NEW YORK — Riley Reid, XBIZ's 2014 Female Performer of the Year, is "America’s secret star."
That’s what the headline reads in an interview of the popular adult performer published this week in Paper magazine.
While she may not be so much of a “secret” in porn circles, there’s some truth that with her petite frame, big eyes and long brown hair Reid is seen as a national treasure to her legion of fans.
“Twenty six-year-old Riley Reid may not be the archetypal porn star ingrained in our American brains, but she is increasingly the one America wants,” said the Paper piece.
Not only that, Paper said, she’s found to be the most-searched for on PornHub, racking up more than a half-billion views on the adult tube site.
The Paper interview delivered a candid conversation about Reid’s passion for adult content creation, sacrificing love for work, why the porn industry should get more respect and more.
As for the biz, why does Reid have a passion for it? It’s the freedom, she said.
“Being able to do these funny skits — these really over-the-top ridiculous scenarios that don't really happen in real life,” Reid said. “I get to live that fantasy out. I may have never gotten the opportunity to dress up a gay boy in a pony outfit and have strap on sex with him. It's also made me so much more open-minded.
“Being on set and getting the opportunity to experience those types of things is amazing.”
Reid started in the biz, she said, at a time when the focus was on well-known and voluptuous porn stars took the centerstage, or at least she thought it did.
However, she got to thinking, and that perspective changed.
“[I] saw there were famous girls, like Jenna Haze, that were like me — petite, young looking, small chested, brunette,” she said. “I had no idea that existed, and I had no idea how famous she was. I didn't know there was a Sasha Grey, or that your girl-next-door types could be so popular and famous in porn.”
As for balancing romance and work, Reid said the issue is a “complicated” one. She’s had three relationships since she started working as a performer.
“My first [relationship was with] a fellow performer, and we were together for about two years, and we got along in pretty much every way,” Reid said. “There were no quarrels about porn; even if he was shooting with some girl that I didn't like, I didn't care because you're just making your money, I don't care about that type of stuff. That was a great relationship, but he wasn't there emotionally. So that was just its own thing.
“The other two afterwards were people out of the industry, and being with them as a performer has been very complicated,” she said.
“It's never been complicated for me, but it's very hard for someone to be accepting towards sharing their lover. Most people in our culture aren't raised that way. It's hard to find a person who has the same kind of mentality.”
Reid, who operates her own website, ReidMyLips.com, said that more people should consider the entrepreneurial efforts of adult performers and see that they are just as productive as those in other professions.
“I have my own website, and I produce, write scripts and style things for it. I do everything besides hold the camera, basically,” she said. “I recently had the opportunity to really take control of this project I'm so proud of. I cried when I watched it actually, because it was so beautiful to me and so special.
“It was a dom/sub situation, and it was a girl-on-girl strap-on scene, where one girl signs the contract to be my sub and I dominate her. The way it was shot was very beautiful and very sexy. And it's just something that I'm extremely proud of. Being able to direct and produce it and make myself feel the most sexy with my crew and my set and my production — that's me living out my fantasy.”
If anything, Reid said, more people should respect adult performers’ line of work.
“I wish people would accept us more, and that we didn't have this trashy stigma,” she said. “We are getting more accepted, but when I do occasionally post my intellectual thoughts and post like, "I'm like a big Sam Harris fan," a lot of fans are always surprised at the fact that I have a brain.
“I wish we wouldn't be treated like we're doing anything wrong, because I don't think we are. We help a lot of people. It's a creative outlet and just because there's penetration involved doesn't mean there should be shame.”
And the respect doesn’t just stop with feelings. Reid said she’s been shut off from vital services as a porn performer, something that goes on all too often.
“I can't get MailChimp to let me use their services, I can't get Shopify to open an account with me because I do porn,” she said. “I can't be a regular customer because I'm in porn and to me that's very hurtful, because I pay taxes and I'm not an underground drug dealer.”
Read the full article here.
