Page 62 - AVN August 2017

FEATURE
CROSSING OVER
DeAngelo Jackson returns to Flava Works with new outlook, goals
I DON’T WANT TO SAY
I FELT TRAPPED OR
STUCK, BUT I KIND OF DID. I NEEDED A BREAK
FROM IT, AND JUST LISTENING TO MY FANS
AND MY FOLLOWERS ...
AND LOOKING AT
THE DEMAND FOR IT, I SAID I WOULD LOVE TO
COME BACK VERSATILE.
—DEANGELO JACKSON
THE COMEBACK KIDS | By Brady Jansen
W
When he first got into the industry in late 2008, DeAngelo Jackson did so out of necessity. The
self-described Army brat had been traveling around the world and had to postpone one of his
goals—going to college—when his father was shipped to Afghanistan.
“I stayed with my mom a couple of years, took some credits while I was still over in
Germany. In the meantime, I was applying to Florida State. Once we moved back Stateside,
it was time for me to go to college,” he recalls. “Financially, it was a little bit more difficult. I
realized I needed a job.”
With an exhibitionist streak already in him and an open mind about his body, he made a
decision. “Just to wing it, I said, ‘Let me apply to a couple porn sites.’ I didn’t really think that I
would get a call back,” he says with a laugh. “And sure enough, two weeks before classes started
and I had to go down to Tallahassee, I got a call from Flava Works. I think I waited another
week before I replied, because I was so taken aback at even getting a call back.”
The rookie was eased in slowly when the studio had him do a small event. “I had my shirt off
and I was greeting people. It was really weird, but I was comfortable. I was used to having my
body kind of exposed. It was eye-opening, because the people I was around were already in the
industry and had done scenes. I was intrigued by it.”
About three weeks later, he went to Orlando to do his first scene—which held more
significance than most first-timers go through on camera. “Prior to that, I had never done
anything with a guy or a girl, so I was just a complete virgin.”
Wait … what? “Yep,” Jackson confirms. “I had done nothing.”
And there he was, walking into a hotel room with bright lights everywhere, the videographer
setting things up for his big debut. “It was weird. I had never even met my co-star prior. The
director asked me, ‘So, what do you do?’ I didn’t know what he meant by that. So he asked
me, ‘Are you top, are you bottom, do you eat ass … what do you do?’ I said, ‘I’ve never done
anything before. I’m a top, but I’ve never sucked dick or ate ass, but I’m open to it.’ So my first
time ever was actually filmed,” Jackson laughs. “It was very nerve-wracking, but after I broke
the ice, everything went from there.”
After his debut in 2009’s Mixxxed Nuts, he had a busy streak with the studio until around
2013. “It all moved so quickly, it was kind of like a blur. I was traveling around, going to
London and Germany, I was sort of just wrapped up in it,” Jackson recalls. “After five years as an
active model, I kind of grew tired of traveling, appearances and events … I was kind of burned
out from it. I needed a break.”
While he wasn’t active in new scenes, he never retired his persona. He kept active in terms
of growing his fan base and his followers, one of the reasons he wanted to come back. In June,
Flava Works signed Jackson to a new and exclusive two-year contract.
“I had my break, I re-charged,” he says. “I always wanted to broaden my fan base. I don’t
want to say I felt trapped or stuck, but I kind of did. I needed a break from it, and just listening
to my fans and my followers, building up my fan base and looking at the demand for it, I said I
would love to come back versatile.”
Yes, the fans have spoken: They want to see Jackson bottom, and he’s game.
“In my personal life I am versatile, but I’ve never been a versatile top on film, and I think that
would be extremely hot. I’m excited for it, I’m ready for it, and when it is released it’s gonna
62 | AVN.com | 8.17
open up another door. I am nervous, because it’s been such a buildup
and a lot of my fans have been wanting to see that for a while now, so
I just want for it to be hot.”
As for who that model might be, Jackson says as long as the
chemistry is there, he can work with anyone. “A lot of my fans,
some of them do care if he’s black. They’ve seen my work, so they
know that I’ve worked with all kinds of guys … Latino, black. In my
personal life, I’ve never dated a black guy. For me, I just want for it to
be natural. It doesn’t matter what color you are, the chemistry has to
be there,” he says.
“When I come back, I don’t want to be stuck in a box of just being a
‘black porn model.’ Sometimes you kind of feel like you’re boxed into
one sort of genre. ... I really wanted to branch out from the ethnic-type
niche. That was something that always bothered me, but I was
just a baby in this, so I wasn’t going to say anything. I always just
wanted to cross over, not just be stuck in a box, just be the ‘African-
American co-star.’ Like I said, I’m an Army brat. I grew up around,
and all my best friends have always been white. … I appeal, I think, to
all guys; I don’t want to be boxed into sort of being a thug or anything
like that.”
Jackson says it has gotten better over the years for models of color,
but progress has been at a snail’s pace. “You see a lot of beautiful
male actors crossing over, but they still have to point out the fact
that you’re black, or the black cock … it’s like, ugh! It’s something
that always kind of poked at me a little bit. I want for the industry as
a whole to move beyond that. If a guy is hot, it doesn’t matter; but
usually, he’s a black thug. Whatever. We’re still kind of stuck in that
niche, the big black cock, the all-white twink. It’s something I want to
try to move beyond.”
Flava Works CEO Phillip Bleicher says Jackson was very popular
during his initial run with the studio, and is excited to help him take
that next step. “We’re looking for some awesome guys that would be
a great pairing with him that would either flip with him or top. He has
done it in his private life, but doing it on film, something he hasn’t
done before, is gonna be a big step for him. But he seems to be in the
right frame of mind and ready to take on this role.”
Bleicher has reached out to other studios to hopefully do a cross-
promotion where they can shoot one of their popular performers with
Jackson, or vice versa. Flava Works also plans to conduct a fan vote
once they get a list of potential performers, with the hopes of securing
the most popular choice.
“He has an amazing physique. He’s beautiful, his skin is perfect.
(Continued on page 104)