Podcast: Casey Calvert Interview
When it comes to stage names, pornstars draw inspiration from many sources. Casey Calvert may be the only star who took her name from her favorite college instructor. In a way, it’s not surprising, because intellectual interests are at the very core of her identity as an artist. While she debuted as a fetish performer, she has branched out into a variety of porn ventures, including a blossoming foray into directing. In this new podcast interview, Casey Calvert discusses all this and much, much more.
She covers directing versus performing, the shift in her attitude toward onscreen performances, her most unusual custom request, the psychology of porn and fetishes, sex education, porn as sex education, directing actors, the inside story of Lust Cinema‘s Going Up, porn casting, the evolving role of male pornstars, Adult Time‘s Women’s World, the importance of story in porn, possible mainstream projects, her early days in the industry, the glamour of being a Spiegler Girl, the downsides of perfectionism, working with Erika Lust, pornographers she admires, watching porn for fun, watching her own work, shooting Untamed for AE Films, the awards experience, 2023 goals, shooting Sorrow Bay, the role of the producer in porn, her porn mentor, and the professor who inspired her name.
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On her legacy: performer or director?
Honestly, both. I think that’s something that’s really unique about my career is that I never stopped performing. Even when I started directing, I still very actively perform at least as much as I can fit into my schedule. And so yeah, I hope that I hope that when people summarize me it is as performer and director.
On unusual custom requests:
This afternoon I’m shooting a custom for an amazing client of mine. He’s been a client for many years and he likes me wearing vintage lingerie and getting splattered with massive amounts of fake cum. we have a syringe that’s probably this big. [Gestures] We fill it up. And then someone off camera spurts it at me in little spurts as if it was an ejaculation and it gets like all over my face and all over my hair and all over the lingerie that I’m wearing.
On the psychology of sex:
I think my fascination comes from trying to figure out myself and growing up and trying to figure out why I liked the things that I liked. And why it seemed like some of my friends maybe you didn’t like those things or liked other things that I super was not interested in. And I love talking to people about what turns them on because everyone is different. No two human beings are alike.
On sex ed:
I wish that I would have received some form of sex ed. The only thing I got was in seventh grade. I remember a college student coming to talk to my science class and saying to all of us “Look at the person sitting next to you say the word ‘penis.’ If you can’t say the word ‘penis’ without laughing you’re not ready to have sex yet.” It’s like . . . okay. And then got a little bit of biological reproductive education in 10th grade about “this is how a sperm fertilizes an egg” kind of education but nothing about safer sex practices, nothing about STI. Nothing about anything. It wasn’t even abstinence- only that I remember. It was nothing.
On porn as sex ed:
I don’t think that the industry as a whole has kind of figured out how to handle this yet. To me, porn is a fantasy product. That’s the point of it. It’s not supposed to be a representation of real life. It’s not supposed to be education. And consumers can watch the Fast and the Furious and separate that that’s not actually how you drive down the street. But for whatever reason, we watch porn and cannot separate that we are also acting that we are also performing that we are stunt people that this is not what sex is actually supposed to be. And I think that as part of sex ed there needs to be porn literacy education. But I don’t think we’re there yet as a society, certainly not in America. Makes me a little sad.
On the origins of the movie Going Up:
I was talking with Erika Lust. And she mentioned to me that she wanted a musical for my big feature for last year. And I started developing it, I started writing an outline, writing a synopsis, started figuring it out. And in doing the research for the logistics of shooting a big musical, with song and dance, and all of these things, realized that to do that right, and to not make it silly, but to actually genuinely execute it properly, was going to cost far more than we had the budget to do. Far, far above and beyond the budget for this movie. And so we realized, okay, no musical, but I had already written this story that I really liked about the opening night of a musical. And we just took that story and slid it sideways a little bit so that instead of it being a musical, it was a play.
On her career’s beginnings:
I kind of knew from the beginning of when I started modeling. And I existed in this weird space where I was like, I’m not making porn. It’s just a fetish. I’m not actually having sex with people. So I’m not doing porn, which was bullshit. I absolutely was making porn. Regardless of whether or not I was doing fluid exchange, I was making porn. But I made the decision to move to LA after I graduated from college, I wanted to move to LA. I didn’t know how to make that happen. I loved modeling, I wanted to be able to make money, because fetish modeling, especially back then really didn’t. It was a little bit like living paycheck to paycheck. Except you didn’t know when your next paycheck was coming. And so I wanted something that felt more stable. And so that was when I decided to actually do hardcore porn.
On pornographers she admires for creating “pure porn”:
The first name that came to mind was Mike Adriano. He knows exactly what he wants, and his fans will love it. Owen Gray is exactly the same way. I think he knows exactly what his fans want to see. And that’s what he makes. And it’s all about the sex. And while those two people shoot very different kinds of content, it’s I feel like for both of them, it’s sex focused. That’s what is important to them. I feel like oh, and it’s maybe also about connection and intimacy. But it’s those things I feel like are a part of the sex.
On her awards experience:
It was very fun. I’m not going to lie — winning a trophy is great. I’ve always said like, everyone likes to win a trophy, including me. It’s fun. It feels great to be recognized. I’m trying to not let it go to my head or be like, what are we going to do for this year, so I could definitely do it again and turn it into something that becomes unhealthy. I’m super happy to have had the success that I had last year and I just want to keep doing good work. I don’t feel like my work in 2022 was better than my previous work except for that I’m just becoming a better director and a better filmmaker. And so hopefully I continue to become a better director and a better filmmaker.
On the role of producer in porn:
A producer’s job is to put out fires. Really is the best way I can define a producer’s job a producer’s job is to make the movie happen and when something starts to make the movie not happen you fix it. In porn, specifically, a producer does things like book talent and book locations and handle logistics and handle paperwork.
On her porn mentor:
Nina Hartley [ . . .] she was pretty pivotal early in my career. Super helpful in conversations about body stuff and medical stuff and taking care of myself and taking care of my mental health and all of those things.
On the professor who inspired her stage name:
I saw him like six weeks ago [ . . . ] he came to one of my sets. He’s always been amazing about it. Really, it was kind of an asshole thing for me to do because I didn’t ask him [if I could use his name]. I could have been bad. But that didn’t occur to me. I was an idiot and didn’t know any better. But he is amazing. He’s one of my biggest supporters. He’s a First Amendment law professor. And so he studies a lot about the adult industry and he knows a lot about the adult industry. And so it’s always I think, been a little bit of like, a fun story for me and a claim to fame for him. But I have lectured in his class and he texted me congratulations when I won these great awards.
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Full interview transcript
Introduction / performing vs. acting
Dallas
Hello, and welcome to the Adult Empire Podcast. I’m Dallas, your host, our guest today is the director of Lust Cinema’s Primary, Going Up, and many more. She is Casey Calvert, and she joins us now. So the first thing I was wondering is, someday when somebody is summing up your career, your future legacy, so to speak, do you hope that they sum you up primarily as a director or as a performer?
Casey Calvert
Honestly, both. I think that’s something that’s really unique about my career is that I never stopped performing. Even when I started directing, I still very actively perform at least as much as I can fit into my schedule. And so yeah, I hope that when people summarize me, it is as performer and director.
Dallas
So the passion for performing is just as strong as it ever was, even though you’ve done a lot of directing, obviously, in the last couple of years.
Casey Calvert
Yeah, it’s maybe shifted a little bit. These days, I’m really particular about what kinds of scenes I want to shoot. Which is partly from a time thing, if I’m taking the time to go to set, I want to make sure that I’m going to have a really great day and do a really great scene. But also what I’d like to say is that I’ve had enough mediocre dick to last the rest of my life. And so if I’m going to go to work, I just want it to be great. I want to work with my friends I want to work with people I like working with and then absolutely, the passion is still there.
Dallas
So when you say you’re sort of “picky” about the scenes that you shoot it at this point, it’s in that direction. It’s about having a good time, and it is experience — that’s what you’re looking for, not necessarily a specific type of content. It’s more about the atmosphere and the people you’re collaborating with.
Casey Calvert
Absolutely. I actually like making the weird stuff. I don’t get booked to gonzo that often anymore. But I still love shooting gonzo. I like the weird storylines. It’s all fun. For me, it’s much more about having a connection with my scene partner enjoying my scene partner, enjoying working with the director and working with enjoying the people, the crew who’s on sets, all of it.
Weirdest fan request
Dallas
So what’s the most enjoyably weird scene that you’ve shot and say the past year or so?
Casey Calvert
Okay, the past year? Oh? Do we count custom videos? Or do we only count mainstream scenes?
Dallas
We can count custom videos. Yeah, I’m sure there’s some very interesting stuff there.
Casey Calvert
Okay. Then I’m going to cheat a little bit because I haven’t tried it yet. But this afternoon, I’m shooting a custom for an amazing client of mine. He’s been a client for many years. And he likes me wearing vintage lingerie and getting splattered with massive amounts of fake cum. Massive amounts!
Dallas
So give me an idea of what qualifies as “massive amounts.”
Casey Calvert
We have a syringe that’s probably this big. [Gestures] We fill it up. And then someone off camera spurts it at me in little spurts as if it was an ejaculation and it gets like all over my face and all over my hair and all over the laundry that I’m wearing.
Dallas
So we’re talking almost like live-action version of anime levels?
Casey Calvert
Yeah, yes, yes, very unrealistically large quantities.
Dallas
So have you had any other highly unusual customer requests that that come to mind as some of the most memorable?
Casey Calvert
Sure. I once vacuumed a sofa?
Dallas
So just that? Were you scantily dressed? Or?
Casey Calvert
Yes. To answer your question. No, I was just wearing a normal dress and vacuumed the sofa for like 15 ish minutes.
Dallas
Well, that’s fascinating! And obviously this person was deriving some sort of sexual satisfaction from that.
Casey Calvert
I would make that assumption!
The psychology of porn and sex
Dallas
You think about about human psychology and what turns people on and the surprising things that do — is that something you ever get into. Do you mull the psychological implications of various fetishes and things like that?
Casey Calvert
Yeah, I think it’s so fascinating. And I think my fascination comes from trying to figure out myself and And growing up and trying to figure out why I liked the things that I liked. And why it seemed like some of my friends maybe didn’t like those things or like other things that I super was not interested in. And I love talking to people about what turns them on, because everyone is different. No, no two human beings are like.
Dallas
What’s something that you like that you did do that kind of analysis on? And what did you figure out about yourself and thinking about that thing?
Casey Calvert
I wish I had a good answer. I haven’t figured anything out yet. I still don’t know why I like the things that I like, often. Like as a as a teenager, early 20s person, it really bothered me how much I was interested in BDSM. And it was something that made me very uncomfortable. And I just wanted to know why I really, really wanted to know, why do I like this. And while it no longer makes me uncomfortable, that that is what I like, I still don’t know why I still don’t have an answer to that question.
Dallas
So it made you uncomfortable at the time, because what you thought it was maybe an aberration, or unusual or weird?
Casey Calvert
Or something from trauma that I couldn’t remember? Or, you know, not what healthy sex is supposed to look like all the stereotypical stigmas stuff.
Sex ed / porn as sex ed
Dallas
So what formed your initial concept of what “healthy sex” should look like? Was that from movies? Was that from your peer group? Parents?
Casey Calvert
It’s actually a great question. I guess it’s mostly from media. And I do have a memory of watching TV, like sitcoms and TV. And at the end of the episode, the husband and wife would get into bed, and they’d lay next to each other, and start kissing next to each other. And I used to think that that was sex. And I used to try to think about like, how does a penis go in a vagina? If you’re laying next to somebody? I got no sex ed.
Dallas
That’s interesting, because, of course, there’s that whole history of how couples were presented in sitcoms. And way back in the ‘50s, they couldn’t even be in the same bed. You think about the ‘50s, there’s no sex almost in a way based on perception.
Casey Calvert
Yeah, I definitely feel like there’s a lot more sex in media than when I was a kid, or I just wasn’t getting exposed to it when I was a kid, because there wasn’t social media. So it wasn’t, you know, everyone’s talking about Game of Thrones on Twitter. So I’m going to, you know, even if my parents won’t let me watch it, I’m going to look up a scene on YouTube. And none of that existed. So, there really wasn’t a ton of exposure to anything. I you know, I hung out with the nerds. We didn’t really talk about sex that often.
Dallas
Do you ever wish that you had grown up in an era where that stuff was easily accessible? Like it is now? Or are you happy that it kind of developed in the way that it did? And you grew up in the time that you did?
Casey Calvert
No, I’m happy that I grew up in the time that I did. I think that I would be a different person had I grown up in the era of high speed internet and social media. And I recognize that I sound like I’m 80 right now. But no, the only the only thing I wish is that I would have received some form of sex ed. The only thing I got was in seventh grade. I remember a college student coming to talk to my science class and saying to all of us, look at the person sitting next to you say the word penis. If you can’t say the word penis without laughing you’re not ready to have sex yet. Okay. And then got a little bit of like, biological reproductive education in 10th grade. About this is, you know, how a sperm fertilizes an egg kind of education, but nothing about safer sex practices. Nothing about STI. Nothing about anything. It wasn’t even abstinence only. I remember it was nothing.
Dallas
And it’s strange, though, of course, because porn, whether it wants to or not, has kind of taken on that role of sex education and not that it necessarily wanted to be in that role. Do you ever think about that? Or do you ever think, gosh, okay, I’m shooting this scene, and I know I don’t wouldn’t want it to be someone’s first interface with [sex], but it might be. Is that something that crosses your mind sometimes?
Casey Calvert
Yeah, I do think about it. And I don’t think that the industry as a whole has kind of figured out how to handle this yet. To me, porn is a fantasy product. That’s the point of it. It’s not supposed to be a representation of real life. It’s not supposed to be education. And consumers can watch the Fast and the Furious and separate that that’s not actually how you drive down the street. But for whatever reason, watch porn and cannot separate that we are also acting that we are also performing that we are stunt people that this is not what sex is actually supposed to be. And I think that as part of sex ed, there needs to be porn literacy education. But I don’t think we’re there yet, as a society, certainly not in America. Makes me a little sad.
Dallas
Right? Nina Hartley once described porn as being like live-action cartoons, which I thought was a nice way of putting it. Sort of a world of exaggeration, not meant to be literal.
Casey Calvert
Right.
Directing’s influence on acting
Dallas
So once you really began to direct heavily, did that change your onscreen style as a performer at all or inform it in some ways?
Casey Calvert
I think that being a performer first made me a better director. And being a director has made me a better performer. I don’t know if I can say it has changed.
Casey Calvert
I know more about what people are looking for what a director is looking for where the camera is? Or how the lights change what it looks like on screen all of that stuff?
Dallas
Would you characterize yourself as an actor’s director?
Casey Calvert
Yeah, yes, I would.
Dallas
Do you think is that something that emerges from you, as you said, being an actor first?
Casey Calvert
Yeah. Especially when I was brand new at directing, I really only knew how to direct one way. And that was from my personal experience as a performer. Now that I’ve been directing for a couple of years now I’ve learned different ways to direct people so that I can lean into their strengths. But I definitely think that, I definitely think that my performers appreciate the fact that when I’m asking them to do something, I have probably also actually done that thing with my own body.
Porn and dialogue/character
Dallas
And I think you mentioned in an interview you did with Holly Randall on her wonderful podcast — which I recommend everybody go check out your various [appearances] because they’re all wonderful. And just her podcast in general, of course. You mentioned that you often got nervous with with dialogue, that that was sometimes something that caused you anxiety. So how do you tackle directing actors with dialogue? Do you draw upon that, that experience that you had being anxious? And how do you sort of guide people into the acting performances that you want with dialogue and character?
Casey Calvert
Most of that I actually do in pre production. I cast people who are right for the part. And when I say that, I mean that I often write the part for the people who I cast. And I have the luxury of often working with the same people over and over again. So I very much know how to write to their voice. And I let my actors be themselves, I let them bring their own backstory to the character, I let them do their own character development. I let them I let them improv unless it’s something that’s super specifically important. And I try to create a really casual environment on set so that it doesn’t get to be very high stress and high tension and people get anxious and if someone is anxious, we do enough takes until they settle down.
Dallas
Now I know that you studied film. Did you also work in the theater in any capacity in your background?
Casey Calvert
Not really. I did a lot of theater in elementary school, and did some in middle school. But by the time I was in high school, I realized that after going to — I went to some very fancy performing arts summer camps. And I realized that I am not a theatre actor. That is not my world. Those are not really my people. I love being on film and making movies. And the big difference for me is that theater is live, you get it, you do it once, and then it’s done. And I like the control that you get with filmmaking.
Going Up
Dallas
So what attracted you to the idea of the movie that you’ve put out recently, the series Going Up, which, of course is set in that world, in the background of a play that’s going up. You can explain a little bit more about the plot, but I’m curious about that.
Casey Calvert
So I was talking with Erika Lust. And she mentioned to me that she wanted a musical for my big feature for last year. And I started developing it, I started writing an outline, writing a synopsis, started figuring it out. And in doing the research for the logistics of shooting a big musical, with song and dance and all of these things, I realized that to do that, right. And to not make it silly, but to actually genuinely execute it properly, was going to cost far more than we had the budget to do. Far, far above and beyond the budget for this movie. And so we realized, okay, no musical, but I had already written this story that I really liked about the opening night of a musical. And we just took that story, and slid it sideways a little bit so that instead of it being a musical, it was a play.
Shooting on location
Dallas
Because the movie really nicely evokes that whole world. It’s very recognizable, even to someone who hasn’t been in the theater, you get that that feeling of being a member of that ensemble, and the opening night and the problems and the issues and the backstage stuff. It strikes me that the location in that movie was extraordinarily important. It probably wouldn’t have worked if you couldn’t find the right location. So talk a little bit that because it’s shot, as far as I can tell, it’s an actual theater, right?
Casey Calvert
Correct. It is an actual theater. I’m not going to tell you too much information about it because of privacy concerns for the theater. But it was an actual theater. I actually didn’t start writing the script in script format, until I found the location. Because the location was so important. And I scouted a bunch of theaters around Los Angeles. And this was the last one that I found. And they happened to be able to work around to their availability, and they were within our budget. And working with them was amazing. They were incredibly helpful with everything that we needed. And they stayed out of our way when we didn’t need their help. And I couldn’t have done that movie without that location.
Casting
Dallas
The movie has a remarkable cast. You mentioned that you often write for with a specific actor in mind. Did you get everybody that you wanted for those roles?
Casey Calvert
Yeah, I did. Especially all the leads. Yes, the only the only slight wildcard is Charlotte Sartre, who is amazing, who I had audition for one of the supporting characters. And her audition blew me away in such a way that I reworked the Michelle character so that it fit with Charlotte.
Dallas
So you had Seth Gamble in mind all along then for the lead of the piece?
Casey Calvert
He was the first person who I cast, wes. I had been I had been talking for a long time with Seth about putting him in a film. And what we talked about was, he’s so busy, he’s in every feature, that I don’t want to just put him in a movie to put him in a movie. There’s no point. So I told him years ago, like when I put you in a movie, it’s going to be something that’s special. I’m not just going to throw you in, or have you played the same kind of part you always play.
Dallas
Because without giving too much away, tt is definitely a very challenging, interesting part that goes in all sorts of, I daresay provocative directions. So when he read the script, what was his reaction to it? Was he immediately down for all of it? Or did he have some misgivings or like, I don’t know if I can do this, anything like that?
Casey Calvert
No, he was definitely game. I talked with him on the phone for probably an hour before I got his official commitment to the project. And I explained to him a lot of the more challenging story elements. And he was absolutely game for the very beginning.
Film references
Dallas
Now, you, of course, are a student of film and I think there are lots of references to great directors in the movie. And the most obvious one is Stanley Kubrick. Are you a big Kubrick fan, in general?
Casey Calvert
I am. This script actually had a heavier reference. And we had the eye speculums [from A Clockwork Orange]. We had the whole thing and then we got on set and we’re like, okay, it’s, it’s actually too much. Let’s dial the reference back a smidge. But no, my big reference for Going Up was Birdman. That was the big that was the big inspiration. I like all of my projects to have some sort of loose inspiration from something that I can kind of wrap my brain around that so I can wrap my brain around the script when I’m writing it. And so Birdman was a big one and just all of the all of the tracking shots and all of the drama backstage and the and the walking around. And all of that stuff was inspired by Birdman and then a lot of the community theater stuff came from Waiting For Guffman.
Dallas
Right, right, exactly, which I think was mentioned in the XBIZ piece about the movie that particular parallel to that movie. Of course, tonally, the movies are quite different. That one’s quite tongue in cheek where this was there are serious but definitely the same kind of milieu, behind the scenes.
Casey Calvert
This idea of them being this being community theater, all of these people having real regular jobs really helped me crack open the story. When they were all professional actors, it was very flat and very one- tone and almost felt a little bit too much like a like a satire in a way I didn’t want it to. And so realizing that these people can be regular people really helped the story.
Dallas
Was there any material that any significant material that you had to leave on the cutting room floor from the movie?
Casey Calvert
One of the cool things about working with Lust Cinema is that they don’t have super super strict time requirements for narrative or for sex scenes. And so I definitely I definitely edit my film. It’s not to say that I don’t edit things, but I know what I want often from the script writing phase and things really only get cut if they really don’t work and nothing big comes to mind about going up that got cut that I or that I miss.
Taking risks [spoiler alert for Going Up]
Dallas
What was, in your view, the riskiest element of the movie or an element that you weren’t sure audiences would embrace?
Casey Calvert
I’m trying to think of how to do this without full on spoilers.
Dallas
We could issue a spoiler alert here and tell people to go off and watch the movie.
Casey Calvert
We could! We could. So spoiler alert, big old juicy spoiler. Evertying with Travis’s penis, I was worried. I had a million worries about it. Honestly, there isn’t a single word that can encapsulate what I was worried about. But I was worried that that it would happen and that’s where I would lose the audience that that that’s where they would go because the whole the whole thing I wanted it to be very heightened. I wanted it to be, you know, somewhat absurdist. And I was worried that we would get to that point and that’s where I’d lose them. And they’d be like this, it’s gone too far.
Dallas
Because the movie is very conceptually ambitious. I think it kind of sneaks up on you in a way because you watch the initial episodes and it’s kind of low key, it’s quiet, it’s set in the theater, you think it’s going to be one kind of thing and then it kind of does end up somewhere else. And as you said a more of a heightened reality. It’s not so much just Waiting For Guffman or Noises Off. It doesn’t have the ending you might expect, with a dream sequence. And it’s very provocative images, the syringe it’s almost like an ejaculation.
Casey Calvert
yeah, that was all very much the idea was each episode heightened so each episode ends on a cliffhanger and then each cliffhanger is bigger. And each episode grows in dramatic intensity.
Dallas
Now, at least as the movie is framed on our website, it’s season one, volume two. So there’s a season one. So is there to be a season two of this particular feature?
Casey Calvert
Now people keep asking me that. Because I have such a tendency to do sequels because I get attached to my characters, and I want to write more stories for them. This was a single story, I have no idea what I would do for season two that would be anything that wasn’t stupid.
Dallas
I was curious, because of the way it ends. I wondered what a season two would look like. It would certainly have to be different. Yes, it would,
Casey Calvert
It could make the only thing I could think of if Lust came to us like we have to have a season two, which I don’t think they’re going to do. The only thing I can think of is that it’s set in the same theater with a with some repeating cast, but mostly an entirely different cast and a different story. And then I don’t know, that’s just not super exciting to me.
Dallas
The movie, it seems to be, at least to me, contemplating, you know, the role of the male pornstar in the contemporary industry and kind of by extension men in society. Was that a question you always wanted to explore with this project? Or did it just kind of develop organically as you were writing it?
Casey Calvert
Honestly, it just kind of developed organically. And I realized about halfway through that it was developing organically and leaned into it. I try to not approach writing with too much of a “I want to tell this moral story or I want to make this analogy” or you know any of that stuff. I want to just write a story that feels real. And that inevitably means that there’s some parallels. But yes, it wasn’t originally intentional, but I didn’t know I was doing it.
Women’s World
Dallas
Because that seemed to be a bit of a theme in several projects. Last year, for instance, it was a little more on the nose, but in Women’s World, which I know you were part of as well, is also contemplating, you know, men and modern society.
Casey Calvert
Yes, that was the I mean, that’s obviously a different company, a different director. I thought it was very funny that I was in Women’s World, which was a super fun project to be in. And it did occur to me it was like there’s a small, okay. There’s some small parallels. Interesting, just an interesting that, that in 2022, that’s what multiple people gravitated towards.
Dallas
They could make an interesting double feature. I know they don’t really do double features in theaters anymore. But right, just for context of people who don’t know Women’s World, of course, is like a sci fi scenario where suddenly all the men are gone or have turned into women, but only a few people will remember that [men] existed at all. Of course, you’re featured prominently iin the scene that kind of brings the whole thing to a climax.
Casey Calvert
My favorite part of Women’s World was all of the really fun book titles that they recreated very classic books with gender swabs, like Of Mice and Women. I found those very entertaining.
Dallas
There are some very good Easter eggs in the movie. That is for sure.
Casey Calvert
Yes, yes.
Porn and story
Dallas
My impression is that your directorial movies also are ones that reward people for paying attention and reward multiple viewings.
Casey Calvert
Absolutely. I know that a lot of people approach porn as the audience is busy doing this [mimes masturbation movements] and they’re not paying attention to anything else. And I don’t want to treat my audience like they’re dumb.
Dallas
For sure, for sure. And I think that that’s there’s an increasing slice of pornography that does have that strong, interesting, provocative storyline in there. So it gives you something. I mean, Bree Mills in an interview not too long ago said like a lot of the comments she gets are people who are watching the movie and they’re like, Wow, I’m like, engaged in this story. They’re kind of surprised. They expected just to be aroused, but they get pulled in to the whole concept, into the story into the acting and the whole thing.
Casey Calvert
Yeah. That is always something that feels like a huge compliment. If someone if someone says that they watched my film and felt something that wasn’t just playing around, I’m like, great, good. You watched the movie, cool. That’s what it’s supposed to.
Dallas
Would you aspire to direct — I mean, I hate to make the distinction – but an outright mainstream project at some point that isn’t classified as a “porno movie”?
Casey Calvert
Absolutely. Yeah.
Dallas
Do you have a notebook with ideas and concepts and things like that?
Casey Calvert
Yeah. Yeah, I actually added something to it this morning. And I have a couple of screenplays that I’ve written that are not adult and one is semi autobiographical. Just a couple of things and am absolutely working on making that happen.
Dallas
Your arc as a person does seem, I daresay, cinematic. As many as many fans know, you didn’t lose your virginity until age 21. And you got your start in feted fetish modeling was your initial entry into the industry.
Casey Calvert
Yeah, right. Yeah.
Career beginnings
Dallas
And when was the moment that you knew, okay, porn, this is the thing I’m going to do. This is my career.
Casey Calvert
I actually feel like there’s two different answers to that question. The first part of that question of when did I know I was going to do porn? Or why did I make that decision? I kind of knew from the beginning of when I started modeling. And I existed in this weird space where I was like, I’m not making porn, it’s just fetish. I’m not actually having sex with people. So I’m not doing porn, which was bullshit. I absolutely was making porn. Regardless of whether or not I was doing fluid exchange, I was making porn. But I made the decision to move to LA after I graduated from college, I wanted to move to LA, I didn’t know how to make that happen. I loved modeling. I wanted to be able to make money, because fetish modeling, especially back then really didn’t, it was a little bit like living paycheck to paycheck. Except you didn’t know when your next paycheck was coming in. And so I wanted, I wanted something that felt more stable. And so that was when I decided to actually do hardcore porn. But when I started, I definitely did not think it was a career. I was dating someone at the time. And the deal with him was that I would go to LA for five years. And then I would quit, and we would get married and have family and do all this stuff. That relationship ended pretty quickly as many relationships do when you get into porn. And people have a hard time. You know, people think it’s going to be one thing, and then it’s something else. I have a hard time coping with it. And I don’t know. I don’t know if I ever like I can’t remember the moment I was like, this is the moment this has become my career is actually maybe what happened was, was there was never necessarily a conscious decision. It was just, if I’m doing this, I want to do it. Well, I want to do it right. I want to be successful. That’s how I approach anything in my life. Maybe even like to a fault. That’s how I approach anything in my life. And so at some point along the way, it might have not honestly been until COVID when I was like, oh, this is my career.
Dallas
Really, so it wasn’t until, what, 2020 that you thought of it in those in those terms? Because you started in, what, 2012?
Casey Calvert
Yeah, well, yeah. If I did, I don’t really have a memory of it. I probably did. There probably was a moment when, like, at my five-year porn anniversary, I probably had a thought of like, oh, it’s been five years, you know, and I feel like that probably happens, but I don’t have a super distinct memory of thinking about it in terms of okay, now this is my career I am choosing to make this my career. Maybe I chose from the very beginning and just didn’t think about it.
Dallas
Just like that famous quotation often attributed to I guess, John Lennon, that life is what happens when you’re making other plans, or words to that effect.
Casey Calvert
Yeah, yes.
Mark Spiegler: porn super agent
Dallas
Of course, I know at some point, Mark Spiegler came along and you became associated with him? Of course, he’s very famous in porn circles. Could you, to people who don’t know who he is, could you briefly describe his superstar status in the industry and what it means to be a Spiegler Girl?
Casey Calvert
Sure, I have been a Spiegler since the very beginning of my porn career. And I didn’t know what it meant to be a Spiegler Girls. When I first became a speaker, girl, I didn’t realize how lucky I was that Mark wanted to represent me without me having shot a scene. And going to set I very quickly learned what it meant. Marc Spiegler has been in this industry for a very long time, he has watched this industry grow and change. And he has taken care of so many girls, that he really loves all of us. And he might be kind of a tough love kind of person. But unlike some other agents, Mark, genuinely cares about every single person on his roster. He knows what everyone’s life is like. He knows what’s important to everyone. He knows what people like to do for work and what they don’t want to do for work. He knows what they want to do in their free time what they don’t want to do in their free time. He knows things in a way that somehow you think, Mark, I never told you that. How do you know that? And he’s amazing. He has taken care of me, I wouldn’t be here without him.
Perfectionism
Dallas
You’ve also said I think that you are a perfectionist. Have there been times when that you almost wish that you weren’t or that that almost played against you, in a way?
Casey Calvert
Sure. I am a perfectionist. Absolutely. I am working on trying to not be. It’s not healthy. Directing is an excellent exercise in letting go. That was hard at first when I first started directing, but I do actually genuinely think I’ve gotten better at it.
Dallas
So directing has helped you grow in that specific regard?
Casey Calvert
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
Working with Erika Lust
Dallas
Of course, he has been collaborating these last couple of years with Erica last. Could you talk a little bit about working with Erika Lust?
Casey Calvert
Yeah. So there’s Erika Lust the brand and Erika Lust the person. And while they are similar, they are to two different entities that people often get confused by. But Erika, as a person, is amazing. She is wonderful to work for. She gives me so much creative freedom. Absolutely. I don’t know for sure, but I absolutely feel like I get more creative freedom than any other director in this industry. And I feel very taken care of by the company. Very lucky.
Fan feedback
Dallas
Do you listen to a lot of fan feedback about your directorial efforts? Or do you have a specific vision and you’re not so much interested in the comments of the fandom?
Casey Calvert
I listen to comments about broader topics. And look, well, Lust Cinema doesn’t really do analytics in the way that other companies do. You know, very specific analytics and A/B testing and all of that stuff. They definitely do surveys that they send out to members and get feedback and I do listen to that. But it’s like, we like threesomes. Like okay, cool. We’ll put a threesome in the movie. No problem. It’s like very, very, very broad. Things like we know that than — members love outdoor sex. We really try to do as much as that as we can make happen without getting in trouble. So it’s very, very broad things like that, that I listened to if someone tweets at me and says you should put so and so in a movie I’m ignoring that. Unless I’ve done a specific casting call and maybe that person does appear to be right for the film, then I’ll reach out to that person. Or if someone tweets and says like you, why don’t you do enough anal scenes in your films? That’s one person. They don’t pay my bills.
“What interests me most is human connection”
Dallas
Right. Right. Bree Mills once said, I think you know, semi jokingly that she is a bad pornographer, because the things that interest her most aren’t necessarily the sex, in the movies. Do you ever feel the same way? That what you’re what you’re interested in might not be Precisely the what the people are coming there to see. Or are you just as interested in this sex aspect of it as a director?
Casey Calvert
In the way that you described, I, too, am definitely a bad pornographer. Absolutely. What interests me most is human connection. More than anything else. And sex is a part of that. So in that way, I am also interested in the sex. But yeah, in the way that Bree is describing it where I’m I’m trying to tell a story. that’s not just this [gestures], then yes, I am. A bad pornographer.
Mike Adriano
Dallas
Is there a peer among your directors that you look at and say, Okay, that is a “good pornographer,” somebody who’s really great at doing the movies that or just focusing on the sexual aspect.
Casey Calvert
There’s a couple of names that actually come to mind. The first name that came to mind was Mike Adriana. He knows exactly what he wants, and his fans will love it. Owen Gray is exactly the same way. I think he knows exactly what his fans want to see. And that’s what he makes. And it’s all about the sex. And while those two people shoot very different kinds of content, it’s I feel like for both of them, it’s sex focused. That’s what is important to them. I feel like oh, and it’s maybe also about connection and intimacy. But it’s those things I feel like are a part of the sex.
Watching porn
Dallas
Are you still a recreational consumer of pornography? Or at this point, is it something that you just don’t want to have to deal with when your day is over?
Casey Calvert
Honestly I’ve never really been a recreational consumer of pornography. A little bit before I got into the industry very quickly. Once I started doing I stopped watching. These are my friends. I don’t want to watch my friends at work. It’s weird. And I don’t want to watch myself at work. It’s weird. And so if I’m consuming something that’s visual, I will look at photos or I’ll watch something that’s really amateur where maybe they have their faces cropped out or something so that they can just be about about bodies and sex. I couldn’t tell you the last time I watched porn for fun, though.
Dallas
So you do not tend then to look back at your own work?
Casey Calvert
No, thank you. I would rather do a lot of really unpleasant things than watch my old scenes. That is a road to very bad mental health.
Dallas
So is that so when did you learn that about yourself? I mean, did you did you try to watch your initial work even just to sort of “critique” it or did you know that all along not gonna watch it not gonna go there?
Casey Calvert
No, I tried I tried to watch it for fun and could do nothing but critique it. And these days because I also do OnlyFans and all of that I do a lot of editing myself and watching myself performing. And to do that I have to disconnect from myself in a way. I have to look at the images on screen as if they are another person so that I can just make aesthetic decisions or whatever. The moment I start trying to watch it as me is the moment all I can see this loss.
Untamed
Dallas
Right, right, understandable Oh, of course Adult Empire has a production label named AE Films and you shot a scene for AE Films a good while ago. I think was back in 2015! For a movie called Untamed which I think was directed by Holly Randall.
Casey Calvert
Yeah, yeah, I know. Exactly. Actually, I was talking about this scene with someone [recently].
Dallas
I think was with Logan Pierce I want to say was your co-star See? I had that on my list of questions. I’m like, well, she shoots lots of scenes. She may not remember that specific scene!
Casey Calvert
Yeah. Because also you’d never know. There’s a lot of scenes I don’t remember shooting those there. I’ve worked with enough people and now that sometimes I meet someone, or, you know, I’m at a party or something, and I go, Hi, nice to meet you. And they say, Oh, we’ve had sex. But I do actually remember the horse [from the scene’s story].
Dallas
So what are your main memories of that particular shoot?
Casey Calvert
Oh, it was super fun. I believe we were at Suze Randall’s ranch, which is gorgeous. And in Malibu, and just I remember the weather being beautiful and just being very happy to wear cowboy boots instead of heels and to be outside.
Dallas
And Suze Randall, that would be of course Holly’s mother who’s a famous photographer in history herself and shot a bazillion Playboy centerfolds.
Casey Calvert
Very, yes. I want to say the first female photographer for Playboy Suze Randall’s claim to fame.
The awards experience
Dallas
I think you’re right. She was definitely a trailblazer. Definitely a famous personage in the history of the industry. And Holly continues that legacy, obviously. Absolutely. So what’s your take on the whole awards experience? Obviously, some of your movies did pretty well at this January’s awards ceremonies. So do you embrace the whole awards thing? Or do you find it awkward? What’s your attitude toward it?
Casey Calvert
It was very wild. I have been nominated for something usually multiple words at both AVN and expos every year since the beginning of my career, and I haven’t really had any real awards success. I’ve won a couple, but they’ve been like best groups. And it hasn’t been anything that’s been like really about me or my work. And so I always approach the awards from a perspective of like, okay, here we go again. It’s really fun to get nominated, zero expectation of winning. So that was how I walked into the room. Was this like, great being nominated was great. That’s amazing means my films are getting recognized. That’s what it you know, fine. So it was a weird adrenaline rush the whole night, kind of from the very beginning. The all girl Movie Award was the second award up. And so from pretty early in the night, it was a crazy ride. And it was very fun. I’m not gonna lie, like winning a trophy is great. I’ve always said like, everyone likes to win a trophy, including me. It’s fun. It feels great to be recognized. I am trying to not let it go to my head or be like, Okay, I won once. Now I have to know what are we going to do for this year, so I could definitely do it again and turn it into something that becomes unhealthy. I’m super happy to have had the success that I had last year. And I just want to keep doing good work. I don’t feel like my work in 2022 was better than my previous work. Except for that I’m just becoming a better director and a better filmmaker. And so hopefully, I continue to become a better director and a better filmmaker.
Dallas
So you don’t feel the desire necessarily to specifically top yourself? Because that was my next question, whether that that made you think okay, in 2023 I’ve got to up the ante I got to do something even bigger and better than what I did in 2022.
Casey Calvert
No, not really. There’s like a little part of me that’s like, what are we going to do? It has to be crazy. But then it’s not staying true to the kind of stories that I want to tell. And this year, I really want to do season three of Primary because I want to finish that story. So that’s what I’m doing for my big feature is finishing that story and, and wrapping that up and doing season three of Primary. And Primary is not a big crazy story. There’s not a car chase or a helicopter — even a very expensive theater location [like in Going Up]. It’s people in rooms sitting and talking about relationships. And I have to stay true to the story more much more and it feels much that feels much more important to me than doing something crazy or flashy to try to chase a trophy.
Dallas
Did you always envision that particular series extending into this sort of three seasons arc?
Casey Calvert
Yeah, yeah, maybe maybe when I did season one I didn’t but as I was writing season two there was always a plan for season three.
Fan favorites: Sorrow Bay
Dallas
On both the directorial and acting front, is there a particular movie that you find fans most frequently mentioned to you? Like I love this movie? I love this scene?
Casey Calvert
People love Sorrow Bay. I think the sex scenes and Sorrow Bay are some of the hottest, most beautiful scenes that I have ever shot. And I think that people are really attracted to that. And I think that people are really attracted to the beach visuals and the slight horror movie visuals. And so that movie sticks with people.
Dallas
Did you know on set that did you captured something special in that one? Or was it only when you got to the editing bay, did you realize wow, this is this is something next level.
Casey Calvert
I knew the sex scenes were special immediately. We had some fun, interesting production difficulties on that movie also. And so a lot of it was “I don’t know if we got it or not.” And we actually had a full pickup day because we ran out of time shooting in our schedule, like we didn’t make our day ones. Some of it was very, very cold. And we had really weird weather over the span of a single week. It started in the movie was very warm. And by the end when we wrapped, which of course was the day everyone was supposed to be on the beach in swimsuits, it was freezing. And so it was actually a really tricky movie to make. And I didn’t really know that we had gotten the narrative until we got into editing.
Dallas
So the technical problems you ran into with things like bad weather and that sort of stuff were the main issues that you were talking about.
Casey Calvert
Yeah, yeah, bad weather. Our location was pretty far away. And we should have spent the money to put people in a hotel. And we didn’t realize quite how bad the commute was going to be. So my commute from my place to the location was two hours every day one direction. And so very little sleep was happening for everyone. And just just some, there’s some stuff if I made survey, again, that I would do differently. But none of those things would change what the movie looks like or feels like on screen. It’s all off screen stuff.
The role of producer
Dallas
I’ve heard you say that if you’re the director of a porn movie, you’re also essentially by default, the producer. So for the layman, what did those two, what is the differentiation between those two roles? What does it producer do? I think maybe people have more of an idea of what the director does.
Casey Calvert
Yeah, a producer’s job is to put out fires really, is the best way I can define a producer’s job. A producer’s job is to make the movie happen. And when something starts to make the movie not happen, you fix it. In porn, specifically, a producer does things like book talent and book locations and handle logistics and handled paperwork. And all of that stuff that on a mainstream set would be done by just my own movies I have I have producers who I work with, I have a small team of people who work as producers with me, but in porn, especially for lower budget stuff, the director is the producer. Absolutely.
Mentors: Nina Hartley
Dallas
Now, is there any particular star that early in your career acted as a mentor to you? And the flip side, is there have you begun to act as a mentor in your own way to younger stars now that you are decade or so into your career?
Casey Calvert
Yeah, you actually mentioned Nina Hartley earlier, and she was pretty pivotal, early in my career. Super helpful in conversations about body stuff and medical stuff and taking care of myself and taking care of my mental health and all of those things. It’s weird to me that somewhere along the way, I started becoming a mentor for younger performers. But I do have my little flock of friends really is what they are, who look up to me and every time they mentioned something about how they look up to me or how I’m their mentor. I’m like, no, stop. It’s weird. Because I just see them as people who are my friends and so I want to help that. But yeah, I do.
The professor who inspired her name
Dallas
So one last question here. Your many fans will know that your last name was inspired by a professor you had in school. So I have to ask, did he ever realize or know that you had taken his name as a pornstar name? And What was his reaction, if any?
Casey Calvert
Oh, yeah, he absolutely knows. I saw him like six weeks ago, maybe a little bit longer than that — time is so weird. But he came to one of my sets pretty maybe two months ago. He’s always been amazing about it. Really, it was kind of an asshole thing for me to do, because I didn’t ask him. It could have been bad. But that didn’t occur to me. I was an idiot, and didn’t know any better. But he’s amazing. He’s one of my biggest supporters. He also he he’s a First Amendment law professor. And so he studies a lot about the adult industry. And he knows a lot about the adult industry. And so it’s always, I think, been a little bit of a fun story for me and a claim to fame for him. But I have lectured in his class, and he texted me congratulations when I won. He’s great.
Dallas
How do you think you would have reacted if you’d heard that he hated it? He was so annoyed or something like that? Do you think you would have been felt compelled to change your stage name? Or would you have just stuck with it regardless?
Casey Calvert
Oh, I think I absolutely would have felt compelled to change it. When I switched from fetish modeling to doing porn, a conversation I had with Spiegler was this is where my name came from. Should I change it? There’s also there’s a Casey Calvert who is an emo musician who passed away. Before I ever became Casey Calvert. He had passed away. But still about once a month, I get someone on Twitter who will say like, oh, did you take your name from Casey Calvert from Hawthorne Heights, which I did not. I did not know he existed, because I also did not Google My stage name before I chose it, which was, again, me being an idiot. But I had a long conversation with Spiegler about should I change my name? And Mark said no. Mark said it was fine. He also said something like give it six months and you’ll be the top Google hit. Which he was right about. But yeah, if Professor Calvert hated it, I would absolutely change my name. Like even if he came to me today and was like, listen, I have a problem, I would consider changing.
Conclusion
Dallas
Sounds like he’s a good sport and an awesome guy. So as we wind down here, I just wanted to ask you to mention any cool projects you have coming up that you might want to tell fans about. And also just tell us where people can find you on the web and follow you on social media and all that fun stuff.
Casey Calvert
Yes, the biggest coolest thing I have to announce is that season three for Primary will be coming out this summer, probably August, September time, on lustcinema.com. People can see all of the films that I’ve directed on lustcinema.com. And to find me personally, I am on Twitter @caseycalvertxx on Instagram @caseycalvert, and those links and links to everything else at caseycalvert.com.
Dallas
And of course, people can visit adultempire.com they can type in your name and find all kinds of awesome stuff.
Casey Calvert
All kinds of all different kinds of things.
Dallas
Scenes, you probably don’t even remember shooting, as you said, like scenes.
Casey Calvert
Absolutely. I would bet money that there’s at least one scene on there that I don’t remember.
Dallas
And several that you definitely do, including, of course, the Going Up movie that we talked about and Primary, you awesome directorial efforts. Well, yes. Thank you. Thank you so much for being with us here today. Casey Calvert. It’s been a great pleasure.
