Sammi Ross began her porn career about eight months ago. A feature dancer and a former Miss Nude Black World from 2001, Sammi likes the new spin in her career.

“Porn performers are just like celebrities but are normal people,” she laughs, having been a fan of the XXX business since she was 20.

“It’s the same fame and glamour- like Hollywood only with less clothes and more open, with freedom. And it can lead to mainstream, too. That’s what I like about the business.”

Sammi was an athlete, considered a tomboy and competed in volleyball, basketball, track & field and cheerleading but liked volleyball the best. Scholastically, she was very much into computers.

“Geek, nerd the same thing,” she says. “But I didn’t consider myself an A student.”

Ross’ interest in feature dancing began when she started reading articles and books about women putting on costume shows in Vegas.

“I thought I can do that, too. But how do I do it? Then I read Exotic Dancer Magazine and I thought, wow, they’re making better money than this stripping-thing I’m doing. Let me take a crack at that.”

Ross will tell you that to put a show like that requires commitment, immense physical effort and lots of rehearsing.

“Then you got to make sure the show’s perfect and you’re not making any mistakes,” she adds.

Plus there’s a heavy, financial investment involved.

“It’s a lot of money,” she agrees. “You got to know what kind of show you want to do and that you’re getting the best costumes and props, everything. And if you’re lucky you can learn some information from other features.”

And Ross did have a mentor to help things along.

“I learned from a very important feature who had been around- Vanna Lace. She was a Miss Nude World. She’s awesome.”

“Did having the Miss Nude World title open a lot of doors for you? Ross is asked.

“As a matter of fact, it did,” she replies.

“I was able to compete for more titles, do adult magazines and get more costumes to go on the road featuring.”

Asked what made her decide on doing porn, Ross says she watched a lot of movies from Wicked Pictures and was particularly smitten with Jenna Jameson.

“I was, like, wow. To me she was more like acting and was really into sex and enjoyed it. Then one day I saw her at the Spearmint Rhino. She had sprained her ankle and couldn’t perform. I saw her in the dressing room and thought let me talk to her. I thought she was going to flip out, but she was a very nice person. When I saw her ankle for some reason I picked up her feet and started massaging them. And her feet were so soft and small. I was, like, whooooooo, what did I do?”

Ross admits she was getting turned on as she began working her way up Jameson massaging her neck and shoulders.

“And she enjoyed it, feeling more relaxed and stuff,” says Ross who also got to read Jameson’s book.

“I found that book very interesting. If only a lot of people would do things like that, then the world would be a happy place. There would be less divorces, less break ups.”

When she herself finally got in front of the camera to perform, Ross thought of it as a “movie theatre experience”.

“It was a Hollywood-thing, like an independent film except we have naked chicks and we’re getting it on.”

And every new scene remains novel and fresh for her, she says.

“I love going to work,” she adds.

“And let’s just say I have a list of male performers that I want. Number one on my list is Evan Stone. I met him in person when I was doing the Nightmove Awards. He was still with jessica drake, and I thought he was so hot. I was like, holy wow, he’s a stud. He’s very awesome, friendly and very funny, too. But we haven’t worked together yet and I would love to.”

If not Stone, Ross’ Plan B is Nick Manning.

“He used to be a super model and he has this dominant side to him and a very funny character to him. And he’s very business oriented.”

Ross is also of the opinion that today’s porn aspirant should do their homework and, if possible, attend the conventions.

“And try not to fall for the sleazy-scam people,” she laughs. “You’ll find a lot of them there.”

I wondered if Ross ran into more sleaze in the dance industry. She agrees.

“Pretty much,” she says.

But the dance industry has also provided her an opportunity to travel, a fact which she’s enjoyed. Ross has been to 38 states so far and her next goal is to feature overseas.

Because her family knew that she was a stripper, they were already prepared for the next shock when Ross went into porn.

“But my mother says a job is a job. Besides, my family has seen me on mainstream TV.”

Ross who’s repped by Lisa Ann on the talent side, just recently signed on with James Bartholet’s PR agency, Galaxy.

“If you want to get more work and exposure you find yourself a good publicist,” Ross feels.

“And I thought this would help me boost my career.”

Ross has been keeping as busy as possible with appearances and signings at stores. She’s got one scheduled in a couple of weeks but has to confirm the information with Bartholet.

And her going with Lisa Ann’s agency is also pretty obvious when you think about it, since Lisa Ann’s got an extensive background in feature dancing.

“Exactly,” states Ross. “That was the perfect reason.”