Las Vegas- After CES, my cameraman Rick Smosky and I moseyed over to the other side of the Sands Convention Center to the AVN porn convention, where I interviewed the two most famous porn stars in the world, Ron Jeremy and Jenna Jameson, separately, for "The Real Deal."
Jeremy is dynamic, and extremely confident. I asked him what attributes to his mainstream fame?
"I hustle really hard," said Jeremy in his shotgun quick way of speaking. "I like to think I'm a good actor, I'm trained, I have a Bachelor's degree in theatre, Bachelor's degree in education, Masters degree in special education, and I was actually accepted into Lee Strasberg (theatre institute) in New York," he said.
Jeremy also explained that several directors who are currently famous started out in porn, and they have helped him bridge the gap between "adult" and "mainstream" acting. He added that just last week he guest starred on an episode of "Las Vegas" on NBC.
Jameson attributes her multi-million dollar success to the fact that she never apologized for being a porn star, which makes most people more inclined to shrug their shoulders and say "to each their own."
"I have always been honest about who I am and I think people respect that," she said.
According to Adult Video News, the adult industry - including strip clubs, hotel videos, Pay Per View and DVD sales - rakes in over $12 billion annually, and the industry does have influence over the consumer electronics industry. The battle between Blu-Ray DVD and HD-DVD could very well be won on which next generation format this industry chooses for its adult DVD consumers.
The AVN convention is not for the faint of heart.
Scantily clad porn stars are busy signing autographs and posing for pictures with rabid fans, X-rated videos play on background monitors and rock music blares from booth to booth like some battle of the bands concert.
Mostly, those in attendance are there to meet their favorite porn stars (seriously), but I also noticed several international distributors cutting deals with ClubJenna and Vivid Video and Adam and Eve productions.
One well-dressed businessman from Romania was explaining in detailed business terms to Jameson's sister the complications of licensing adult content in the region.
I was curious about one porn star who goes by the name of Austyn Moore. She is a petite young blonde whose looks rival any mainstream movie star in Hollywood, so I wondered what made her choose pornography.
"It's not like everybody isn't having sex," she said. "So why wouldn't it be accepted? I think people should come out of the closet and open up, have fun," she said.
So what do her parents think of her chosen career?
"My father still gets weird about it," she said. "My mother is supportive but I don't think she woke up one day and thought 'Austyn, I think you should become a porn star.' But she trusts me."
OK.
