Cherry Kiss is dabbing sweat off Seth Gamble’s forehead as he hovers over Ella Reese, a black makeup bag slung across her chest.
Today, she’s stepping back into the role where it all began, portraying her younger self as a makeup artist on the set of her very own Elegant Angel showcase titled “Cherry on Top.” Directed by Claudia Ross and written by Axel Braun, the film traces Kiss’ journey from behind the makeup brush to center stage.
Today’s scene unfolds in the Valley, inside a nondescript garage that director Ricky Greenwood loaned Ross for the day as a show of support.
It suits the production’s needs perfectly, except for one major drawback. There’s no air conditioning, which turns the garage into a sweatbox.
Fortunately, Kathleen, the film’s actual makeup artist, is on hand for touch-ups.
Veteran set designer Kylie Ireland seeks refuge in front of one of the many fans that have been strategically placed around the set, striking a “Titanic” pose, her toned arms stretched out wide like the “queen of the world” as she basks in the cool breeze.
Jared, the hard-working production assistant, will later have to run around turning off each fan before the camera rolls. Fortunately, everyone is taking the heat in stride.
Sealed With a Kiss
Kiss, who hails from Serbia and learned English while working on adult film sets, radiates her own kind of warmth. Now celebrating her 10th anniversary in the industry, she's come a long way from her days working behind the scenes.
"It has always been my dream to be approached for a showcase," she says. "Claudia was surprised no one had ever asked me before because she thought I was a good performer. She suggested we pitch the idea to Elegant Angel, and, as it turned out, they loved it. I'm really grateful they gave me this opportunity."
The gratitude was mutual, according to Elegant Angel’s Daniel, who immediately sparked to the idea of a showcase for Kiss.
“We love Cherry’s energy, and her views across the network are amazing, so that kind of triggered it,” explains Daniel. “She was already on our radar, but once we looked at the numbers, it was a no-brainer. Then everything came together under Claudia’s leadership. The work she’s done for us has been amazing. The vision she showed us last year on ‘Through Her Lens’ is why we gave her this opportunity.”
With Elegant Angel on board, Ross quickly looped in her mentor, Axel Braun, whom she has worked alongside for much of the past 25 years as his longtime editor and later, his production manager.
“When I retired three years ago, I stayed around to help Claudia as much as I could, and as soon as she told me she wanted to do a showcase for Cherry Kiss, I said, ‘You should call it ‘Cherry on Top,’” recalls Braun. “She said it was a great title, and I thought that was the end of my involvement.”
Little did he know he’d be on the hook for far more than that.
Though Braun recently retired and moved to Atlanta to spend more time with his family, he couldn't stay away for long. He quickly outlined a story for Kiss' showcase and soon found himself writing the entire script.
The film features a director who helps Kiss early in her career, a character loosely based on Braun himself. He originally envisioned Seth Gamble in the role, but as the project evolved, it ultimately made more sense for Braun to play the part himself, though he insists that wasn't the plan.
“I would have written much simpler dialogue for myself,” says Braun, who jokes that he was hired because he agreed to work for free, not because of his extraordinary acting skills.
“I’m sure Axel had other stuff to do, but he treated this shoot like a special occasion, which was very nice,” Ross adds with a sheepish smile.
For Braun, getting the chance to see Ross in action and work with Kiss was indeed a special occasion.
“Cherry is a force of nature,” says Braun. “She's just so energetic and enthusiastic. She's everything you could want from a porn star. I've always liked her, and I’m happy for her because I think she's fantastic.”
Gamble echoes that sentiment.
“The key to a great showcase is someone who brings a specific type of energy and has enough charisma to lead a movie. Cherry is, obviously, a beautiful woman, but more importantly, she brings that energy and charisma to the table,” he says.
Gamble recalls meeting Kiss — a huge star in the European market — as soon as she arrived in L.A., thanks to a mutual friend.
“Cherry and I have the utmost respect for each other because I think she's authentically herself, and that's very rare in this industry, where people are always trying to be something as opposed to being who they are.”
Calling the Shots
Kiss knows that staying true to herself is a big part of her appeal.
"I have a big fanbase because they know I'm not faking,” she affirms. “They know what I need, and I know what they need."
While she felt there was no better time for her own showcase, Kiss is also thinking about the next stage of her career.
"I always say I'm going to stop performing and focus on other work, but I'm never stopping because I'm addicted to this business. It has made me who I am and allowed me to travel the world and be there for my family," she says. "Going forward, though, I know I need to push myself more as a director."
Even so, Kiss had no interest in directing herself in "Cherry on Top," preferring to focus on her performance.
“Claudia was the right person to direct this because she's my friend and she knows me. She knew how to present my personality in the right way, and I like working with my friends because we understand each other better,” explains Kiss.
Ross, for her part, wanted to take a different approach to Kiss’ showcase.
“Everybody knows that Cherry is a hardcore actress, but this isn’t a ‘How many dicks can somebody take?’ kind of showcase,” she says. “I wanted to show that on top of being an amazing performer, she’s also an amazing actress, and I truly think this movie will show the full scope of her talent.
“Don’t get me wrong, there are some really hot sex scenes,” Ross adds. “There’s a gangbang at a swinger party. There’s a DP with Lexington Steel and Chocolate God. We have an amazing one-on-one scene with Vince Karter. There’s a lot of sex, but it’s presented within the narrative of her life story.”
Kiss didn’t shy away from difficult moments of her life, filming a scene with Karter that reenacts their breakup.
“Not many people know this, but we were married for six years, so we have a very good connection, and this is one of the best scenes we’ve ever done together,” Kiss says. “We were like a couple of gymnasts out there.”
Later, Karter leaves Kiss in the hands of six guys. Kiss has shot six-man gangbangs in Europe, but never in America. In fact, she hadn’t booked many hardcore shoots in the U.S. until she began working with Elegant Angel.
Kiss said she was lucky to have been able to pick the people she wanted to work with on this showcase, though Ross certainly lobbied for Gamble.
“Claudia and I go back 18 years, and she’s like family to me,” says Gamble. “There’s an emotional element to working with her because I get to return the effort that she put in for me, and it feels good to be able to do that. Plus, getting to be in anybody’s showcase is an honor.”
Gamble said it’s been especially gratifying to watch Ross come into her own and become one of the industry’s biggest directors.
“She’s incredible, and to see her growing in that way is really beautiful to watch,” says Gamble. “Claudia really puts her all into it — not many people are as passionate as she is, and I think she’s a gift to the business because she actually gives a shit.”
The Cherry on Top
Ross is in the home stretch of the project — the final day of a four-day shoot. The director wishes she could’ve had five days, but alas, time is money… and money is tight.
When Braun momentarily delays shooting while animatedly telling a story, Ross tells him to knock it off. She may be physically tiny, but she has a big personality and commands the set while wearing a black t-shirt that reads “Italians Do It Better.”
“Axelino!” she cries.
“I’m telling a story. Jesus Christ,” replies Braun, who is playing a director and thus sitting in his own director’s chair. “You can’t have me in my own chair being directed!”
After hours in the sweltering garage, everyone's patience — and sense of humor — seems to be running on fumes.
Later, PAs Kyle and Jared play extras for the final scene, where Kiss has completed her arc and gone from the makeup girl to the director’s chair. The problem is that everyone’s timing is off, and Jared keeps stepping on Kiss’ lines.
“I’ve trained my whole career for this, too,” jokes the apologetic PA.
Ross could easily grow annoyed, but she keeps her cool. She just wants to make sure she has enough time to shoot a sex scene featuring Kiss, Gamble, and Octavia Red before production wraps around midnight.
“That’s what they do to me every time,” Gamble half-heartedly laments of the late-night dalliance with two beautiful women.
As the showcase heads toward its September release, Kiss is proud of what the team has created.
“I'm very proud of ‘Cherry on Top,’ and I'm excited to start editing it and see how it turns out because this is a twist on the showcase, and I hope people understand that,” she says. “There's a lot of dialogue and emotion — things you usually see in a feature, not in a showcase. It's a different way to do it.”
