Can Porn Stars Enter The Mainstream?
That’s the question being raised this week upon the announcement that Bret Easton Ellis announced his intention to cast James Deen (pictured), a male porn star, as the lead in “The Canyons,” a new film noir to be directed by Paul Schrader, the screenwriter of “Taxi Driver” and director of “American Gigolo.” Some people might think that we live in a completely transparent age, where the fact of having seen all the intimate details of just about everyone on your Facebook feed means that porn actors are no longer marginalized. Not sure I agree: the U.S. is still pretty hypocritical about sex. The same public figures who are trying to squash your fun are probably the same people who, in a time of proliferating free porn online, are still paying for it. They want sex to stay dirty and the people who get paid for it to be penalized for their behavior.
Can’t believe this guy is a porn star. So plain looking! Then again, Ron Jeremy isn’t exactly an Adonis.
Can’t think of a single guy who’s done porn and then gone on to become a major movie or TV star.
Porn stars are so 1990s. Everybody with a computer is a porn star now!
Ooh: James Deen is so hot. I hope the rest of the world starts noticing him like I have.
Pornography is the work of the devil. Why do you drag down your wonderful website with this junk?
Correction: Ellis DID NOT state his intention to cast Deen for the role — he rather said that he was partial to him.
Casting for the film is ongoing and the production has set up a webpage for all interested actors to upload an audition:
https://letitcast.com/en/castings/2099676293-the-canyons
And here’s the production’s official Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/TheCanyonsFilm