Anyone can be a porn star. It’s just sex, right? Sure, consenting adults can film themselves gleefully fornicating and post it online (for free or a fee depending on their chosen platform) but that alone hardly makes them “porn stars.” Becoming a star isn’t quite that easy; it takes more than just filming explicit content, a performer must embody their role—preparing mentally and physically. While there’s no XXX version of Stanislavski’s An Actor Prepares, the adult actresses who cross over from unknown hottie to name recognition are often the ones who prepare for those roles with tried-and-true pre-scene routines.
Preparations vary depending on the scene criteria and type of movie. If it’s a story-driven skin flick (what the industry refers to as a “feature”), there are scripts to follow and dialogue to memorize that exceed stereotypical lead-ins (e.g. “How will I ever pay you for this pizza?”). For every feature she’s booked, Whitney Wright follows a very specific pre-scene routine that’s garnered her dozens of award nominations.
“I like to do the character breakdown and make sure I’m fully prepared with knowing my lines and knowing my character’s backstory, even if I’m making it up,” says the adult actress. “I love taboo, story-driven porn. That’s the kind of porn I liked to watch before I got into the industry and I feel like the nominations and awards you get for that is a bigger payoff, showing the range and capabilities of what an adult performer can do.”
After several years of performing XXX scenes, Wright began directing the same types of story-driven movies she enjoys, controlling the quality of the scenes she directs by mandating that hired performers mentally prepare by studying the script and doing a pre-scene character breakdown. It might be just porn to some consumers, but to Wright this is an art form.
“I will have them read the entire script and then usually for me I write it out, but for them I’m not going to go up to them and say they have homework, so I’ll pull them aside and we do a character breakdown,” says Wright. “It makes them way more committed to their character. I see a real difference when people do it versus, say, when I have someone cancel and someone comes in and they can’t do a breakdown because we’re three hours behind. Not only does it sound like they’re not delivering the lines the way a real person would, it sounds like they’re just reading. I can tell the difference when someone doesn’t do the character work.”
Actresses performing scenes, whether in features or the more standard gonzo-style, sex-centric movies, to some degree must always be ready to film—manicured hands, pedicured feet, clean shave sans razor burn (the routines that most people would employ before date night but don’t typically keep up daily). Getting an obvious bruise, however, is a no-no for adult stars, and can be costly if they don’t properly prepare. Penthouse Pet Emily Willis is proactive about avoiding bruises, and has to be to keep up her standard schedule, filming four to six scenes a week.
“I tend to bruise really bad, so I usually take arnica pills to help me not bruise. A lot of companies won’t shoot you if you’re bruised,” says Willis.
To keep up with her rising career, Willis, like many successful stars, began implementing routines that not only bolstered appearance but boosted endurance (a necessity in her line of work). “Pre-scene everyday before I go to work I go to Whole Foods and buy those immunity shots and take one of those, and then my trainer got me on protein shakes in the morning too,” says Willis. “Realizing that I have to treat my body and my mind well has helped. I got a trainer about a year ago; I knew being fit and toned would help, but it’s also helped my performances and given me more stamina. We have to treat ourselves like athletes.”
Prior to performing an award-worthy scene, adult stars frequently engage in physical preparations that extend far beyond what consumers are typically aware of. For example, most actresses often need at least 24 hours notice to properly prepare for a no-holes-barred scene.
Adult star Daisy Ducati is known for some of her explicit guides to booty play—and that, she says, comes from a lot of personal experience preparing for it. To ensure maximum control over her body, the preparations begin the night before and continue intermittently until shortly before it’s time for the action. “A lot of people don’t realize the sheer amount of time involved, and how often you spend way more time prepping for [a scene] than actually doing it,” says Ducati. “I do some preliminary stretching… I have certain toys I like to use; my favorite is this inflatable butt plug. I like it because it doesn’t cause too much friction before a scene. Sometimes you can accidentally wear your butt out before you even start.”
While anyone can have sex and film it, not everyone does the invisible prep work that separates the amateurs from the stars.
