James Deen On Making It in Hollywood

James Deen Image by Getty Images

By Anne Cohen August 2, 2013

Between James Deen’s mainstream debut alongside Lindsay Lohan in the indie-noir film “The Canyons” and the upcoming biopic “Lovelace” (based on “Deep Throat” star Linda Lovelace) it seems everyone’s talking about porn.

Plenty of porn stars have tried to shed their taboo image for a more squeaky-clean Hollywood career. But in an interview with Vulture, James Deen reveals that he doesn’t think now’s the time for him to make the jump.

“I’m the assist, so I could be the most famous person in the world and it wouldn’t matter that much,” the Jewish X-rated star told Vulture’s Kyle Buchanan. “Let’s look at sex tapes: Colin Farrell is a good-looking guy, a big celebrity, you’d think his sex tape would do really well. Octomom’s porno sold better than Colin Farrell’s. And it’s just because guys in adult film are the assist, not the star. So, you have this situation where I can be famous all day long, but if I can’t show up and deliver a good scene, no one’s gonna hire me.”

Also, he loves his day job.

“My job’s not a real job,” he added in the interview. “I mean, it’s a real job in the sense that you have to show up on time, you can’t come drunk, you have to do a good job, be professional, and stuff. But it’s not a real job in the sense that my day at work is still a pretty good day. So, you know, it’s not the kind of thing that I have any desire to take time off from.”

For more, check out the full interview here.

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

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