Page 22 - AVN May 2015

WHO’S WHO
20/20 HINDSIGHT
Steve Holmes remembers two decades in his own words
my ideal for porn. Show the girl. Put her in the light. Put her in the camera. That’s what people want to see. So I did
that. We did some positions, and when we went to anal, she couldn’t take it. So I whispered to her, “Sit
on my dick”—reverse cowgirl, I didn’t know it was called reverse cowgirl at the time—the camera was in
front of us, I pushed my dick with my thumb at her back. The camera didn’t even realize I’m not in her
ass, she was riding up and down, It looked like I was. So we faked it.
I knew there was a porn convention in Berlin in January. A lot of people didn’t take me seriously
because I didn’t look like a porn star. I looked like an accountant or a salesperson—which I was for many
years. I told them to ask that producer and he confirmed it to everybody. I got other bookings and from
there it went very fast.
I’ve shot in 21 different countries, on five continents. I don’t know how many scenes but it’s more than
2,500. The first time I shot in Hungary was for German companies, but I tried to make local connections
because people from everywhere come to shoot there. That’s when I met people who shoot for American
productions: Rocco Siffredi, Christoph Clark. John Stagliano knew me from the Rocco movies and some
things I did for Jean-Yves Le Castel, who was shooing for Anabolic. My first shoot in America was in 1999
for a German company, in Los Angeles, In German, for a German movie. German script, German director,
German crew. Some local gaffers and PAs.
I spent some time in Budapest and Prague in 2002 with Manuel Ferrara. We hit it off even though we
couldn’t talk. He didn’t speak a word of English. I speak a few words of French, he speaks a few words of
German. Once we did 40 scenes in two weeks. Every day three scenes: one d,p. with him and me, then
he did a scene with a girl and so did I. We were used to working in Europe with eight-hour scenes. This
was gonzo. You go there, 45 minutes, you’re done. Three scenes is nothing. Some mornings I would
be sleeping when the girl arrived. We shoot in the same apartment. They start the pretty-girls, I took a
shower, I come back in a towel, I didn’t even get dressed, it was gonzo, you’re walking naked, boom.
I’VE SHOT IN 21 DIFFERENT
COUNTRIES, ON FIVE CONTINENTS. I DON’T KNOW HOW MANY SCENES
I met adult performer Steve Holmes on a shoot in the south of France
in September 2000. We shared a room at a nearby bed and breakfast
BUT IT’S MORE THAN 2,500.
and were shuttled daily to the location house, where Roy Alexandre
—STEVE HOLMES
was shooting several movies at the same time for U.S. and European
distribution, using a polyglot collection of performers and techs
from all over Europe. Holmes had lived in the U.S. for several years
and was one of the few people on set who spoke colloquial American
English, translating for me and helping me acclimate.
In a recent conversation, Holmes reflected on his 20-year career
in adult and his varied careers, and he revealed the mainstream role
model for his performing.
MILESTONES | By Tod Hunter
—Tod Hunter
IT WAS ON NOVEMBER 22, 1996, in Dortmund, when I did
I
my first scene. I had tried for a period of about nine months
from the beginning of 1996 to get a gig. I sent real letters,
on paper, like I would apply for a job in a regular company. I
didn’t know better. I had my data, and my curriculum vitae,
pictures of course, some nude and some with a suit. The
reaction: Zero. Not even a response. Nothing.
I had a friend I’ve known for more than 20 years and he
knew a porn producer. He gave my information to one of
his sub-producers in Dortmund. He shot amateurs. He said,
“We have a shoot November 22. You can come by.” The
series was called “Have a wish.” They asked me, “What is
your wish?” and I said, “Having sex with 10 girls.” No, it’s
too expensive; we can’t do that. Something else. “A scene
with oil?” We’ve already done that. I told them, “I like anal,
but not many girls want to do anal with me because I’m
kind of big.” They said “Okay, that’s do-able.” They hired
a girl who was pro-am, not really professional but she had
done a few movies before. I knew her, I had already fucked
her at a swinger party. The scene starts, and I already knew
what I wanted to do. I have said many times that my role
model was Fred Astaire. I used to do ballroom dancing and
the way he always presented the girls so perfectly, that was
22 | AVN.com | 5.17
Another big turn for me was in 2007. In November, always in November. I got a phone call from a
company I had never heard of in San Francisco. Kink.com. They booked me for a scene for their series
Sex & Submission. I flew over to San Francisco, I did the scene, I hit it off very well with the crew; we had
a good time. I did some more scenes, went home for Christmas and New Year, came back for Expo. They
said “Let’s book you for some more dates.” I said “Sorry, I’ll be home.” They said “What do you mean,
home?” I told them I live in Europe and I said as a joke—I didn’t mean it—I said, “If you want me to shoot
more scenes you have to come to Europe.”
He thought about it for a moment and said, “Okay.” So they came to Europe to shoot more scenes for
Sex & Submission with me. They asked me to produce it. I’ve never done it for other people, but I shoot
my own productions. No problem. That worked very well, and Peter Acworth told me about a new site
they were planning with Princess Donna that they wound up calling Public Disgrace. In our industry it’s
so hard to do something different. Everybody does more or less the same thing. With Public Disgrace I
have one niche where I’m totally exclusive. Nobody does what I’m doing. The fascinating thing for me
about Public Disgrace is so many young girls want to do it. I’ve shot four girls the last two years who never
did porn before and as far as I know never did porn again. I know many people who are not typical porn
consumers—my lawyer, my banker—and they are especially not BDSM people. I show them this—”This is
how I make my money”—and they find it interesting.
I just hope it [my porn career] continues as long as possible. I enjoy it so much more than at the
beginning. I loved it from the first moment, but right now there’s a new breed of female talent coming
who grew up with porn on the Internet. They know what they’re doing, they want to do it, and a lot of
them grew up with my stuff. I just worked with Holly Hendrix, and some other girls who weren’t even
born when I did my first scene. When they started watching porn, they saw my stuff. A lot of them say,
“I’m a big fan of yours.” It’s very flattering and I like it a lot. I’m happy with what I’m doing.
People ask me “Where do see yourself five years from now?” I never did that, in my whole life. When I
started working in porn I never thought I’d be doing it 20 years later. I thought maybe until I’m 38 or 40.
Now I’m 55. Married 26 years, we’ve been together 28 years. When I started out to do porn, I talked to
my wife about it before. I never would have done it without her permission. I never would have risked our
relationship.
Years later, she told me, “You know, when I said ‘Okay, go for it’ — I never thought you were going to
do it for so long.”
A longer version of the article can be found on AVN.com.