Cherie DeVille & Kay Brandt: The ‘Unfolding’ Interviews
Drawn from a popular erotic novel by Selena Kitt (author of Babysitting the Baumgartners), Unfolding chronicles the sexual awakening of Charlie (Cherie DeVille), who explores new paths to pleasure with her sexy, attentive husband (Seth Gamble). Aided by a refreshing lack of gimmicks and a focus on performance and chemistry, the movie offers likable characters and sexual scenarios that are daring yet also easy to relate to. This winning combination helped the movie capture the top VOD ranking on Adult Empire for weeks on end, crushing all established records. To find out more about what has powered Unfolding‘s magical run of dominance, we chatted with two of its primary players. Discover everything you’ve always wondered about this popular video as we unpack Unfolding in two special interviews: an hour-long video chat with Unfolding director Kay Brandt and a written Q&A with lead Unfolding performer Cherie DeVille.
Kay Brandt video interview
(see the video description on YouTube for a complete topic breakdown)
Cherie DeVille Q&A
How did you come to be involved in Unfolding?
Honestly, Kay Brant took a chance on me! I couldn’t believe I was finally going to get to be in one of her movies. I don’t know what made me catch her eye but I am grateful for sure! [For Brandt’s take on the casting of Cherie, skip to 07:17 of the video interview]
Had you read the book prior to becoming involved in the project?
Yes, I listened to the audio book and it was fantastic.
Are you a big reader of erotic lit in general? If so, what are some of your favorites?
Unfolding was actually the first erotic novel I ever read, I generally read sci-fi and fantasy books.
Talk about working with director Kay Brandt.
She is passionate about her work and as an actor on her set you can really feel that; it makes you want to go the extra mile to make sure you are bringing your character to life properly. She is also so charismatic that you are drawn to her and want her to be proud of the job you are doing. I think so much adult is filmed without passion for the characters and the plot that you can lose something, which is why I believe her movies stand out amongst a sea of XXX.
Have your own experiences paralleled Charlie’s in any way (big or small), or is the character’s sexual journey entirely different from your own?
I can relate to her willingness to experiment with her sexuality being tied to and facilitated by her deep feeling of safety and security in her loving relationship. I feel like the small family that is pornography in the USA has as a whole made me feel safe in doing things joyfully on film I would be to nervous to do otherwise so I can relate to the need to feel secure to fully express your sexual self.
Your character is onscreen at virtually every moment of this movie. Was that a unique challenge?
Well, it was certainly a ton of pressure, but also an epic honor to be trusted to bring a beloved character from a book alive for its readers. Anyone who has seen a book they love ruined in a movie can relate to that feeling. I didn’t want that to happen to Charlie; I wanted the readers that loved her to also love the movie and from the movie’s popularity, I feel like we did that.
Tell us how you conveyed such remarkable chemistry with Seth Gamble, who plays your husband in Unfolding.
HA! That’s not acting! He’s an awesome person and if you have met him you will know chemistry with him is effortless.
One of the movie’s scenes features you witnessing a sexual encounter purely as an observer. Tell us how you approached your performance in that sequence.
That was a fun one. I don’t watch the sex part of porn anymore now that I am a performer cuz it can be odd seeing your friends at work but this felt completely different. It was as if I was watching their characters in the movie! I was super hot; I got seriously turned on.
Charlie’s exploration of anal is central to the story. How do you approach anal scenes?
I love anal! The only challenge in that movie was that I has so many anal scenes in it and I can’t eat for 24 hrs before anal so when you are shooting more than one scene a day for multiple days in a row fasting is a challenge especially with long days and needing to be mentally sharp for dialogue. [Check out some of Cherie’s anal movies here.]
To what do you attribute the movie’s remarkable popularity?
The plot and the fantastically realistic characters as well as the beautiful love story that Charlie and her husband have! You can be sexually adventurous and committed and in love! That seems way more realistic to me than 99% of adult film plots. To me this movie is like you are looking at someone’s real life not a outrageous fantasy.
