# Non-professional Sex for Porn Actors
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 10, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342 "2013-04-10T17:53:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342/1 "2013-04-10T17:53:38Z")
My understanding is that successful porn actors make an enormous number of films. In the case of males in particular, the ability to perform on cue is not a given, and while the men who act in these films have, of necessity, above average capabilities in this regard, I gather that it can sometimes be an issue even for them, especially in light of the “ambience” in which they need to get it done.
My question therefore is about the impact of needing to be ready and able on a regular basis on the sex lives that these men lead outside of their professional responsibilities. To the extent that they have sex with their partners, they will be making it that much harder for them to perform the next day for the cameras.
I was wondering how much of an issue this is for these people, and how much this impacts their ability to have ordinary relationships (leaving aside the issue of whether a relationship with someone who has sex for a living can be said to be “ordinary” in any event).
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342/2 "2013-04-10T18:25:05Z")
I know of at least one gay (former) couple who also appeared in porn, together or apart. I have no idea what their off-screen sex dynamic was, but I can tell you that when they appeared together it was incredibly hot…you can actually feel the added dimension of their real-life relationship in their scenes.
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### Author:  [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342/3 "2013-04-10T18:40:39Z")
There was a documentary on Ron Jeremy on one of the pay cable channels a few years ago. He said he knows when he has to shoot a scene and need only abstain for 24 hours prior and he is good to go.
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342/4 "2013-04-10T19:25:29Z")
Porn star Asia Carrera, who maintains her own web site, mentioned that when she are had sex at home, it’s missionary position. From [her FAQ](http://www.asiacarrera.com/faqs.html):
> [@](#):
>
> What’s your sex life like at home?
>
> Boring!! 🙂 Lights out, on the bed, missionary position! Ahhhhhh, I can relax… At home, I’m not wondering where the camera is all the time, I don’t care if my mascara is running, nobody sees if a position makes me look fat, I don’t have twenty people standing around, no hot lights, and best of all, I’m comfortable! I don’t want to do anything but close my eyes, and simply enjoy the orgasms.
I can understand; all those porn star positions look difficult at best. She also mentioned that particular positions were so stressful that the contract for a shoot would specify the maximum amount of time for something like the “jackhammer” where the woman doing a shoulder head-stand while the man is pounding downward. It looks profoundly uncomfortable for everyone involved.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342/5 "2013-04-10T20:08:16Z")
> [@xizor](#):
>
> There was a documentary on Ron Jeremy on one of the pay cable channels a few years ago. He said he knows when he has to shoot a scene and need only abstain for 24 hours prior and he is good to go.
He also scoffs at the more recent crop of male actors. He had to rely on natural talent and stamina. They rely on little blue pills.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342/6 "2013-04-10T21:47:10Z")
> [@gaffa](#):
>
> Porn star Asia Carrera, who maintains her own web site, mentioned that when she are had sex at home, it’s missionary position…
I’ve read interviews with a couple of porn stars, who each said their private sex lives were undramatic but fulfilling, without the posing, exposure and self-consciousness of “work.” Sounds about right to me.
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### Author:  [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342/7 "2013-04-10T21:56:38Z")
They also rely on “fluffers” to help, as needed. I learned about that from an episode of Nick/Cut.
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342/8 "2013-04-11T01:24:54Z")
> [@Learjeff](#):
>
> They also rely on “fluffers” to help, as needed. I learned about that from an episode of Nick/Cut.
Fluffers disappeared with 35mm film. They might have one or two for record-setting gangbangs, but for the most part the actors are responsible for getting their own damn selves hard.
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342/9 "2013-04-11T01:31:35Z")
Huh?
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342/10 "2013-04-11T01:38:32Z")
I’ve heard Viagra had an effect on casting. It used to be the main requirement for a male porn star was his ability to perform on demand. Now, with Viagra, that’s become a given and casting people can hire on the basis of things like appearance.
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342/11 "2013-04-11T01:42:23Z")
> [@Loach](#):
>
> He also scoffs at the more recent crop of male actors. He had to rely on natural talent and stamina. They rely on little blue pills.
As opposed to his viewers, who only _wish_ that they could have taken the blue pill.
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### Author:  [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342/12 "2013-04-11T01:43:56Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#):
>
> My understanding is that successful porn actors make an enormous number of films. In the case of males in particular, the ability to perform on cue is not a given, and while the men who act in these films have, of necessity, above average capabilities in this regard, I gather that it can sometimes be an issue even for them, especially in light of the “ambience” in which they need to get it done.
From what I’ve heard, those guys are weeded out early. A friend is an actor and an old roommate of his tried to break in to porn. They were pretty much “okay, have sex with this woman, now, in front of us.” He left with a “sorry, kid, you don’t have what it takes.” He’s a bartender now.
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-professional-sex-for-porn-actors/655342/13 "2013-04-11T02:28:08Z")
> [@epbrown01](#):
>
> From what I’ve heard, those guys are weeded out early. A friend is an actor and an old roommate of his tried to break in to porn. They were pretty much “okay, have sex with this woman, now, in front of us.” He left with a “sorry, kid, you don’t have what it takes.” He’s a bartender now.
I think the story got enhanced a little bit. The default is “Take out your dick and jerk off to completion, right now, in front of us.”
Seriously, there is no way cheap-ass porn producers or casting directors would provide a woman for a casting session. Women get paid a lot more than men in porn anyway, so they would have to pay a woman $500 for the “scene” to cast a guy who’ll get $200. Makes no sense.
The guys who were successful in porn, especially pre-Viagra, were a special breed. In the documentary _Inside Deep Throat_, one of the technical people said of the late, great Harry Reems “…he would get hard at the sound of the camera motor.”