Sasha Grey: More than Tail (Report)

Here's an interesting article about Sasha Grey, who may just become the first woman to ever go from being the current "It Girl" in the porn industry to being the current "It Girl" of Hollywood. Her performance in the upcoming mainstream movie "The Girlfriend Experience" (directed by Steven Soderbergh) has impressed critics—even those as renowned and tough as Roger Ebert.

Grey is undeniably beautiful, but is far from the stereotype that likely pops into your head when you hear the words "porn star":

So, armed with shrewd business acumen, defiantly libertine ideals, the latest in social-networking tools and a frame with barely-legal contours, Grey is building that brand. She’s starting her own company to produce intelligent porn that focuses on real acting, rather than mechanical, unimaginative copulation. At the same time, she’s trying to further her mainstream film career, develop cachet in the experimental-music world and cultivate a growing fan base that often seems as interested in her brains as they are in her body.

“My whole thing is to bridge that gap,” she says. “To say, ‘Yeah, I have sex on camera, but I can act, make music, draw, paint and write poetry.’ I consider myself a Renaissance woman.”

Grey rarely drinks, doesn’t do drugs and, contrary to the prevailing stereotype, says she was never abused as a child. As Soderbergh sees it, “She’s a new breed. She’s a mold-breaker.”

The jump from adult film superstar to being one in mainstream cinema is an extremely difficult one to make, given the stigmas involved with porn. It can at times be impossible to break American audiences from social pigeonholes and stereotypes that have been cultivated since before their grandparents were born. But if anyone stands a chance to do it in your lifetime, it's Grey. Her combination of beauty, brains, character, and fearlessness is rare (and she's only 21, giving female moviegoers yet another reason to hate on her).

The full Blender article can be found here. It's a good read, and a fascinating look at the talented and determined "Renaissance woman."