Page 49 - AVN December 2024
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“Because it’s people with a special life and if you are this kind of person who is able to put himself naked in front of porn movie, I’m sure you’re able to put yourself naked with your sentiment and emotion in front of people as Mike did.
“Mike doesn’t do porn but he knows how much sufferance he was going through in his life in boxing, in training and bad luck. He had so much things to say.”
Siffredi, who won the 1993 AVN Male Performer of the Year award in the first year it was presented and has collected more than 40 individual AVN trophies, says ticket sales did not pick up right away.
“I have to tell you at the beginning we were a little bit down psychologically,” Siffredi says. “Because of people in Italy the producer said it would be a huge success, ‘because what you wrote is nice and you are so popular.’ But when we started to put together dates, the pre-sale was so bad and we don’t understand why.
“There is still a lot of prejudice toward porn people. People love to see me in TV, and see me in a laptop, but they don’t want to come personally to see me with their girlfriend or with their wife because maybe they get prejudice from other people.
“So because of this I had to go on TV and really explain what I was doing. I had to really work hard. The producer said it will not be easy.
“He said, ‘Go out there and talk about your life with love and with respect.’ We don’t go to make a porn show. That’s another type of show.”
Rocco, who owns a record eight AVN Male Foreign Performer of the Year awards, shares several insider anecdotes from the set despite some people advising him not to give away too many industry secrets.
“We should give back something,” Siffredi reasons. “Just to give back some of the truth. We are not educational but I told how porn has changed in a very nice, realistic way.”
One notable change from the ‘80s-’90s era is how many of the guys use performance enhancers such as injections and pills for their erection, Siffredi says.
“And now everything is possible, [guys] can do any kind of positions for many hours. Before, you need a gift. Today, you don’t anymore,” adds Rocco, who even discusses how he dealt with his sex addiction.
Siffredi also devotes a segment of his show to his late cousin Gabriele Galetta, who was known professionally as Gabriel Zero and collaborated with him for more than three decades on hundreds of movies before his untimely passing in 2020 at 58.
An unsung creative force behind the scenes for Rocco Siffredi Productions since 1988, Galetta wrote all of Rocco’s major movies and shot most of his scenes.
“All of this is connected between pictures and video,” Siffredi says. “I am talking very much about my sexuality, when I came to America in the 80s and why I became famous.” He adds, “My producer says, ‘You can tell it’s all true and you can see the way you tell
your stories it belongs to you.’ That makes the difference.”
Siffredi tells AVN it only made sense to invite his wife Rosa on stage with him at the end
because some of what he was writing was about her.
“She wrote her part when she comes out,” Rocco says. “This year is thirty years we
have been married, so that was great way to celebrate.”
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