ADULT FILM stars Marilyn Chambers, Traci Lords and Ginger Lynn all had varying degrees of success transitioning into mainstream acting careers, but Sasha Grey may soon be the first porn star to become a crossover star.
One thing in her favor is that porn essentially is mainstream now – available in massive quantities on any home computer. Grey is also versatile and introspective – good qualities in an actress – and she’s already starred in “The Girlfriend Experience,” for director Steven Soderbergh. and as character Vincent Chase’s girlfriend on HBO’s “Entourage.”
Perhaps most importantly, she is only 22.
While her acting peers in that age range are still playing high school students or girlie ingenues, Grey comes across as a mature adult who can draw on a full life of experiences that dwarf those of people twice her age.
Grey (real name Marina Ann Hantzis) moved from northern California to Los Angeles at the age of 18 to launch a career in the adult-film industry.
She liked sex. She was willing to do scenes other actresses wouldn’t and she was able to give those scenes a raw intensity that earned her numerous Adult Video News Awards, including “Female Performer of the Year” in 2008.
“For me, Sasha Grey is just a name,” she said in a recent phone interview. “A pseudonym. I don’t see it as a Sasha Fierce type character where I have this alter ego going. Although I love performance art and I do see a lot of the adult work I’ve done as performance art, it doesn’t mean that’s not me. Sasha Grey is an extension of who I am, and heightened because there's a camera and a crew there.”
As for her move away from adult films – maybe permanent, but maybe not – it happened a bit by chance.
Full story: Porn star Sasha Grey makes a bold move into the mainstream | Philadelphia Daily News | 10/11/2010