LOS ANGELES — Simon Rex earned "Best Actor" honors over the weekend from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for his role in "Red Rocket," a picaresque tale by acclaimed indie director Sean Baker about a washed-up porn star who returns to his small Texas hometown.
"Red Rocket" joins three other 2021 films about sex workers — including "Pleasure," "Shiva Baby" and "Zola" — in receiving mainstream kudos in recent weeks.
Last week, retired performer Zelda Morrison was nominated, under her legal name Revika Anne Reustle, for an Independent Spirit award for “Best Supporting Actress” for her role in the adult industry drama “Pleasure.”
“Shiva Baby,” a comedy about sugaring, received a nomination for "Best First Feature."
“Zola,” the film adaptation of a viral Twitter yarn about strippers and trafficked sex workers in the South, received seven Indie Spirit noms.
Reustle/Morrison is believed to be the first former adult performer to be nominated for a mainstream acting award; however, as XBIZ has reported, the casting of Rex in "Red Rocket" is a meta nod to pop culture ephemera. Nearly 30 years ago, he filmed two solo scenes and posed nude for Brad Posey's boutique studio Club 1821 shortly before the performer shot to mainstream fame as an MTV VJ, model and actor.
Click here for the full list of Los Angeles Film Critics winners.
Read XBIZ's coverage of "Red Rocket" here.
Image: A24
