Page 34 - AVN August 2017

LIGHTS, CAMERA
SEXUAL EVOLUTION
On the set for ‘Jessica Drake Is Wicked’
look pretty. … I became known as a guy who could make really pretty movies for
a really reasonable budget. When Jessica started talking about this, I basically
just listened to what she wanted and created scenes I thought would fit. Jessica
really wanted to challenge perceptions with this movie; perceptions people
have of her, perceptions people have about sex, perceptions people have about
different types of people and performers. My job here is to make it all look and
come across the screen as well as possible.
“It’s almost like a microcosm of our relationship: She’s the deep one and
I’m the pretty one,” he said with a laugh. “But truthfully, she is really excited
about the work she is doing here, and I’m excited about how it looks. I hope the
viewers will feel that and get just as excited.”
The project, Armstrong admitted, also has him adjusting his directing style a
bit. The showcase features several performers he’s never worked with before, so
he’s trying to be a little more hands-off, and letting Jessica and her cast-mates
dictate the action. During the blowbang scene, he calls out a few suggestions,
but for the most part allows Jessica to enjoy herself.
ON THE SET | By Sherri L. Shaulis
IN MY PERSONAL LIFE, I REALLY LIKE MORE EXTREME
SEX, AND I’M GETTING MORE OPEN ABOUT THAT IN
Like most sexual creatures, Jessica Drake’s desires have evolved through the years.
The types of sex she wants, and the types of people she wants to have sex with, have
changed. As a star performer who entered the industry in 1999, she admits she’s
been lucky enough to live out many of her fantasies in front of a camera. But for the
past few years, she said, she’s been craving more.
“In the past few years, I have been asking Wicked for things that most people
might see as really out of my wheelhouse,” the blonde beauty said. “I’ve been asking
to do orgies, more group sex, sex with new people. Now, everyone is finally in a place
where we can make what I want to happen, happen.”
Sitting on a couch in her own living room, she is dressed in business attire, full
hair and makeup done, waiting for the crew to be ready to take still photos. Two
scenes for her first true showcase release, Jessica Drake Is Wicked, have already been
filmed: a circus-themed all-girl scene with Vicki Chase, Anikka Albrite, Abella
Danger, Angela White and Brandy Aniston; and a boy-girl scene with Ryan Driller
that is Drake’s version of the story of the Garden of Eden. (“I’ve always wanted to
retell that story,” she said.) In today’s scene, she plays a business executive whose
latest project has been well received, so she celebrates with a blowbang of team
members Dirk Huge, Rob Piper, Ricky Johnson and Isiah Maxwell.
The entire project, Drake said, is personal on many levels, not just because it’s her
L
MY PROFESSIONAL LIFE.
—JESSICA DRAKE
first showcase.
“I think this is a great example of not judging a book by its cover,” she said. “I
think people have this image of me and my career and think that I am ‘softer.’ I’ll
admit, when I came into this industry, I didn’t really comprehend my own sexuality.
When I signed with Wicked Pictures, I remembered the porn I had seen before from
Andrew Blake and Michael Ninn that featured these beautiful locations and gorgeous
clothes and makeup, but the sex itself was really extreme and hard. The longer I
have been in this business, the more open I have been with myself about my own
sexuality. In my personal life, I really like more extreme sex, and I’m getting more
open about that in my professional life too.
“I’m hearing it a lot when people work with me for the first time,” she continued.
“Anikka Albrite was super surprised when we worked in the circus scene and she
said, ‘I had no idea you liked hard and rough sex!’”
It’s preconceived notions like those Drake and real-life partner and director Brad
Armstrong are challenging in Jessica Drake Is Wicked. Drake said she brought her
fantasies, the people she wanted to work with and the sex she wanted to have to
Armstrong, and he used his imagination to create fantasy sequences around those
desires. While Jessica Drake Is Wicked stretches boundaries for Drake and her fans, it’s
a return to his roots in a sense for Armstrong.
“I did showcases before showcases were called showcases,” he said with a laugh.
“Back in Jenna [Jameson’s] day, I was art directing films; I was hired to make them
34 | AVN.com | 8.17
That enjoyment is evident; watching her crawl across the white table,
seductively posing and removing her suit jacket before she starts kissing the
men, stroking their cocks, it looks as if she working to keep from smiling
broadly. After she moves to the floor in front of the table—surrounded by Huge,
Piper, Maxwell and Johnson—there’s a distinct moment where it’s evident she’s
lost in the sex: She’s not playing to the camera, she’s not moaning for effect
… she’s genuinely enjoying herself and her partners. There’s a sense that she
doesn’t want it to end, that she’s be happy to stay there for hours, using her
mouth and hands to please the men; but eventually the scene ends, and that
huge smile returns as Drake poses for even more pictures with cum on her face
and chest. Her happiness is mixed with a sense of pride, and everyone on set
knows she’s happy with the latest scene for the project.
“I identify as pansexual, and lately, as I do a lot more of my work in sexual
education and outreach I am getting a greater understanding of other people’s
sexuality,” Drake said. “Like so many people, I spent my youth really concerned
with what people thought of me. I’m reaching a point in my life where I’m not
so concerned with what other people think, but with what I want. I’m very
conscious of my brand and my business, but I really see this as me staying true
to myself, and letting myself and my fans explore something new.”
She also realizes Jessica Drake Is Wicked is a new direction not just for her, but
for Wicked Pictures as well.
“I started asking for this a few years ago, and there was understandably some
hesitation, because—bottom line—there was some question whether this would
sell,” she said. “I knew I had to balance my brand and my personal preferences
and at the same time factor in the brand and the business of Wicked Pictures.”
To that end, she said, she and Wicked Pictures CEO Steve Orenstein started
approaching distributors and retailers, asking them, “Will this sell?”
“Overwhelmingly, the answer was ‘YES!’” she said. “It was so encouraging to
hear retailers say there was definitely a market for this. It’s encouraging to know
there are people want to see this from me.
“I think, overall, this is not just a typical showcase, but an introspective look
into my career and who I am today as a person,” she said. “With my work, it’s
really changed me and my sexuality. I can’t unknown or unlearn the things I
have learned about sexuality and inclusivity and more. It’s on my mind all the
time. And to be able to share myself in this way makes me feel lucky.”