When 45-year-old Mick Blue was crowned XBIZ Male Performer of the Year in January, ascending to the heights of stardom in grand style, the accolade came as the proverbial cherry on top of an already rapturous legacy comprising thousands of scenes shot over two decades in the adult biz.
As the loving husband to another award-winning star, Anikka Albrite, Blue is a family man who also works as a professional race car driver, while also starring in mainstream productions. This multifaceted approach to life has led the industry veteran to further develop himself as an athlete and director for BAM Visions. Along the way, he has built a strong brand and equally sterling reputation.
Stepping beyond Blue’s obvious prodigious talents, when speaking to the hunky performer, his strong sense of self-awareness is as evident as his good looks. Here is a performer who has worked hard to get where he is and has taken many opportunities to learn his craft, as well as build his confidence along the way. This past year alone, the 5-foot-11-inch-tall superior stick man worked with Vixen, Brazzers, Evil Angel and Axel Braun of Wicked Pictures, to name but a few, all of whom — and more — the Austria native can’t thank enough.
But opportunity doesn’t just come knocking in this business. Both male and female performers need to deliver a high level of consistent hot scenes, and this consistency is something Blue values very highly.
“Besides being reliable, respectful, professional and caring about the people you work with, performance-wise, you need to find a consistent level, not existing where things are crazy and not putting yourself in situations where you can fail,” he told XBIZ. “Just find the place in your work where you can be steady.”
Starting in Europe at the turn of this century, Blue didn’t come into shooting scenes with his present level of confidence and awareness. His first years working in the adult field were like being “thrown into a fish tank,” he admitted. But Blue kept his eyes, ears and pants open enough to quickly find the best way to survive and work another day. He realized all too soon that he and his fellow male performers needed to develop as many physical skills as psychological ones.
“Oh, I was bad at the beginning,” Blue admitted with a deep laugh. But working through those early years is what made Blue the top star he has come to be, mining the synergy of mind and body he has so often relied on to beat the stresses that have derailed many a male performer.
And the stresses can be great.
“People ask themselves all the time why is it that in this industry we see so many male performers disappear after a good run?” he noted. “They don’t come back at all. The reason is that it is most difficult for men in porn to overcome failure. Every male performer, myself included, has at least one really bad day. The scene can’t be finished; the dick doesn’t work; in your head, you’re feeling defeated. One specific day like that can fuck with your mind, add such stress and make you afraid that it becomes the most difficult thing in your life. Too many guys can’t bounce back. That’s why they just disappear.”
Blue isn’t disappearing anytime soon, however.
This elite star’s other passion, professional auto racing, has led him to become a Sports Car Club of America-licensed race car driver, and Blue is just itching to get back to the track. But as it has done for so many businesses and activities, COVID all but halted crowds coming to watch his beloved sport. Still, he’s hoping to get back in a car this September and compete with a sponsor behind him. To keep his skills sharp in the meantime, for the past year Blue has driven with a professional digital simulator that recreates racing. Making light of his virtual crashes, he said, “You only lose face, not a car that can be very expensive to replace.” What thrills Blue about car racing is the same thing that thrilled him when he first discovered his love for skiing down the many fantastic world-class slopes of his birthplace.
“I think overall it’s the adrenaline rush I felt as a boy, that I feel when racing; it’s not so much about the speed really,” he said. “I started as a downhill ski racer in Austria. Back then, if you had a crash, the worst it might be was some broken bones, but you’d be back at the starting tape. Of course, as a kid, I didn’t think about consequences. Racing cars, well that’s certainly more dangerous, but then again it’s better and more protected than racing motorcycles.”
Just as a savvy driver needs to be ever mindful of the sharp turns of the pro track, adult performers working these past decades had to bob and weave around the unique twists and turns of a business turned upside-down in many ways through the encroachment of digital technology and social media. Many made the transition through reinvention, finding other avenues beyond scenes to work their brand, but others have lost careers due to not being able to keep up with technology.
Surely it would have been a great loss to lose a talent like Mick Blue, but in his usual positive manner, he views all the recent changes as a double-edged sword.
“The biggest negative is the impact of the tube sites, I think,” he observed. “Everything can be downloaded and watched for free." He added, however, that those sites have also given performers more independence and freedom to choose what they want to do or not do.
This last point is what Blue sees as the most positive change for adult performers in the past two decades.
“I can tell you that 20 years ago when I started, I never knew what I was going to do when I stepped onto a set,” he recalled. “I only knew what time to show up and how much I was being paid. In Europe, guys and especially girls would come in not knowing if they were doing anal, a DP or a gang-bang. That’s not happening these days. We are all respected to the point where we are well-informed of the scenes ... the voices of the performers are heard.”
As it has for most of us, the pandemic curtailed Blue’s traveling, especially getting back to his home country, a place he surely misses. Although he said he was lucky to get his mother over to the U.S. to spend this past Christmas with his family, he hasn’t seen his father or lots of his good friends in Austria in over 2½ years.
“Yes, I miss it very much, my father, of course, and nothing compares to Austria,” he lamented. “The mountain lakes, the green grass and trees. The skiing. Yes, in California, I can go to the beach, but I have friends sending me pictures all the time of how much skiing they are doing.”
He adds that he also misses the great Austrian pastries that you simply can’t get any other place on the planet.
Even though there doesn’t seem to be anything to keep Blue from thrusting ever deeper into all of our imaginations in 2022 and beyond, he still views his place in the industry quite humbly. He’s as thankful for his accomplishments, awards and the recognition he’s received as he is that this year, the industry he so loves came together to celebrate with such a great show and party.
“Of course, it was such an honor for me personally to win the award; I have to thank XBIZ again and say how amazing the company is,” he enthused. “But also, it’s important for us all to recognize how great the award show was. It’s been a rough few years for us all, and to celebrate our industry like they did this year, was really inspiring … and so much fun.”
Lastly, Blue faces questions about his future with practical optimism, and a bit of mystery. Obviously, a man with his talents and accolades will have lots of work coming his way, many more companies to shoot for and some fantastic new performers to meet. But as to any specific plans, he says he simply appreciates the opportunity to keep working.
“I owe a huge thank you to all the girls in the industry who worked with me in the past and those who want to keep working with me,” he summarized.
“They are the main ingredient to creating all those amazing scenes I was in and of course, the directors and companies that keep me busy and continue to have faith in me and give me such opportunities.”
