# Where do all these porn actors come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 4, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135 "2010-08-04T12:30:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/121 "2019-05-22T17:32:03Z")
If two thirds of women watch porn regularly, and women make up about 1/4 of porn users, does that imply that 200% of men watch porn? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/122 "2019-05-22T18:24:33Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > No, no, it’s not _aural_ sex! I can’t hear you! I have a penis in my ear! ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/123 "2019-05-22T18:48:26Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > That may be. Just for the record, that’s not true in the U.S. Depictions of crimes are not in themselves crimes. Rape can easily be faked, just as it is in non-porn. Incest can legally be part of a creative work, assuming the actors are not closely related in real life. **Pedophilia, assuming that prepubescents aren’t involved, can be easily faked by using a young-looking 18 year old.** There are at least five states with no bestiality laws. > > All of them are quite legal in written work, BTW, protected by the First Amendment. The bolded part was a topic in my college ethics class. Back then, even simulations were illegal. Apparently this is no longer the case as it violated free speech and there were no victims of this “crime.” ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/124 "2019-05-22T19:17:47Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > This makes it sound like porn would be more exciting on a planet where the inhabitants had more orifices. Jack Nicholson in _The Last Detail_ (described as the first silent movie made for TV, in the days before bleeps) mentions a hooker with a glass eye who would “take it out and wink you off”. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/125 "2019-05-22T19:24:30Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > The bolded part was a topic in my college ethics class. Back then, even simulations were illegal. Apparently this is no longer the case as it violated free speech and there were no victims of this “crime.” As I understand it, it is like drugs. If you claim that it really is an illegal act such as underage participants then it’s illegal. (just as if I sell you oregano and claim it’s pot, or icing sugar claiming it’s coke) But for example, Blue Is the Warmest Color features very explicit scenes happening before they show us the main character’s 18th birthday party. But, we all know they are actors already legally old enough, and it’s just a story, and the movie producers make no claim otherwise. I’m not clear what the situation is with CGI. I imagine that tech is coming… ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/126 "2019-05-22T20:21:25Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Jack Nicholson in _The Last Detail_ (described as the first silent movie made for TV, in the days before bleeps) mentions a hooker with a glass eye who would “take it out and wink you off”. She likes repeat business, so she’ll keep an eye out for you. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/127 "2019-05-22T21:19:39Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > She likes repeat business, so she’ll keep an eye out for you. :smack:😃 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/128 "2019-05-22T21:21:21Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > She likes repeat business, so she’ll keep an eye out for you. How bad is it that I can hear this in Tom Bodett’s voice? ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/129 "2019-05-22T22:21:04Z")
I guess I always assumed all the porn actresses came from porn acting schools. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/130 "2019-05-22T23:17:06Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Jack Nicholson in _The Last Detail_ (described as the first silent movie made for TV, in the days before bleeps) mentions a hooker with a glass eye who would “take it out and wink you off”. He also specifies that she lives in Wilmington. I love that little “detail.” That’s Nicholson’s greatest role, IMO - he knocked that one out of the park. I wonder if he was just playing himself. Part of me feels like he was. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/131 "2019-05-23T05:02:21Z")
Where do all these porn actors come from? Well, sometimes a daddy porn actor and a mommy porn actor fall in love. Then they … ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/132 "2019-05-23T10:49:11Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > A good chunk of the major porn sites are owned by the same company. That company also owns a number of the big name porn producers that also have their own sites. Those production company sites are where paid memberships kick in some revenue for access to exclusive content (that hasn’t leaked yet) and live streaming events. The tube sites push traffic to the paid membership sites that they own by posting shorter or lower resolution samples in many cases. Within the ecosystem a number of sites host paid live webcams and take a hefty chunk off the top for that business. That webcam market is big business. There’s even still a market for porn DVDs. Since the production companies selling them are linked to the tube sites the free stuff is effectively advertising things they sell. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > You don’t need many subscribers to make a decent turnover. There are a lot of consumers out there looking for a particular niche, ranging from vanilla safe-for-work softcore, to weird borderline illegal hardcore, and are willing to pay a small monthly fee for the high def, full length, guaranteed quality they reliably provide. When I worked for an adult site (a long time ago, it helped that we started early in the internet’s lifetime) we had about 30-40k subscribers at our peak, and that was a lot of income. You might not get that many now (hard to know for sure) but even 10k will net you some decent cash. Ignorance fought! Interesting. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/133 "2019-05-23T11:54:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If two thirds of women watch porn regularly, and women make up about 1/4 of porn users, does that imply that 200% of men watch porn? It presumably just means that men watch it even more regularly. The 2/3 figure comes from adding women watching porn at least once a week and women watching porn at least once a month. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/135 "2019-05-25T00:48:44Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Embracing the Suck] Great thread/user sig combo ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/136 "2019-05-25T00:54:52Z")
I’m amazed at the amount of amateur porn that’s on the internet. People willing to just record themselves and put it out there. It’s interesting and exciting for me. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/137 "2019-05-27T16:35:20Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Great thread/user sig combo Aruvqan and embracing the suck? Not sure what exactly you mean … ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/138 "2019-05-27T17:00:18Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Aruvqan and embracing the suck? Not sure what exactly you mean … Not your name: the thread title and your signature. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/139 "2019-05-27T18:16:39Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Where do all these porn actors come from? Well, sometimes a daddy porn actor and a mommy porn actor fall in love. Then they … …put on some really cheesy jazz music? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/140 "2019-05-28T00:59:11Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Where do all these porn actors come from? Well, sometimes a daddy porn actor and a mommy porn actor fall in love. Then they … > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > …put on some really cheesy jazz music? And make orgasm noises that don’t match their lip movements. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135/142 "2019-05-30T04:25:28Z")
If you’re interested in the “Golden Age” of scripted porn, download various episodes of the Rialto Report podcast. They’ve done long interviews with dozens of actresses, directors, scriptwriters, cinematographers and anyone involved in creating them. Lovelace’s book _Ordeal_ should be shelved in fiction. Nobody was ever forced to do porn because there’s far too many people willing to do it for money. The best part about that era was that the people appearing in it were aspiring actors. Georgina Spelvin, of _The Devil in Miss Jones_ was it Broadway chorister, and was Shirley MacLaine’s understudy on _The Pajama Game._ She was hired as the caterer for the shoot, was asked to read lines with one of the actors and the director asked her to do the lead. One of my family friends when I was growing up was a porn actress named Jody Maxwell. She was a theater student at UMKC, and director Gerard Damiano came to speak at the school. He asked her if she was interested in working in the field and created a film for her to star in called _Portrait_. We met her because she was my dad’s boss’s daughter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-all-these-porn-actors-come-from/549135.md?page=8)