LOS ANGELES — Lana Rhoades is an icon in the making. As surely as era-defining pinups Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch came to symbolize sex for entire generations, the newly crowned 2017 XBIZ Best New Starlet is destined for immortality.
Whatever sway fashion models and actresses once held over public imagination in a non-digital age, when the hint of femininity was enough to get consumers hot and bothered, now kneels before adult stardom. When every device is a portal to endless titillation, sending ever-online audiences speeding down hedonist highways to instant pleasures, only they who brazenly bare it all can truly hook viewers long-term.
Enter a sublime beauty like Rhoades.
With sapphire eyes made for Maybelline, a voluptuous body bred for Victoria’s Secret and photogenic class that rivals Cartier diamond girls, she transcends expectations even when fully clothed…
That mankind can bear witness to her naked form, seems a gift beyond compare…
To then enjoy her in that most intimate and powerful of human acts, from within the soft elegance of erotica to the sweat-drenched arena of hardcore fucking? Madness. Divine madness.
For if sex is the godly spark, creating life from nothing and igniting the greatest euphoria possible in this carnal existence, then Rhoades is a priestess of the deepest religion. And whosoever channels her fiery essence through the crystal lenses of cinema and photography, becomes nothing less than a prophet… crafting more gospel-worthy icons than are found in the stained glass windows of cathedrals.
And so, within the exalted church of X-business, a woman of her caliber is enshrined eternally. Behold a saint of mercurial marble, bejeweled with that most coveted of diadems — 2017 XBIZ Best New Starlet. Communion lies within. Come, and receive thy blessing, in this exclusive interview with the supernatural.
XBIZ: What inspired you to pursue a career in adult?
Lana Rhoades: Basically, I’ve always wanted to be in the industry... even before I was 18. And so, I kind of worked my way up the ladder into adult. At first, I was just working at restaurants like the Tilted Kilt and Hooters. Then, the week that I turned 18, one of my boyfriends took me to a strip club and I applied there. And, when I was 19, I did my first porn shoot for FTV — it wasn’t hardcore or anything, just solo. April of 2016 is when I did my first boy/girl, for Mike Adriano. It was actually really good. You know, I left smiling. It was a really pleasant experience. Probably better than I expected. I remember I was really nervous the night before. I kept asking my roommate, Stella Cox, who was also in adult, things like “What do I wear? What should I expect?” But, yeah, it was really great. I left really happy.
XBIZ: Tell us about your whirlwind first year in the biz, which landed you the 2017 XBIZ Best New Starlet trophy.
Rhoades: When I was 18 and thinking of getting into porn, I first talked to ATMLA, then Derek Hay from LA Direct, and ended up signing with Mark Spiegler, who helped get me a lot of good things from the beginning. The first time I talked to him, I had a boyfriend, so I ended up not coming. The second time I talked to Spiegler, we ended up linking up and I flew out here like a month later. We worked together for about four months, I would say, before I decided I wanted a break from shooting. I couldn’t take a break staying with him, so it was really the only option for us to separate. Then, I went back to Chicago and danced for a while, before deciding I wanted to do my first anal. So, I talked to a few companies. Greg Lansky and I worked out a showcase deal and that’s what brought me back.
I booked really well for myself on this trip, but I figured if I’m going to move back here, I really want stable work, since the rent in L.A. is so expensive. So, you have to make sure you have stable work. I was like, “I should get an agent.” For me, Derek at LA Direct made the most sense, because I feel like he has some of the best girls, honestly. He has Mia Malkova, Megan Rain, Adriana Chechik, Jynx Maze and he did really well for their careers. I thought he’d be the best choice for me right now and he’s really nice with me. He really respects what I want. So, I’m very happy with it. He also got me, in the first week, a VR contract with Naughty America. Literally, I was with him for three days and he got it for me. Now, I’ve been signed with him for over a month.
Following a Snapchat takeover for Naughty America, I’m slated to have about seven scenes a year with them. Obviously, they pay a higher rate for the VR exclusivity. It’s whenever they want to book me, but probably not until I’m available in April. I’d never done VR shoots before Naughty America. Oddly enough, they were actually one of the first studios to ever shoot me in non-VR porn, when I was very new… it was probably one of my first five shoots. So, I guess they liked it, even though I didn’t know what I was doing at that point. When you’re shooting VR, it’s kind of like traditional POV, but just a little more extreme. The guy can’t really touch you that much. You know, you can’t kiss. There’s really no contact beside the pussy with the dick. So, it’s very strange. You really have to do a lot of dirty talk to make the scene interesting. Which, now I’ll be better at since I was new then. It’s also about other things, like twerking on the dick. You can’t just bounce on it, especially if there’s no interaction between the two people.
XBIZ: Give us the low-down on your upcoming Tushy.com showcase, “Lana,” which is fast approaching on the horizon.
Rhoades: It’s my first showcase and I chose all the talent except for the girls. But, I’m really happy with all the girls Greg Lansky selected. Honestly, with Greg, it’s more classy… more tasteful. Basically, it’s about being more sensual. He doesn’t like quick sex, and it’s definitely not gonzo. But it’s beautiful, the way that he does it. It’s filled with many of my firsts, starting off with Jean Val Jean in my first boy/girl anal. It was a really good experience. The second one that I did was the boy/girl/girl… and that was with Manuel Ferrara and Penny Pax… also a really good scene. The third was IR anal, followed by girl/girl anal — which is kind of new for Greg — between Adriana Chechik and I. And then, the DP was with Mick Blue and Jean Val Jean, which Greg said was probably the best DP he will ever shoot in his career. I swear, every time I have a scene come out from Greg, I get like 10,000 new followers on Twitter, since it’s really heavily promoted on PornHub. Doing the showcase with him is helping me a lot.
XBIZ: Who else has had a major impact on your stardom?
Rhoades: You know, I mostly keep to myself, but I’ve made two really good friends in the industry — that’s Stella Cox and Mike Adriano from Evil Angel. I lived with Stella for a while, but she had to go back to the U.K. We still did FaceTime a lot and now she’s back! She’s still with Spiegler, too. As for Adriano, like I mentioned earlier, I did my first scene with him and I really liked it. And, I’ve done a few more scenes for his Swallowed.com site. He’s super nice and lets me stay at his house while I’m shooting. Mike Adriano is very gonzo, very messy. Like, you want have the filthiest, dirty talk for that. The sloppiest blowjobs… it’s a lot of fun. He and Greg are kind of opposites, which is ironic, because they were close friends back in the day. But, they kind of went in completely different directions career-wise. I like mixing it up, so I enjoy shooting for both of them. I’m definitely excited about finishing my contract with Greg, so I can shoot anal for Adriano. I mean, I really like gonzo, which is why my favorite directors are Lansky, Adriano and Jules Jordan. I like James Avalon too. He’s super sweet. So, I mean, it’s really a mixture. It depends on the day. Sometimes, I wake up and I want to do a super dirty, filthy scene. And then, some days, I want to be more sensual for an artsy shoot. In general, for 2017, I want to do a lot more anal.
XBIZ: Any plans to branch out from shoots into other revenue streams this year?
Rhoades: A lot of people have been asking me for feature dancing appearances lately. The problem is, I’m only 20. So, I can’t dance at a lot of the good clubs. But, that’s one of the perks of signing with Derek Hay, since he has The Lee Network. He already set me up for some feature dancing as soon as I turn 21 in September. I’m going to New York, then Las Vegas. I’m really excited to dance in New York, because that’s what I’ve been doing since I was 18 in Chicago. And I’ve heard New York has the best clubs, so I’ve been really looking forward to that. I’m also working on a blog, because I’ve owned my domain for like two years, since before I was in porn. LanaRhoades.com. So, I’m probably going to put a blog on it. I originally came up with the name “Lana” from “American Horror Story: Asylum.” Remember “Lana banana?” Haha. Then, I was just looking for last names that would go with it, so I sent Spiegler a bunch of options back in the day and he was like “I like Lana Rhoades.”
Right now, I’m mainly focused on performing, but since I’m very creative, in the future I might explore directing or producing. I have a good mind. I think a lot. I always think of new ideas, not just for porn. Sometimes, on set, I’d say things to the director like “why don’t I do this or that?” And they would really like it… just stuff to add to the shoot. Another creative outlet is dancing. I’ve put a lot of effort into it… like stretching every day, making my movements more fluid. It’s kind of like art. The club that I work at, we don’t use a pole. It’s floor work. You actually have to do good moves, or else you’ll look awkward. Basically, they tell you the music will be fast, but you have to dance slower. You know, some of the girls at the club were ballet dancers, so I would watch them and say, “I wanna dance like that!” So, I practiced. Some people can’t dance, though, because they don’t have good rhythm.
That’s why when I end up feature dancing, I’m definitely going to put a lot of effort into my shows. You know, make really nice costumes for it and practice. I have ideas for what I want, like custom dresses. We used to have a rule that sometimes you had to wear gowns. So, it would be different fabrics that I would experiment with. I don’t like bright colors usually, although porn clothes and stripper clothes are different. With my stripper clothes, I don’t like bright colors. I like neutral colors: blues, blacks and nude... maybe some lace and rhinestones. Classier, you know? Then, for porn, you can either go super bright colors for the gonzo shoots with fishnets, and that’s super hot. Whereas, for Lansky, it’s more like agent provocateur… I mean… I like it all!
XBIZ: Given the speed at which you’ve achieved such skyrocketing stardom, what advice would you offer to aspiring adult starlets?
Rhoades: Well, definitely be interactive with your fans on social media. You know, a lot of the industry is based on looks. Also, there are plenty of girls that are really pretty, who don’t want to swallow the cumshot or do anything extreme, even though the fans want to see that. So, you kind of have to cater to the people who are watching you. Also, enjoy the acts that you’re doing. You have to be dirty. Most of the girls that are really pretty don’t want to do anything like anal or get jizz on their face. I like all of that and, fortunately, I’m attractive too. So, those are the two parts: you have to be dirty and keep yourself up physically. To stay in shape, I just do exotic dancing and I’m vegan. It also helps to be local in L.A. for shoots. The first time I moved out here, I was in the San Fernando Valley, but it just wasn’t for me. I was also a little homesick the first time. But, living in Hollywood this time, it’ll be a lot better, ‘cause I’m used to a city vibe — where everyone’s goal is to study, work and try to get as popular as you can. Because the more popular you get, more people are going to want to shoot you.
