# Why are all porn actors referred to as "stars"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583 "2018-03-15T03:11:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/41 "2018-03-16T00:40:21Z")
I always figured they were talking about the \* kind of star, since it fits in with the recurring themes. Or, you know, vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/42 "2018-03-16T01:16:27Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I read somewhere that male porn “stars” get paid more on the grounds that it’s harder for them to perform. In these days, with chemical assistance being available, is that still true and are we likely to see an equality claim anytime soon? There’s no money for men in porn unless they either get behind the camera or go gay. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/43 "2018-03-16T03:33:47Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The recognizable faces in adult movies are the “stars”. They help sell the videos. > > I rented all of Marilyn Chambers films because I liked her. She brought a little better acting to her roles and she was very sexy. 😉 > > Veronica Hart was the same. I saw most of her films. She played a similar character in nearly all her movies. She had been badly burned in her early modeling days. That shoulder and arm were always kept covered with costumes. If you get a chance, listen to the \*Rialto Report \*podcast series. I’ve listened to the entire series (77 episodes!) and they are almost all fascinating. There was only one performer I wouldn’t want to know - Jeff Stryker, the “gay for pay” guy who just seemed to be a monumental creep. Link spoilered due to nudity on the page: [https://www.therialtoreport.com/category/podcasts/](https://www.therialtoreport.com/category/podcasts/) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/44 "2018-03-16T03:38:13Z")
Another excellent resource is the two " Ask the (Not So) Amateur Porn Director" threads by Doper **MikeSouth** [Ask the (Not So) Amateur Porn Director](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=661336) [Another AMA for the (not so) Amateur Porn Director](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=749371) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/45 "2018-03-16T03:41:29Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > One other good reason: The ones who aren’t “stars” are fluffers at best. There’s no grey areas. There haven’t been fluffers in decades, and then only on the most high-budget movies, or attempts to set a record by having sex with the greatest number of partners. Listening through the Rialto Report, professionals were expected to get themselves ready, and offer to assist their co-stars. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/46 "2018-03-16T03:43:03Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > I smell something fishy about this. It’s not me. I showered today. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/47 "2018-03-16T04:22:00Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Another excellent resource is the two " Ask the (Not So) Amateur Porn Director" threads by Doper **MikeSouth** > > [Ask the (Not So) Amateur Porn Director](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=661336) > > [Another AMA for the (not so) Amateur Porn Director](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=749371) I was just reading the first of those threads (from 2012), and saw this, as he mentioned his favorite actors: > [@Ask the (Not So) Amateur Porn Director](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-not-so-amateur-porn-director/630805/24): > > Stormy Daniels can act passably 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/48 "2018-03-16T04:38:50Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > If you get a chance, listen to the \*Rialto Report \*podcast series. I’ve listened to the entire series (77 episodes!) and they are almost all fascinating. There was only one performer I wouldn’t want to know - Jeff Stryker, the “gay for pay” guy who just seemed to be a monumental creep. Link spoilered due to nudity on the page: > > [https://www.therialtoreport.com/category/podcasts/](https://www.therialtoreport.com/category/podcasts/) I watched a couple this evening. Great interviews. I’m glad they are saving these former performers stories and memories in podcasts. Jamie Gillis died recently. They interviewed him just in time. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/49 "2018-03-16T22:19:01Z")
Probably the same reason all WWE rasslers are “superstars” ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/50 "2018-03-16T22:43:53Z")
Something like: > [@](#): > > “Call a jack a jack. Call a spade a spade. But always call a whore a lady. Their lives are hard enough, and it never hurts to be polite.” > > ― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/51 "2018-03-17T13:14:45Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m glad they are saving these former performers stories and memories in podcasts. _ **Why?** _ Are you imagining your great-great-great-great grandchildren learning about them in school? (Other than the semester discussing Stormy Daniels and the fall of a president) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/52 "2018-03-17T13:51:34Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > It’s not like there’s any “supporting roles” in porn Way back in the day when porn was shot on film and had something of a plot, my parents had a friend who had a non-participatory (as she put it) part in a porno production. She was a mother who sold her daughter into white slavery. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/53 "2018-03-17T14:18:11Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > _ **Why?** _ > > Are you imagining your great-great-great-great grandchildren learning about them in school? (Other than the semester discussing Stormy Daniels and the fall of a president) Not **aceplace57** , but from my POV, same as I’d like someone to document others from “fringe” classes – because these are people, they have/had lives and voices, and documenting people _other than_ the poweful or admired can always be worthwhile. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583/54 "2018-03-19T15:36:01Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I was just reading the first of those threads (from 2012), and saw this, as he mentioned his favorite actors: > > Originally Posted by MikeSouth View Post > _Stormy Daniels can act passably_ > > 😃 She was in the film _The 40 Year Old Virgin_, when Steve Carell’s character tries masturbating to her film _Space Nuts_. “Hi Andy. I’m going to talk dirty to you. I’m going to have lots of sexy…sex with you. I want to touch your big fat…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-porn-actors-referred-to-as-stars/810583.md?page=2)