Interview with a porn star

[Jesus]

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live the life of a male porn star? Probably not much if you’re a regular here on the Archive. However, below is an interview with a professional porn star in Japan. It’s his full-time job, making an average of 30 low-budget films per month. His first job was as an ejaculation double, for which he was paid a grand total of $9.00 (at today’s rate of exchange). It’s not necessary in Japanese porn for the stunt double’s critical parts to look very much like those of the “star,” as Japanese law requires that the genitals be obscured in the final film.

After the film is put together, it is sent off to part-time “Penis Pixelators,” whose job is to lightly pixelate any of the legally offensive parts. These are mostly college students and businessmen working at night, in their spare time, for about $9 per hour. They go through the porn film frame-by-frame adding the required pixels.

From soup to stardom:
A professional pornster's life in the jizz biz

Adult movie actor Kei Ikeda makes a reasonable living doing a job that's the dream of many young men, but he's got to be careful he doesn't blow it all at once, according to Friday (11/23/2007 issue). [Friday is a Japanese weekly magazine. It might be viewed as a low-brow version of People – assuming that you can go quite a bit lower than People.]

Ikeda has been working as a porno star for the past three years and has appeared in over 1,000 adult movies.

"I get paid 30,000 yen [US$270] a movie. A veteran actor might get paid 50,000 yen for each film, while the biggest names in the business will get 70,000 yen per flick," Ikeda tells Friday, noting that male actors are paid on a scale well under what goes to their female colleagues and the only way to make a decent living is through quantity. "At busy times, I'll do three movies a day -- one in the morning, another in the afternoon and then the last one at night. Normally, though, I average about 30 movies a month."

Ikeda got his start in the industry as a "soup actor," the Japanese term for men who provide adult movies' money shots. It's the job of soup men to stand around an actress and wait for the climactic scene when they are expected to add some juice to the action, so to speak, Soup men never appear on camera.

Ikeda became involved after seeing a movie maker's Internet ad seeking soup actors. He became what is known as Net soup, as opposed to Actual Soup. Net soup actors get their name because they have responded to an online ad seeking their services and are paid just 1,000 yen [US$9!?!] per shoot. Actual Soup actors come into the job for a living and get 5,000 yen a movie.

"After I was only paid 1,000 yen for my first movie, I was going to go home and never do it again, but one of the producers grabbed me and said, 'Hey buddy, you shot some pretty good stuff today. How about coming to another shoot?' He offered me an Actual Soup job paying 5,000 yen, so I figured, 'Why not?'" he tells Friday. "After I'd been working as an Actual Soup for a while, one of the directors said he needed some young actors to get in on the action and asked if I was interested, so that's how I became an actor on-screen."

Ikeda tells the weekly that being a male porno star is harder than it seems.

"When you're working on a film that has no script, you've really got to take notice of the actress's body. If you notice she's the buxom type, you have to know the director is going to want to emphasize the size of her tits, so the way you make love has got to take this into account," he says. "Acting for men is all about making a bit of a fool of yourself, but that doesn't mean any old fool can do it."

And being in demand means the 23-year-old actor must always be ready to perform, with the industry unforgiving when it comes to those who misfire.

"I eat loads of veal because it contains plenty of zinc," he says, noting the mineral he needs to continuing rising to the occasion. "I'm always taking zinc supplements. Basically, I take one every time I finish a shoot."

The job has its perils, though. Aware that he will be needed to perform on location has tended to eat into Ikeda's private love life. And, despite what goes on in front of the cameras, a workplace relationship is strictly prohibited.

"I have never," Ikeda tells Friday, "asked an actress for her phone number or e-mail address." (By Ryann Connell)

The Mainichi Daily News (Japan)
Friday, November 16, 2007
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/waiwa...dm009000c.html

[Dave]

You know that porn flicks are shot over three days and the "money shots" are done on the first day and the action shots are done on the third when the balls are drained.

There's also all sorts of cameramen and light and sound people in the room or on the set. Not to mention the director being romantic and saying things like:
I can't see her vagina,
Move that arm.
Move those balls.
There's snot on your ass...

[colin]

Originally Posted by Dave

people in the room and saying things like:
I can't see her vagina,
Move that arm.
Move those balls.
There's snot on your ass...

I always thought that was what normally happened! You mean that sex can be private?

[tugon]

It has been a while since someone made me soup.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by colin

I always thought that was what normally happened! You mean that sex can be private?

Not that I haven't had three-ways, but I've never been on camera or display.
Porn stars do it in front of an entire crew with the cameras moving in and out for closeups. Real actors also have sound men, too, but no porn flick has sound with more than a nickel.

Could you keep it up if the crew started talking about how they are going to "photoshop your zits" or "clear up that hemherhoid" or remove the love handles? How about saying "we'll use the closeup of George, he's got the prettier dick. or "When we zoom in past his cock and balls, we'll pull a tight shot on the snatch double. It looks better on camera than that big sloppy thing she calls a ..."

Great Ceaser's Ghost, how romantic that sounds.

[FianceeUvBigGuy]

Originally Posted by tugon

It has been a while since someone made me soup.

You poor darling! I'm afraid the only soup that, as a girl puppy, I can offer would be your choice between some of my mom's gazpacho (too cold here for that!) or some excellent potato soup that Ash(leigh) made this afternoon...plenty left...with either cornbread or a hot baguette. We've also got some Dove/Shrimp Gumbo left that can be thawed in the micro.
On the other hand, if you'll pop a naughty DVD into the player and whisper sweet nothings in my ear I'll make you some "honey".
Tuggy, you are sooooooo mistreated!

Love,

Yolanda
Everybody's friend
Mall Marauder