Page 30 - AVN March 2017

GAYVN
TALKING POINTS
Porn stars share views on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
On the last full day of the Internext Expo, the
GayVN Lounge was the setting for all GayVN@
Internext events, including an impromptu discus-
sion with five of the gay porn stars attending the
event. In addition to the currently single Cocky-
Boys exclusive Liam Riley, AVN also talked to Dirk
Caber and Titan Men exclusive Jesse Jackman,
who have been in a relationship for five and a half
years, and adult star Brent Corrigan and Falcon Stu-
dios exclusive JJ Knight, who have been together
for only five and a half months. Sitting together
for more than an hour, the five performers talked
about their careers, their love lives, the pleasures
and pains of adult stardom, and life after porn. (For
a longer version of this article, visit AVN.com/gay.)
GAYVN@INTERNEXT | By Sharan Street
How do you navigate a relationship with someone who is in the industry?
DIRK CABER: It’s not about sexual jealousy which generally gets in the way—it’s
about professional jealousy. It’s that fact that any given porn career has its ebbs and
flows—the moment when you’re working every day for a month and then you’ll
have two months where there’s nothing at all. The problem is, these are never
going to line up perfectly between the two of you, so at any given moment one of
you has all of the attention and the other is in the background.
BRENT CORRIGAN: I don’t want to generalize, and I can’t speak for all porn stars,
but not many of us are that emotionally mature. … what is normal behavior for
us—you just can’t run yourself like a traditional relationship. As gay people in
general to mirror ourselves after straight principles of monogamy is a total mistake.
Even gay porn stars, we’re not immune to that.
DIRK CABER: Obviously we have the Facebook effect, where we are showing
[fans] the aspects of the relationship that we want them to see. They get a
misunderstanding of the reality of the relationship. They think it’s all roses and
candy. … People tell us, “You guys are the perfect couple.” No, we’re not. We’re a
couple, but we work at it. … So there’s that added pressure, even if you’re feeling
shitty or you’ve had a fight, you still have this persona out there that you need to
maintain because it’s part of your brand.
How is it for you as an adult star to be single and dating?
LIAM RILEY: “I try not to date in the industry anymore. I’d like to keep my
personal life private. I choose what to share, just like anybody else. But when it
comes to a relationship, I don’t want to deal with it. The jealousy of who’s working
with who, who’s bigger than who. I really try to just have a normal life outside of
work and just have dates with average people who don’t know about the industry.
DIRK CABER: When you’re dating someone, do you tell them about the porn right
away?
LIAM RILEY: Absolutely. I’m very open. Who I am onscreen is very much who I
am in person. I’ve had people who just completely want nothing to do with it, and
that’s it. There’s nothing you can do to change people’s perception on the way they
see the industry. But there are also people who are understanding, who will take
the time to listen to you say that it’s just work. I try to make it as easy as possible,
introduce them to my co-workers to show them that it’s nothing more than
friendships. … So you just kind of have to build trust with that person and let them
understand the way the industry works. But some work, some don’t. That’s life.
30 | AVN.com | 3.17
Pictured from left, JJ Knight, Brent Corrigan, Liam Riley, Dirk Caber
and Jesse Jackman. Photograph by JFK/FUBARWebmasters.com
How much are you like the characters that you play on screen?
BRENT CORRIGAN: I think it depends on where you’re working and who you’re
working for and what kind of porn you do. There are areas in pro-am and sort of
smaller studios where they really hinge heavily on the personalities of the guys.
They want to reveal as much that’s natural about them as possible because that’s
what’s earthy and that’s what’s grounded. And I think that’s what people respond
most to when it comes to baseline, straight-on sex. ... Working with Falcon we have
to think about where we place ourselves and how we look, and if we don’t think
about these things it kind of comes off as sloppy or unkempt, and that’s part of
playing the part.
JJ KNIGHT: Whenever I’m on camera everyone has this perception of me; they see
one person on camera where it’s really hardcore and everything. But I try to portray
myself as as any other person would, in terms of real life or on camera. I don’t
like putting on a front to people or putting myself in situations where I know I’m
not comfortable. There’ll be shoots like I did for Titan where I show up in leather
and everything, and everybody automatically assumes that’s really what I’m into.
It’s keeping yourself open to a wide range of things and not closing yourself off to
things. but also being real to who you are.
DIRK CABER: It’s an interesting balance you have to ride between playing the
character that’s assigned in the script but also being the actor that everyone follows
as well. Doing a hardcore BDSM for Kink.com, yeah, I’m the dom top and I’m
gonna beat you shitless—and I’m still a big old goofball who can’t help bursting
into laughter in the middle of it, too. And both are important. Anyone who tries
too hard to set aside one in favor of the other is going to find it very difficult to
maintain that.
What it’s like working with co-stars to create on-screen chemistry.
JESSE JACKMAN: When I first started at Titan, the mantra of the director at the
time was, “This is not a dating service. You will work with whom we want you to
work with.” ... That changed about three or four years ago in the studio. Now they
say, “What do you think of this guy?” ... And that on the whole has made for a
much better product.
BRENT CORRIGAN: A lot of performers are very discerning about what they’re
attracted to and how they fit into the puzzle. But some of us are much better when
someone else can look at the broader picture and mix and match. … It’s good to
have input but we don’t see everything. I have had the best scenes, especially in the
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