My last piece, “Working with Chyna Outside the Squared Circle,” really opened Pandora’s box. I was inundated with endless questions, and your overall curiosity is my priority to address. So here is my plan. I am going to kindly and gently explain to you all the things you do not see when you watch porn. By no means do I want to tarnish the image you have of what it is like to be a porn star. I do want to sprinkle in a little reality for you all so you have a clearer understanding of what really goes down. Guys, this may have a little bite, but I also do believe I can help you all feel like your own porn star by shining some light on some facts. You might just realize after consuming all of this knowledge that you are better in bed than you thought. Even if not, you will agree that being a porn star isn’t as easy as it looks.
In my last piece, I told a fairly horrific story about a graphic scene that ended with a pool of blood on the floor. It is only right that I tackle the subject of the male porn star. The male porn star is not the sexual superhero you may think he is. Just as performance-enhancing drugs are an issue in the sports world, we have our own PED issue in porn—and they come in the forms of pills and injectables.
It is very common that the male performer uses pills like Viagra to help him get through the workday. In my opinion, I would estimate 90% of all performers use them, and out of that 90% I would estimate 50% use them every day and can’t do a scene without them. I would say the remaining 40% use them on occasion. Even the biggest stud in the industry has days where he has to perform in a scene when he doesn’t really want to. It may be that he is not attracted to the girl, he may be tired from the day before, or he may not like the scenario the director has concocted. If a male porn star is working 5 days a week, something that may sound like a dream to many of you, it can become a nightmare for him. It is no longer sexual or erotic, it is a job. With that job, the male performer has to perform when he is told to, and finish when and how he is told as well. That is not an easy task, trust me.
I have seen directors give out these pills on set like they are candy. There is no way male performers would want to admit failure in a scene, so out of desperation, and clearly battling to uphold their own egos, whatever was given to them they would take. No questions asked. On the other hand, I never heard a director ask the male performer for a list of other medications he might be taking; the end goal of shooting the scene was all that mattered. In Florida I watched production companies give the guys these foreign black pills that did things I had never seen before. Guys would instantly turn beet red and become nauseous. They would immediately complain of a pounding headache, their heart would be racing so fast it would almost bring them to tears. There were countless times I watched a guy totally lose it over the feeling he got from the unknown product.
It is common for a male porn star to become reliant on these pills, and that comes with a price. Those pills are meant to be used with proper medical attention, and only on occasion. When these pills are mixed with steroids or other medications, they can cause an enlarged heart and become deadly. When they are used and abused, like anything else they eventually don’t work. They have lasting effects on the body that I have been told lead to heart palpitations, ulcers, migraine headaches, and liver problems. It is just another form of drug abuse, no matter what the purpose is.
There are a few things to look for in a scene that are telltale signs of PED use. Pills often increase blood flow so much that you will notice the male performer in the scene appear to get really red. Some guys would get it on their chest and some guys would get it all the way up to their face. It is really obvious and many times I wondered if this guy I was working with was going to make it though the scene or have a heart attack.
Once the overuse of the pills kicks in and the male performer has started to take 2, 3, even 4 pills a day just to get through a scene, they move on to the heavier stuff. They turn to injectable products like Caverject. These products are injected directly into the penis about 30 minutes before the scene. My estimate of the amount of male performers injecting would be about 25%. It is something no one talks about, let alone admits. After being on set for enough years, I realized I could detect an injector by his pre-scene routines. They would normally go into the bathroom for about 30 minutes before the scene and they would leave the sink running the entire time. I assumed this was so we didn’t hear what they were doing in there, but it was a red flag to me. It was a concern to me for many reasons. I was worried about the fresh opening from the syringe, the cleanliness of the needles, and the lack of medical education regarding the product.
My biggest fear with injectables came to life as I was looking down at a pool of blood that day on set in the scene with Chyna. What I assume happened was that the male performer injected before the scene and hit a vein. Once the scene started and the blood flow increased, that vein released inside leaving him bleeding from the inside out.
I will speak from my experience here; there is no joy in having sex with someone that is that unnaturally hard. It is harder on my body because, well, it is harder than it should be – like having sex with a hard toy. The natural progression that normally happens when a sexual encounter begins is also lacking. The male performer would be ready to go out of the gate and I would still be looking for a little foreplay or interaction to get me in my groove. And since male performers often lose sensation when using PEDs, they become completely unaware of how it feels for me. It can be extremely painful and often leads to internal bruising. When it comes time to end the scene, the male performer is forced to create a sensation so he can finish. As the director is pressuring the male performer to finish the scene, the male performer is in his own panic in his head, mixed with the lack of sensitivity brought on by the PEDs – the struggle is real. Trying to get something that feels as hard as a rock and is totally numb come to life in order to finish a scene can be a tall order.
Just like we all thought it was hard to believe Barry Bonds was just knocking home runs out of the park every day, now you know porn stars use PEDs too.
This piece was published by The Stashed May 5th, 2016