Geekscape After Dark Interviews Adult Film Star Sasha Grey!

Welcome to Geekscape After Dark, where one week ago Brian Gilmore and I were afforded the opportunity to interview the great Sasha Grey on the set of her latest film, This Ain’t Star Trek XXX, directed by the award-winning director Axel Braun (Compulsion, The Bush Administration).

Miss Grey has been already been in make-up most of the afternoon and by now is fully decked out in pointy ears and eye make-up that can only be described as “futuristic.” She’s about to take a seat on the bridge of what apparently ain’t the Enterprise when she asks if anyone’s had sex in the Captain’s chair.

“Not yet,” someone helpfully calls out. Satisfied, she sits, and our interview with the award-winning actress, model and renowned film geek Sasha Grey can begin.

William Bibbiani (unnecessarily Python-esque): Hellooo…!

Sasha Grey (unnecessarily nice): Hi!

WB: Hiiiii… (Pause) – We are big fans here at Geekscape.

SG: Thank you.

WB: And we just wanted to say thank you for letting us interview you… Who are you playing in Star Trek (XXX)?

SG: I’m playing Chandra. She’s an alien, but I’ve been told all day she’s a Vulcan, so you know…

WB: You could be a Romulan. You could be undercover.

SG: I don’t know. Maybe.

WB: Because they’re more in touch with their emotions, really.

SG: It feels like there will be a Part 2, so…

WB: Oh, well there you go. So we can get into that a bit further. Well, that’s fantastic… I’ve been checking out your blog, and such.

SG: Mm-Hm.

WB: And you are quite the film buff. (Whispered) – And we totally respect that. That’s awesome. (Less disturbing) – I read that your original choice for a name was Anna Karina (actress, singer and Jean Luc Godard’s first wife)?

SG: It was. I was going to use that and I didn’t.

WB: Why didn’t you? Because that’s awesome. (Backpedaling swiftly) – Not that Sasha Grey isn’t awesome…

SG: I think at the end of the day it just wouldn’t have worked…

WB: It just didn’t feel right? You didn’t feel it?

SG: You know? And you Google that name and somebody else that has a great life and is very talented, that already is her name and she owns that. (Conspiratorially) – I don’t mean that like she literally owns it, but…

WB: No, you don’t want to be disrespectful.

SG: Yeah, I think that would have been weird.

WB: That’s completely reasonable. And fair. I heard you say (in an interview she had just completed) that you didn’t want to talk too much about Godard films and which one is your favorite, but you are a huge Godard fan. (Beat) – Can you explain Alphaville?

SG (thinks, smiles, laughs a little): No!

WB: I have never figured that out.

SG (laughing): Can you explain Schizopolis?

WB: I think he just had a bunch of scenes from other movies threw them all together when it was done. It was really just kind of sad, that one. (Wistful) – But cute… but cute.

SG: Well, I don’t disagree, but…

WB: That’s fine… I was also wondering: You’re twenty-one.

SG: Yeah.

WB: So you’ve been in a couple hundred movies at this point? Somewhere…?

SG (careful to correct me): Scenes!

WB: Scenes?

SG: Yeah.

WB: But you’ve been in the movies nonetheless.

SG: Yeah.

WB: You’re starring a Steve Soderbergh movie coming out.

SG: Mm-hmm.

WB: You’re modeling… Do you sell motivational tapes? Because I’ve done nothing with my life so far and it feels like in the last three years you’ve just trounced me and everyone I know…

SG (laughs): I’m very optimistic but at the same time a very cynical person. So I don’t know if I don’t know if I would be the best person…!

WB: Well, it could be negative reinforcement…

SG: It could. Reverse psychology.

WB: I think we’d all be down with that. (To Gilmore) – Gilmore, did you have anything you wanted to…?

Brian Gilmore: So that’s the only advice you have for this man?

WB (to Gilmore): “Be cynical?”

BG: How can he further his career?

WB: Yeah…

BG: How can he follow in your footsteps?

WB (honestly): Yeah. Help me out here, because I’m dying.

SG (confidently): Don’t take “No” for an answer.

WB: Okay. (Pause) – So just now when I let you get out of that question, I shouldn’t have?

SG: Yeah.

WB (sotto): God damn it! God damn it…

SG (trying to douse the flames): Nooo…!

BG: You’re learning lessons, William! You are now learning lessons.

WB (actually sotto this time): I’m a failure… (Normal) … Anyway, can you talk about anything that isn’t related to Hustler…?

SG: Well, like what do you want to know?

William: PG Porn? Can you talk about PG Porn (James Gunn’s satirical short films about pornographic situations gone awry)?

SG: Oh yeah. PG Porn… I think they’re on their fifth episode?

WB: I caught yours.

SG: Yeah.

WB: …And it was of course hilarious. Was James Gunn already a fan? Did he just call you and hook you up?

SG: He actually stalked me through MySpace. And I didn’t believe him.

WB: Right.

SG: “Yeah, whatever…”

WB: Were you familiar with his other stuff…?

SG: Yeah.

WB: And you just still thought, “Pfft! James Gunn, fuck him…”

SG (correcting): Well, I mean… he could be anybody on the internet.

WB: That’s true.

SG: I didn’t really believe it was him.

WB: What did he do to convince you?

SG: Well, I talked to Belladonna.

WB: Ah.

SG: He said, “I also talked to Belladonna about this project,” and I called her, and she said “Yeah, it’s really him.”

BG: So you actually answer people who message you on MySpace?

SG: Yeah, I have about (thinks) seven hundred pages? But I generally just delete stuff that says, “Hi,” “Hey,” “How you doin’?” That’s… What? You’re not saying anything…

BG: Anyone try to date you through MySpace? Any creepy horror stories? What’s the guy who’s tried the hardest… and failed?

SG: I generally just forget. There’s a few really funny ones that I’ve actually saved because I want to use them in some kind of compendium, like, bound-type book, which is all these weird letters. And my other favorite is getting other messages that aren’t meant for you, and it’s a conversation between two other people, and somehow in the cyber world it gets sent to your inbox. Those are my favorite.

BG: We were thinking of doing that, but just with anyone who has ever had a vagina and signed up for MySpace…

SG: …Yeah, you don’t even have to be in adult film!

BG: You just have to be a female.

SG: Yup. That’s right.

BG: Any of those you want to share with us?

SG: I mean, I can’t even remember any of them off hand. I did have, when I was brand new, I had this French guy who was manic-depressive. But his letters were so interesting. I don’t even remember because it was three years ago but I saved them, then he deleted his profile so they all got erased.

BG: So what amount of improvisation actually goes into your acting? Like, I know you talk a lot during your scenes.

SG: Mm-hmm.

Gilmore: So what exactly inspires you to do that? Is that just how you roll or do you choose to say certain things at certain times for a reason?

SG: Yeah, well I got in this business to change things and I think, you know, as [an adult] performer you’re limited. So I figured I might as well try to fuck with the person that I’m having sex with. You know (snaps fingers), psychological warfare.

Gilmore: Right. I’ve noticed that. And a lot of the time it’s hard for guys to keep up with what you’re saying. They repeat part of what you’re saying and then they start moaning or something, like they’re trying to weasel out of it.

WB: Yeah, they look like they’re a little distracted.

SG: But again, I don’t always do that… this is more thematic (gesturing to the colorful space ship set), so I might scale that back. So it’s always different and it always changes.

Gilmore: Like a lot of times, actually I was just talking to Will about it…

WB: Extensively…

BG: …I’ll hear you say something that’s seemingly random. Like you called this one guy’s “cock” “crooked,” at some point and I’m like: “Really?” I’m like, “I don’t see that as being crooked right now, but… Why would she say that?” What inspires you to say things like that?

SG: Probably my point of the view at the moment…I mean if I’m on my knees or something! (Laughs)

BG: Just probably the way it’s angling.

SG: Yeah.

BG: So essentially it’s you wanting to bring something new to the table because you’re completely naked and there’s nothing that you can…

SG: And a lot of people phone it in, you know?

BG: Yeah!

SG: “Okay, let’s get it done,” and…

BG: So it’s what sets you apart.

SG: Yeah, well I mean it’s not just the women. Sometimes the men too…

WB: Right, right…

BG: So who’s been able to keep up with you the best, do you think, verbally? You ever have anyone where it’s been an even match?

SG (thinks): This lady, Chanta Rose, but she was “Dom-ing” me, so…(trails off because she knows we can all finish that thought)

BG: Is there anything  else you’re working on that you’d want us to tell people about?

SG (thinks): My website, SashaGrey.com, will be launching in a few days (should be up by now, folks!). And I’ll be releasing my first DVD in May, most likely. And my toy line with Doc Johnson will be out in July.

WB: Exciting! Thank you so much!

SG: No problem.

WB: You’re fantastic.

SG: Thank you!

(Sasha Grey stars in Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience [which, yes, we forgot to ask about] and Hustler’s This Ain’t Star Trek XXX, both scheduled for release in May 2009.)