and then transitioning over. Never say
never.”
While she didn’t know if she would ever make that
leap, one thing was certain: “If I ever did I knew I
would want it to be him,” James continued. “He’s so
cute and adorable and a wonderful partner in a scene.
It was exactly what I wanted—sweet and romantic, a
very lovey dovey type of scene.”
Even though the 5-foot-8 stunner had never worked
with the two-time AVN Male Performer of the Year
Deen, they did have a rapport. They texted and talked
on the phone a few times to schedule the scene in
addition to having conversations early in James’ career.
“So we kind of knew what to expect with each other
and it turned out better than I even dreamed,” James
said.
“I met him a few times. He mentored me in the
beginning of my career. He helped me get going and
understand the business side of it. When I first met
him at AVN in 2015 I fan-girled so hard. He was right
18 | AVN.com | 4.17
across the booth from me and I was just in awe. I remember
I took a picture with him and thought I was going to burst.”
Deen, who has performed in more than 2.400 movies
since his debut in 2004, couldn’t help but feel flattered.
“Being picked to be in Kenna’s first boy/girl scene was an
extreme honor,” Deen told AVN. “Especially for someone
like Kenna who has already made a great career strictly from
girl/girl performing.
“I think she made a great choice to do her scene with
X-Art and I hope they will all be as happy with the scene as
I am. I was very impressed with both scenes. She showed a
wide range in performance styles between the more classic,
super high-quality romance style of X-Art and the more
super fancy, porno style of Colette.com. She is a terrific
performer and an equally terrific person.”
James after careful consideration made the decision to do
a boy/girl sex scene about six months ago and since then
has been “figuring it all out.”
“I noticed things were starting to slow down a little for
me in the girl/girl world,” explained James, who was a 2017
nominee for AVN All-Girl Performer of the Year. “There
are only so many companies you can shoot for and I want
to build myself bigger. I’ve always liked guys and girls so it
wasn’t too hard of a decision to make.”
Like any headliner on the girl/girl circuit, James fielded
numerous inquiries about boy/girl scenes prior to making
up her mind that she wanted to do it for X-Art.
“Absolutely,” she said. “I had several companies ask me
at the time I didn’t feel I was quite ready. Then when I was
ready I weighed my options, and my best option, the one I
really wanted, was X-Art.”
“I love the way their stuff is shot,” James added. “It’s so
beautiful and sensual and exactly what I was looking for.
They make you feel comfortable on set. It’s like a big family.
It’s very relaxing and then you get the content you
want.”
James called her three-way with Natalia Starr
and Deen “amazing.”
“James by himself is amazing. Add in another
girl, especially another one as beautiful and into
her work as Natalia Starr and it just becomes an
indescribable feeling. It was one of the best scenes
I’ve ever done,” she said, noting she had also
never worked with the Polish beauty Starr before.
“So it was a day of firsts. They put her together
with me and it was perfect.”
There is no release date set for James’ first boy/
girl scenes and for now she prefers to wait before
booking more work with guys.
“I think I’m going to wait and see how I feel
and see how it goes,” James said. “It very well
could start a new chapter in my career.”
The personable performer said specializing in
girl/girl scenes is “challenging.”
“I don’t want to say it’s a struggle but it takes a
lot of hard work, especially since you’ve got about
six or seven companies that book you somewhat
regularly,” she continued. “It hasn’t been easy but
I have enjoyed every step. Every movie has just
been a blast. It does take a very special person
to just stay girl/girl. You have to have the right
attitude about it. It’s always been kind of easy
for me. I’ve always loved what I do. I’ve always
loved women and love having sex with them and
making them happy.”
For many of her loyal fans the boy/girl news
won’t be a surprise because “the cat got let out of
the bag a little early unfortunately,” James joked.
“I have certain fans that are really happy to see
me transitioning and some that are not so happy,”
she said. “I hope I don’t lose those fans. I will still
do girl/girl, I will never give it up. I have some
other fans who tell me, ‘Do whatever you want
to do, whatever you want that makes you happy.’
Most of my fans have been supportive of me and I
can’t thank them enough for being so great.”
Meanwhile, she said her title of 2016 Penthouse
Pet of the Year—she was named Pet of the Month
in February 2015—was “one of the highest honors
of my career thus far.”
“It has just been a blast. I’ve gotten to travel
and see the world, something I always wanted
to do. I’ve gotten to represent one of the biggest
brands in the history of porn. And I never saw it
coming,” James said.
“I never expected to actually win. I wanted to
of course, but so did 11 other girls, and I honestly
never dreamed I would win and it was amazing.
Honestly, I cannot thank Penthouse enough for
the honor of representing their brand.”
A self-professed “very small-town girl” who
now lives in L.A., James said she’s soon preparing
to move to Las Vegas and plans to shoot more
girl/girl scenes, but “no more boy/girl plans at the
moment.”
“I’m booked up for the next week-and-a-half
and then I go back to Indiana to relax and enjoy
myself and kind of take a break.”