CHRIS NEUMER: What is a good example–I’m not sifting for some dirt here about other performers–but what’s something that strikes you as being fake in porn?
JESSE JANE: Too many people do the fake moan. "Oohhh Oohhh!!" Too many people look into the camera and start posing or winking. They’re doing it for the show. It looks fake. It looks stupid. Some people don’t care, but a lot of people will mention it to you or make fun of it. Most people will say, "Oh, I’m so into it and I’m so sexual, I’m going to do all these things to you." But when it comes times, they’re like, "Don’t do this, don’t do this or this." Ugh. They’re not into it and they roll their eyes. They’re fake and they’re horrible. Why get into porn if you’re not going to try to enjoy it?
RICK ROGERS: It’s like that quote you mentioned before. 98% of girls are bitching and complaining the entire time they’re on set. They that they enjoy their jobs and all that because it’s what they want the public to perceive.
CHRIS NEUMER: I’m assuming that that persona is one of the things you have to wear in the industry. When someone asks you if you find it hot trying anal with five guys you get to giggle and all that, pretending that it’s cute.
JESSE JANE: That’s not for me.
CHRIS NEUMER: I’m always amused at questions like that. A reporter or fan finally gets a chance to talk to you, and then uses his time to ask about that. Is your persona close to who you actually are?
JESSE JANE: Yeah. I don’t like to pretend that I’m somebody I’m not. I like to be me. That’s what will make you successful.
CHRIS NEUMER: If you have a winning personality.
JESSE JANE: Yeah. If you have a job and you enjoy it and you’re in it for a career and you’re in it because you want to be in it, that’s all good. I can’t stand to be somebody I’m not. I can’t stand to be there and be somebody I’m not and be like, "Okay! I’m going to be with five guys! Totally!" I’m like, "I’ll never do that." I’ll never do a gang bang, I’ll never do multiple partners. No. It’s not me. People like to tell you that certain things will better your career, but, no they won’t. I’ve been in this business for three years and I’m on top. I stood my ground and people respect me for that and for who I am and for the performance I give.
CHRIS NEUMER: I did an interview with Jim South a while ago and basically hung out in his office in Sherman Oaks for about three hours. I have more stories to tell based upon that three hours than I do from the rest of my career combined.
RICK ROGERS: (laughs)
CHRIS NEUMER: But Jim was talking about how different girls bring different things to set. Again, equating this to the mainstream world, Kiefer Sutherland can yell, "Stand down!" better than anyone. No one else has the poise and command of Kiefer when he’s point a gun at a character. Are there certain things that you, or other actresses, bring to the set that others don’t?
JESSE JANE: Um… I don’t know.
RICK ROGERS: (laughs)
CHRIS NEUMER: Well, let me ask you, Rick, since you’ve worked with a number of women. Are there things that certain women bring that others don’t?
RICK ROGERS: I mean, that’s like… In your sex life, are there certain things that girls bring that others don’t? With Jesse it’s different. She’s not a critic of herself, but what she brings is that something that is easily captured on screen. When you put in one of her movies, you’re captivated. The whole look, her eyes all that.
CHRIS NEUMER: I guess the difference between what you guys do and my own sex life–trying not to sound pejorative in saying it by the way–is that what you do is a marketable entity. As an actor you almost always have to look at yourself as a product to sell to audiences. I realize that it sounds deeply impersonal to consider you "Jesse Jane Product" by you are a registered trademark.
JESSE JANE: But I am. It’s a trademark. But I didn’t actually register that name.
CHRIS NEUMER: I realized earlier that I’ve never actually interviewed a trademark before. Is Jesse Jane anywhere close to your real name?
JESSE JANE: No. It’s not first and middle name or anything.
CHRIS NEUMER: I take it your real name is a closely guarded secret then.
JESSE JANE: No, I’m just Cindy. I’m not a trademark, but yes, I’m a product. It’s not a big deal. They were smart to do that. But you’re right, you have to have a good team behind you. You’re not going to find anyone better than Digital Playground. But, you also have to have a personality that can be backed. You can have a good product, the Jesse Jane brand, but with marketing…
CHRIS NEUMER: But the marketing’s sort of out of your hands, right?
JESSE JANE: No, I’m a marketing queen! I’ll go get my own radio stuff and my own mainstream stuff. I’ve done it, I mingle with people from Hollywood and most mainstream people don’t want me in adult. They’re like, "You should be a mainstream actress, what are you doing?" (laughs) I get that. Digital Playground and I are a team. You have to have a girl who can keep it on and keep it going. There are a lot of girls who are afraid to do radio because they’re afraid to talk. They’ll give one word answers and that’s it.
CHRIS NEUMER: You forgot the giggling.
JESSE JANE: And they’ll giggle. Yes. But nobody gets called back. I could sit there and talk for hours. I do so many radio shows–and I always get asked back–it’s not even funny. I can be me and promote the product.
CHRIS NEUMER: Have you ever done Loveline?
JESSE JANE: Yeah, a while back. That’s with Dr. Drew, right?
CHRIS NEUMER: Yup. Used to be with Adam.
JESSE JANE: I do Adam Carolla’s show regularly.
CHRIS NEUMER: I love him.
JESSE JANE: He’s funny. Once a month they do the Jesse hour. You have to be able to keep it up. If people see that you’re having fun and can keep going they’ll respond. You might not believe it, but a lot of girls in this business have no personality.
CHRIS NEUMER: I have no trouble believing that at all.
JESSE JANE: Who knows what’s going on with their heads. They have troubling talking, or don’t want to talk or are scared to talk. They’re fake. They–
CHRIS NEUMER: You’re summarizing people who don’t have personalities. Let’s be honest, the people who succeed are the people who have the potential to be successful.
JESSE JANE: You’ve got to want it just as bad. And if you don’t have a company behind you that wants it just as bad as you do–
CHRIS NEUMER: It’s like the athlete who needs to be prodded. I played college ball, D3, and my freshman year we had a 6’9" guy who was built like a house and he was the most passive guy. If you put my personality, tenacity, jump shout and love of beating people into his body, you’d probably see me as an all-star power forward today. He was a big pussycat. You need to have the drive and the personality.
JESSE JANE: Exactly.
CHRIS NEUMER: Changing gears here… A couple of minority actresses have told me that mainstream casting directors sometimes have a hard time seeing minorities as anything but minorities. If they’re casting Topher Grace’s girlfriend, they have a hard time see that role as anything but a white person. I was wondering if, as you’ve started to cross over into the mainstream, you’ve encountered any kind of stigma because of your connections to the adult world.
JESSE JANE: Yes and no. I’ve done Entourage, I’ve done Starsky & Hutch, I’ve done Baywatch.
CHRIS NEUMER: Wait, Starsky & Hutch the crappy movie?
JESSE JANE: Yeah… I was just an extra. Some people love you and they see you and they like you but others are afraid to go there. I’ve had other opportunities with stuff–a Meg Ryan and Adam Brody movie–but I’ve been really busy.
CHRIS NEUMER: Is that something you aspire to do? Let’s fast forward five years ahead. You’re 30. Do you want to be away from the adult world by then? Maybe even use your own name and act there?
JESSE JANE: I don’t care to cross over to the mainstream, you know? If something great came across my plate of course I’d consider it and do it, more than likely. I’m not looking to cross over though to be the porn star who crossed over to the mainstream. My goal as to what I want in my life is to be a sex symbol. That was my goal and I achieved it. And that’s what I like to be. I don’t want to be the girl who thought that porn could get me into the mainstream. I don’t want to be a movie star. I like where I am and I like being a sex symbol. I like being an adult actor.
CHRIS NEUMER: Yes, you didn’t get into it for that. When I started writing, I didn’t get into that so that I could sit down and go to lunch with the world’s hottest porn star, but here I am. Now that I’m here, I go with it… because I’m here now. Would you ever choose a good role in a mainstream movie over a good role in an adult movie? If the flow leads you in that direction are you going to battle it?
JESSE JANE: I’m sure I would take the mainstream role, sure. But there’s been a lot of job’s I’ve been offered but a lot of the mainstream movies like to degrade a girl, show her being raped and stuff. Just because she’s whatever. And they’re like, "It’s a good acting part." I don’t believe in that so it’s something I’d never do. I don’t want to be offered to be the whore of the movie where I have a pimp and get beaten up. In my porn movies I don’t even get degraded. I’m competent and in control. I don’t believe in that other stuff. Now if there’s a part–I don’t have a problem being nude in front of the camera, obviously–with a hot scene or I get to kick butt like Angelina Jolie in Tombraider or something, I would do that, of course.
CHRIS NEUMER: I always like to see actors who take chances. I’d love to see Jim Carrey in a film noir, I’d love to see that. I’d like to see you as a med student in a film. I think it’d provide you with a challenge and would be outside your typecasting. Except, a couple rules here, your med student couldn’t wear glasses and you couldn’t do that thing where you wear your hair up all the time and that at one moment shake it down and have all the guys in the room thinking, "Wait, where did that hottie come from?" Would a challenge like that appeal to you?
JESSE JANE: Absolutely. There’s different things I’d do. If I had time, I’d do it. I wanted to work more toward the Playboy show for a while. I choose more the sex symbol thing than the mainstream thing.
CHRIS NEUMER: Could you be a 40-year old sex symbol?
JESSE JANE: I’m sure you could, although I don’t plan on going that long. You could be sexy, there’s no age limit. My mom’s 45 and hot.
CHRIS NEUMER: Wow. My mom just turned 67. I was 8 when she was 45. Wow. Are there any traits that you look for in your co-stars in projects?
JESSE JANE: I just like professionals who–
CHRIS NEUMER: What’s your definition of professional?
JESSE JANE: Somebody who doesn’t try to get in my pants after I’m doing shooting with him. Somebody who is not hitting on me and asking me out on a date after we’re done. The minute you do that to me, I’ll never work with him again.
CHRIS NEUMER: Will he work again period? I mean, aren’t there like 10 guys working in porn?
JESSE JANE: There are a lot of guys who work in porn, believe it or not. But there’s not a lot of good guys.
CHRIS NEUMER: Do you really get hit on a lot?
JESSE JANE: Yeah! YEAH! All the time. They profess their love to you and you’re like, "Dude, it’s work. We just had sex, that’s it, get over it." Even people who know you’re in a relationship, they’re like whatever. If you don’t want to be in a relationship, don’t, but don’t come over here. That’s what I don’t like. I don’t like when people disrespect Rick by hitting on me because they just don’t care. Sometimes it’s even friends of his who’ve hung out with him on set, blah blah blah, but they know we’re together.
CHRIS NEUMER: That’s weird. I’d assume that that would be the first rule of being a male porn actor: don’t hit on your co-stars.
RICK ROGERS: (Laughs)
JESSE JANE: (Laughs)
CHRIS NEUMER: No. Hmmm….
RICK ROGERS: Most of the guys in the business only get laid on film.
CHRIS NEUMER: Really?
RICK ROGERS: Yeah.
JESSE JANE: Give or take. Guys like Evan Stone are pretty good looking and can get their own ladies, but the ones that–there’s not a lot of good looking guys. There are more and more good-looking guys coming into the business from Europe and Hungary, but the thing is that you have a lot of guys who try to get into the business who can’t get it up in front of the camera. So that’s why you have these unattractive, older guys.
CHRIS NEUMER: And Rick.
JESSE JANE: Yeah. Right.
CHRIS NEUMER: So what else defines professionalism?
JESSE JANE: Be into it. Don’t be one of these guys–I’ll give an example for a guy I brought into the business.
CHRIS NEUMER: Does he have a name.
JESSE JANE: Uh… yeah… Jason Steele. He was talking so much crap. I’ve done this and that and I’ve done so many people. He was talking so much crap and not backing it up. Don’t be an ass on set. Nobody cares about how many people you do, the truth doesn’t matter. The more you’re talking about what you’ve done, the less you’ve done.
CHRIS NEUMER: Yeah, you’ll notice I haven’t said anything today.
JESSE JANE: (laughs) Just have fun. There’s not really a lot to say. Just be professional.
CHRIS NEUMER: Does it ever carry over to the acting or to your female co-stars? I mean I know Evan kept his script tucked in the back of his belt because every time he’d screw up a line he’d start reaching back there.
JESSE JANE: You noticed that?
CHRIS NEUMER: Well, yeah. When I saw him blowing line after line after line I started wondering whether the acting portion of things ever weighed on you.
JESSE JANE: Evan’s good. You’ll always have your one little area where you’ll constantly screw up and just can’t get it, and it’s frustrating. I haven’t had to deal with people recently who’ve been annoyingly frustrating.
CHRIS NEUMER: Is there anything you look for acting wise? Is there anything your Pirates co-stars brought to the table that lesser co-stars wouldn’t have been able to do or handle?
JESSE JANE: Evan Stone’s funny. He’s witty. Nobody could have played his character like him.
CHRIS NEUMER: Passion for the role. As the meshing of porn and mainstream film begins to meet more in the middle, do you find yourself wanting to focus more on the acting?
JESSE JANE: No.
CHRIS NEUMER: You don’t?
JESSE JANE: No.
CHRIS NEUMER: I’m just going to go and do it.
JESSE JANE: Yeah, it’s my job.
CHRIS NEUMER: But isn’t the acting at least a small part of that?
JESSE JANE: I guess. But what I do best is be a sex symbol. I pick it up there. When I get in the scenes, I’m 120% into it, but otherwise…
CHRIS NEUMER: But there’s nothing really acting wise that people can do to screw you up.
JESSE JANE: No. I have to be having a really bad day or have things going on to get to that point. I’m really laid back. It takes a lot to get to me.
CHRIS NEUMER: Are you in that same dark place that Rick was describing earlier, so that it’s harder to get to you?
JESSE JANE: Yeah. Right.
CHRIS NEUMER: I was surprised at how well Evan carried himself in this. It was interesting the way these things are starting to combine into a hybrid of mainstream and porn. So the director never said, "Let’s make this a different kind of porn," huh?
JESSE JANE: No, of course he did. He did a lot of things differently than he would from a porn movie. He wanted it so that if you cut the sex out and it’d still be a good movie.
CHRIS NEUMER: Do you ever look back at your performances in these adult films, like in dailies, and use that to evaluate yourself and make changes for the future?
JESSE JANE: You do audio commentary and that’s when you look back at the film and that’s when you’re like, "I wish I had more energy here," or "I wish I’d tried this angle."
CHRIS NEUMER: But nothing where you break down the performance and look at it like a real craft.
JESSE JANE: No.
CHRIS NEUMER: So you subscribe to the old school Leonardo DiCaprio style of acting which is basically: I’ll show up, I’m having a fun time, I’m going to take care of business and then we’ll go out and get drunk.
JESSE JANE: Exactly.
CHRIS NEUMER: I saved this question for the last because it’s probably the most tricky to ask. I have to ask it because, if I didn’t, I’d feel like I was ignoring a question that I had to ask. I can’t talk to anyone involved in the adult world without asking this: there’s a commonly held belief that anyone in porn has suffered through some severe childhood trauma–they were abused or molested or abandoned–and people surmise that that effects their decision to be in porn. What are your thoughts on this?
JESSE JANE: I never been–nobody forced me to get into it. I like what I do. I don’t care what people think. Nobody forces you to watch it. We might not agree with you and your beliefs. Everyone will have a different opinion. I’ve had a great life. I was raised perfectly. I had none of that stuff happen to me. Don’t watch it if you don’t like it and keep your opinions to yourself. You don’t have to agree with it. We’re not throwing our opinions at you.
CHRIS NEUMER: Apparently you’re not that familiar with the religious right.
JESSE JANE: That’s what I’m saying, don’t tell us. Just keep your thoughts to yourself.
CHRIS NEUMER: You’re not complaining that they’re accountants, they shouldn’t complain that you’re in porn.
JESSE JANE: Exactly.
CHRIS NEUMER: Hmmm.
JESSE JANE: People just want to fight.
RICK ROGERS: People can spend they’re whole lives fighting it and they’re no better off.
CHRIS NEUMER: So you try to abstain from the argument?
JESSE JANE: I take the higher road. People are more curious than anything else though.
