LOS ANGELES — Raising his gauntleted fists skyward, Xander Corvus cackles triumphantly, for he has bathed in the bloodborne embers of sunlit warriors, painting his raven-feathered cloak a flaming scarlet.
He has slain enchanted legions, his seethingly righteous dagger dispelling the ancient covenant, whose followers yet fawn over fading lords of cinder. They fell beneath the ruinous onslaught of his strikes, redeemed by a confessor’s vendetta.
Now, dark souls such as he shall prosper.
Now, eldritch seekers such as he shall govern.
Now, rare breeds such as he shall inherit the kingdom.
“Embrace the abyss,” whispered the X-business pontiffs, “rebel against the established order and wield our forbidden pyromancies.” He obliged, intoning, “Ave Satanas,” for they are saints of the deep, these enigmatic masters… the industry source from which all true majesty flows.
It was not a crown of thorns they offered, hoisted by mute midgets, bedraggled cat ladies, waddling walruses and misshapen trolls, whose sloppy seconds oft lose their allure. It was not a crown of illusions, proffered by wrinkled fleshmongers sharin’ street level garbage, dredged up like bait-hooked fish yet again from last summer’s distant on-set memories. It was not a crown of mainstream desperation, laughably seeking validation with equally out-of-touch cinematic academies likewise afflicted with freefalling ratings.
It was a crown of absolute power.
Industry power.
Bankable power.
2017 XBIZ Male Performer of the Year. 2017 XBIZ Best Actor in a Feature Release for “The Preacher’s Daughter” (Wicked Pictures). 2017 XBIZ Best Sex Scene in a Couples-Themed Release for “The Switch” (B. Skow/Girlfriends Films) with 2017 XBIZ Female Performer of the Year Katrina Jade. Three glorious 2017 XBIZ Awards, bringing his career total to eight, like the tentacles of an intergalactic Elder God.
Now, Corvus is mastering hexes imparted by the sable church of X-business.
Now, Corvus is among kindred Sith Lords. Force lightning at his fingertips.
Now, Corvus is reclining with regal ease atop an iron throne, commanding greater wages, for every title graced by his evil radiance is backed by the firepower of this fully armed and operational XBIZ battle station.
And yea, though a great many will yet be led astray by rotting shepherds, gambling away their livelihoods on swarms of freeloading selfie takers stampeding past unseen billboards in that most blighted of towns… and yea, though a scant few will pay faux homage to the self-loathing tweets of burrowed rabbits, saving their blackest prom dresses for the wrong dance… there has begun to stir in the beating heart of adult stardom a newfound hunger for elevated flair, for superior artistry, for the abundant harvest bestowed by X-business reapers, swinging ensorcelled scythes to separate the wheat from the chaff. Murdering the game.
Let those on the fringes be drawn to the black bonfire Corvus has lit.
Kiss the ring, for this cult of personality is avenged sevenfold.
And let those who tread on serpents be denied apple radiance.
Step through the infernal gates. Bask in the incandescence of the dawn bringer, the lord of light, the morning star, for the devil himself speaks in this exclusive XBIZ interview. Shemhemphorash! Thus spoke Zarathustra. Thus speaks Corvus…
XBIZ: Tell us about your evolution as a performer throughout the years, from mainstream acting to winning 2017 XBIZ Male Performer of the Year and Best Actor in a Feature Release for “The Preacher’s Daughter.”
Xander Corvus: I used to act in shows like “Zoey 101” on Nickelodeon, but by 2010, there was no real work left in mainstream entertainment. So, on a bet, I decided to get into adult! Since I had some friends at Penthouse, I got a test shoot with them, and I actually did two scenes my first day. It was awesome. My first scene ever was with Janet Mason and the second one that day was with Ariella Ferrera. It was my first time touching fake boobs — so that was pretty cool!
I’ve always loved performing though, since I was a little kid. At 13, I was in a Christian street punk band called “Hear No Evil” that I sang in for about two years. During that time, my friends — the bassists in the band — and I really started questioning religion, thinking, “I don’t know… the devil makes some good points.” And that was kind of our moment. My battle with Christianity started before that, though, when I was 10. My parents were basically swingers, very fun people in Ohio. Then, my mom got saved and everything went woosh! Gone. She switched over so hard. That just totally tore my family apart.
I also gave up religion because I realized I was only going to church to talk to girls. Those Christian girls would let me feel them up every now and then, for some over-the-shirt action, haha. So, I definitely consider myself an enemy of Christianity. If you have any sense about you, you can’t get behind religion. People say it does so many good things, but it’s, like, really? Did you even read the gospels? It’s filled with rape and genocide and horrible shit. There’s complete annihilation of entire races. Not exactly the most loving shit in the world.
XBIZ: Is that why “The Preacher’s Daughter” resonated so strongly with you?
Corvus: It definitely hit home with a lot of stuff, you know? The whole battling religion thing, and the whole rebellion deal was cool. I grew up in Columbus, Ohio. So, there was a lot of trucks and country. But, where I grew up was where the country met the ghetto. So, it was a very rough neighborhood. With rednecks and roughnecks. I tapped into some of the people that I knew back then for my stylization of the character. You know, I’ve done my fair share of driving a truck through the country so it all felt very, very “home-comey.” That was pretty neat. Just the whole character himself… I kind of fell with it too.
Also, because of my battle with Christianity, it was cool to have that same interaction with Brad Armstrong’s preacher character. My thoughts of rebellion and destroying the structure of that world… that was fucking cool. And anything that Brad does or writes is usually amazing. Everything I’ve seen him do has been fucking awesome. So, it was cool to get to work with him. Also, Brad Armstrong is such a fucking good actor and Mia Malkova too. When you’re in scenes with other really good actors, it’s so much better to bounce off each other. And the subtleties… Brad does a lot of that shit. He’ll do really big subtleties, if that makes any sense… very tip of the iceberg acting tricks that show you so much more without doing a lot. It’s really clever stuff.
Then, I respond in the same way. So, it just makes the movie that much better when you have that kind of interaction going. If you’re in a movie with some shit actor, being a good actor is just going to make things weird. It totally throws off the whole vibe. But with everybody in that Wicked Pictures crew, that was really, really good… there wasn’t one bad actor in that movie. It was kickass. I loved it.
So, now we’re going to shoot the sequel, “The Preacher’s Daughter 2.” Haha, just kidding, no we’re not. I would love to write it, though, call it “The Preacher’s Daughter: The Return of Billy.” And it’s going to be where me and Barrett Blade come back to the town and Barrett plays a prisoner. I wanted to write a fake script and then give it to Brad about how I survive that last scene in the movie, and my dad Barrett Blade has been in prison for a long time. So, we come back to fight the preacher. We come back in a whole revenge movie. Really, it’s just an excuse for me to burn a church down.
XBIZ: Let’s delve more deeply into your earliest porn days, long before you reached the pinnacle of adult stardom. Who influenced your career back then?
Corvus: Greg Lansky. Definitely Greg. Reality Kings Greg. He was one of the first ones to really talk to me about what and how I needed to be… even though I was a drunk asshole. So, he took me – not necessarily under his wing, but he talked to me about who I really am. However, the first person to really give me the talk was Mick Blue. It was awesome, because I was so new. And, I think we were shooting for Penthouse that day, this big group scene. Mick took me outside and he started talking, like, ‘Listen, Xander. I think you’re a really good guy.’ He gave me this whole talk about how I was a good dude, and he thought I could do really well if I keep my head on straight. You know, don’t be an idiot about this kind of stuff. And, I took that to heart — even if I was a drunk ass. But, you know, I kept myself together for work. So, that was cool. I don’t think he remembers, but… I do. I was just a kid and I had no fuckin’ idea what I was really doing. I was, like, “Yay! I’m getting paid to fuck stuff!”
XBIZ: What were some of the titles that really started putting you on the map?
Corvus: Really quickly into my career was a New Sensations romance series. They had me in a movie titled “Almost Heaven,” where I basically played god. It was awesome. I had a white suit and I ran heaven. It was very ironic for me that I get into adult and then play god. That was probably the first scene that I really acted in. Right after that, were all the Axel Braun “Spider-Man XXX” movies. I was Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
XBIZ: There’s a great photo of you and Axel, where he’s pointing into the distance and you’re in that full Spider-Man regalia.
Corvus: Oh yeah! That’s the signature Axel picture. “This is where my awards will go.” That’s what he’s pointing to… his trophy case. It’s funny. Axel and Brad man, it’s so awesome to have them in this biz. I don’t even think they count their trophies anymore. They just weigh them. Like, whose trophy case weighs more? Bet they load ‘em like a truck driving into a weigh station. Anyhow, “Spider-Man XXX” and “Almost Heaven,” those are the two movies that I would say got me on the map. Well, there was another one for New Sensations, “Lost and Found.” Or, if you watch it on Cinemax, it’s called “Sex Pets.” Which is fucking dumb.
XBIZ: Haha. What’s the premise of it?
Corvus: The premise was this girl, Allie Haze, her dog runs away and I find it in my backyard. Then, my roommate, Chad Alva, convinces me that because I have a crush on Allie Haze, I should keep the dog and hide it. Then, I can help her look for it so that I can hang out with her more. Which, you know, is a very sociopathic way to date someone.
XBIZ: So, did you have to play it a little creepy?
Corvus: No, had to play it with my nervous, comic relief sort of character. That was another one that put me on the map, I think.
XBIZ: When did OC Modeling begin playing a key role in your career trajectory?
Corvus: OC was probably three years ago. I think I was kind of doing the same thing career-wise, but I wasn’t happy with 101 Modeling. It was a business move. The same people were still booking me, but I’m happier now and feel a lot better with Sandra. They’re more like a family, than any other agency I’ve dealt. They really, personally, care about their clients.
XBIZ: So, tell us about your more recent ventures. Would you say Wicked Pictures has given you some of your strongest roles?
Corvus: I would. I’d say that Wicked’s given me the more dramatic roles. Like, stuff with Stormy Daniels. But, I’ve done some of my funniest and best comedies with Stormy too. Some of my best dramatic stuff has been with Brad. He and Axel are different types of directors. They shoot for different things. Axel Braun is like the Michael Bay of porn and Brad Armstrong is like the Christopher Nolan. It makes sense, because Axel makes the big, flashy action productions. And Brad touches on the dark, more emotional material.
For a long time, though, with Wicked… I was “meh” about the condoms. But, for the quality of movie you’re shooting, who fucking cares? That was my only bummer about Wicked for some time. But, I realize that now it’s kind of silly… to be like, “I don’t wanna shoot with a condom.” It’s like, just do your job asshole.
XBIZ: Let’s discuss “Cindy Queen of Hell,” which you were more personally involved with. How did that project come about?
Corvus: “Cindy” was definitely one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in the industry. Because, I’ve never had the avenues to fully create, you know? But, this is the first time I’ve written a whole movie. Of course, Joanna Angel helped too. “Cindy” was such an experience. It was cool to put out what I wanted. The script I originally wrote for “Cindy” was fucking huge. Then, Joanna reminded me that we’re shooting a porno. I was like, “oh yeah!” I had to cut down a lot of stuff. There was a whole piece of dialogue that really made sense of the whole relationship between god and the devil and man, just from the Christian mythology and all.
And, my take on what Lucifer really represents, is knowledge, freedom and individuality… as opposed to the domineering, totalitarian god figure. Doing “Cindy” was a fun way to put my essence into the industry. You know, my whole satanic propaganda, haha. I got to put that out there and the industry hadn’t, I think, had anything like that, that properly represented that. Unless it was something cartoonish, and wasn’t from a proper satanist. But, you know in Satanism, there isn’t actually a devil. I’m more of a LaVeyan satanist. The philosophy that we go by emphasizes individual strength. There’s no worship of anything but yourself.
You know, most people put out movies where the devil is the bad guy. So, in “Cindy,” you get to see a different side to the whole story. The devil’s probably a really nice dude, you know? He doesn’t necessarily want to hurt anyone. It’s the guy upstairs that’s genociding and flooding the world. So that was cool, man, my first little adventure into directing. Which now, with the help of Sandra and OC, I’m planning on expanding, because I’m building my own site for directing.
My whole deal is going to be “you do one scene for me, and I do one scene for you.” So, we both get our product and we both get to sell it. None of this sharing content bullshit. I’m also going to be doing more stuff with Burning Angel — that was who “Cindy” was put out by. Since Joanna and I wrote and directed it together, it was our baby Cindy. I would love to.
In case I forget, let me just say that I love shooting for Lansky too. What’s really great about him is just the way he treats his talent. He treats us like mainstream. And, nothing against anyone who doesn’t do things the same way, but it’s a cool, refreshing thing to show up and basically have craft services. You show up and there’s good food and shit. It inspires loyalty and it encourages you to do better, because you feel like you’re treated better. If you’re in a good mood, you’ll do a better scene.
XBIZ: Let’s talk about another strong influence on your life — your lady, Lily Lane, whose support you recently praised in an open letter celebrating one year of sobriety.
Corvus: Yeah, definitely. Part of my whole sobriety thing has been just her support. There were a lot of times during my drunkest and worst alcoholic experiences, when she could have just been like “fuck you, get out of my life.” But, she didn’t, so it means a lot to me, especially to someone who is an alcoholic and who’s gone through it as much as I have and put someone else through it like that. It means a lot to fix it, and to be given the opportunity to fix it. To have somebody believe in you and be there for you through how hard it is, and afterwards. There were plenty of times when she could have given up on me, but she didn’t, which is phenomenal. I’m that much better, because she didn’t give up on me. She never said, “you have to do this, you have to stop.” She supported me either way. She knew I was going to die if I kept doing it, and of course she didn’t want me to. So, yeah, man. She was definitely a sort of strength and definitely more of a reason to stop.
XBIZ: What else led you to stop? How long would you say you were you in that pattern?
Corvus: Oh man, like fucking 10 years. It was just constant drinking, drinking, drinking. It was just bad. I was getting fat, I was sick all the time. And, yeah, I would say what really got me to stop was seeing myself and seeing what I was putting Lily through. It was like in our little family. And, she has a six-year-old little girl, so for me to be around her… as a male figure in a kid’s life and be a drunk asshole? Fuck that. I couldn’t allow myself to be that. Because when that little girl grows up and she wants to have a relationship with a man or woman or whatever she’s into, I don’t want to be the influence that gets her with a person like I was.
So, I just couldn’t let her see that. And, it was also good because she totally saw how much I changed. To see that no matter how hard it is, you can fix yourself. So, me being an influence on her life, I couldn’t allow myself to be such a shit show. Because I wouldn’t want to put that on anyone else. I guess I’m a good guy deep down, but don’t tell anyone!
There was just one day where I said, “I can’t do this anymore.” I felt like shit, I treated people like shit. You know, it was too much. I remember when I did it. I just kind of looked over at Lily and said, “I can’t do this anymore. I have to stop.” And she was like, “Yeah, dude. You’re going to die.” And I said, “I’m good, I’m not dying yet.” So, honestly, I just chose one day. It wasn’t like some cataclysmic event. I woke up one day and was like “I’m done, I’ve got to start getting my life together.” There’s only so much time you can fuck off before it catches up to you. And I didn’t want to get to that point. I didn’t want to wake up at 40 and wonder where 20 years went.
XBIZ: On another inspirational note, what was it like winning 2017 XBIZ Male Performer of the Year and Best Actor, all in the same night? Not to mention, Best Sex Scene in a couples-themed release with 2017 XBIZ Female Performer of the Year Katrina Jade for B. Skow’s “The Switch.”
Corvus: Fucking… I was not expecting that shit. I wasn’t expecting either of them. So, when I went up for Best Actor… you know, all that Sandra said was, “You need to be there. You might win something. We’ll see.” But, she was very much elbowing me. When they said Best Actor, I was like “what the fuck?” So, I walked up and I was a little discombobulated and like… “uhh okay, woohoo! Okay!” Then, I ran away. When I got back to my seat, I was like “alright, cool, I got Best Actor, kick ass.” I figured I was done winning, and for the rest of the night, I was ready to drink my soda water and just chill. Then, when I got Male Performer of the Year… I was like, “What. But I already got one, though.”
So, I went up there a second time and it was just crazy. What was even cooler was hearing people cheering so loudly. Going up on stage, winning the award is fucking amazing and the biggest thing about it is that you guys chose me to have it and the people’s reaction to it. It was more that you guys chose me and that people agreed with you. Those two things. But also, afterwards, you probably noticed that I didn’t tweet much, but it’s because that’s not me. Just be yourself, you know? Be humble, and appreciate what you got. That “vote for me” shit? As a straight male in the industry, don’t do that. I mean, do whatever you want, but you just look so desperate. Maybe I just have a weird pride about things like that… but I don’t want my name associated with begging.
I appreciate being appreciated, but I keep it on a real human level. I tell a lot of newer male talent not to forget their real name, because… it’s sad to see a man become a persona. I think that happens a lot when people start getting attention in the industry. They forget who they are. But, it’s not even that you have to remember your real name in the sense of a word. You just have to remember that you are someone. This is your company. You can go by that name all you want. It’s fine. You can change your name to that, but always remember who you are as an individual.
