NEW YORK — Calling her the “pop star of porn,” adult performer Stoya is the subject of a profile in the latest issue of The Village Voice.
The Digital Playground star also graced the cover of the newspaper along with a lengthy article that talks about her passion for New York City, her column for website Vice, her relationship with James Deen, and her love for porn — on her own terms. “Occasionally, Stoya will be sent a script with a character description like ‘Tiffany: looks like a stripper,’ and she will throw it in the trash,” the Voice article said.
What makes Stoya so fascinating to the mainstream is her ability to be not porn star-like. As one fan described her, “"She's, like, a sex icon and an ideal best friend."
The article also briefly chronicled her background from her early days in North Carolina where she lost her virginity at age 15, to Philadelphia and a number of jobs including a hostess at an Italian restaurant, a Subway Sandwich Artist, and a party promoter’s assistant.
“One day, her amateur photographer roommate came home, found her ‘sitting on the couch with no clothes on,’” the Voice story said. Her porn career then began after being recruited for alt-porn websites.
Stoya’s timing was perfect. Looking to capitalize on the popularity of Sasha Grey’s unique appeal, Digital Playground seized Stoya’s fresh look when she was 21. Industry publicist Adella said, "She completely defied everything the porn industry had decided 'sexy' was. She didn't fit into any category. She was fresh-faced, brainy, and a little bit of a hippie — I think she got that part from her mom. She had no alterations. She hated the sun. She just emanated sex appeal."
The star eventually wound up working with Grey and parlayed her new porn fame and quirky intellect into an Internet sensation where at one time she was filmed reading a passage from “Necrophilia Variations" while being stimulated under the table with a Hitachi Magic Wand.
Calling Stoya and Deen the “Beyonce’ and Jay-Z of porn," the Voice said she calls Deen "Daddy," and he calls her "The Prom Queen." Despite the public romance Adella noted, "like just about any other celebrity couple in America, very few things are personal and private and James and Stoya prefer to keep the intimate details of their relationship off the radar."
But when the cameras roll Stoya's sex scenes exude "genuine pleasure" and "exuberance" according to some of her peers. Soemtimes she even giggles with delight.
And despite her fame, America’s “sweetheart of smut” although only 26, was candid aout the industry, telling the Voice, "There's an unknown expiration date for me. It could be 28, or it could be 35: The age when no one cares anymore, I'm no longer relevant, and there are strange wrinkly things happening to my butt cheeks that should not appear on HD video."