Siri Dahl Interview: Comfortable & Confident in Her Own Skin
When she first arrived in porn more than a decade ago, Siri Dahl thrived shooting traditional studio content. Riding a wave of bestsellers like Stacked 2 and Big Girls Are Sexy, she zoomed to the top of Adult Empire’s pornstar rankings. After a lengthy period away from the industry, she triumphantly returned in 2020, as sexy and talented as ever. To celebrate the addition of Siri Dahl’s Private Collection to Adult Empire VOD, we caught up with Siri Dahl to chat about life in porn, circa 2023.
What’s the biggest difference between porn newbie Siri from 2012 and porn veteran Siri Dahl in 2023?
Probably just my age, hah! But seriously, I am more comfortable and more confident in my own skin than I was when I was a newbie. And to a certain degree, I think that just comes with age and reaching a new level of maturity. I also learned a lot during my 5 years away from the industry, and gained a lot of new perspective on myself, my values, and my approach to work. Even when I started in 2012 I knew I wanted this to be a long-term career for me – but after taking that long break and deciding to come back in 2020, it really solidified my commitment to the adult industry, both as a performer/content creator and as an activist.
Do you still encounter fans who know you mostly from your older work, and who expect you to be the pre-comeback incarnation of yourself?
Absolutely. Tons of my fans have been elated that my ass got bigger (thanks to years of powerlifting!) and I have also heard from fans who are disappointed that I had breast reduction surgery. The way I see it, they can all have the best of both worlds. There’s a ton of scenes out there with my younger, boobier, pre-2020 look, and fans of that look can always go back to their old favorites. (Personally, of course, I prefer current-day me!) Aside from my appearance, my performance style hasn’t changed much. If anything, it’s gotten better because I’m even more sexually adventurous now than I was back then. My fans who have only watched my studio scenes might not know that, though, because most of my more outlandish scenes are the ones I produce on my own, and they’d have to look a little harder or subscribe to one of my fansites to find them. Until now, of course, since they can find lots of them here on Adult Empire!
Siri Dahl’s Private Collection is a new addition to Adult Empire VOD. Tell fans what they can expect to see!
Fans can expect to see a super hot and sexy variety of videos that I’ve created over the past couple years! Everything from jerk off instructions and solo videos to personal sex tapes I’ve made with my partner, and all kinds of adventurous threesomes!
Which clips from the Private Collection were the most memorable to shoot? Which were the most challenging?
“7 Dildos in Heaven” was one of my favorite clips to shoot, just because of that wild close-up angle. For me, it’s more similar to the kind of porn I tend to watch for pure enjoyment. (As opposed to watching for market research, haha!) I also have a lot of fun filming my boy/girl videos with silly setups, like “Oops, All Buttplugs!”
Compare and contrast the experience of shooting independent porn vs. studio porn.
It’s wildly different, but in a good way! Being on a studio set usually feels like I’m hanging out with my friends while we’re all being creative. There’s a feeling of collaboration on set, since we’re all working toward the same goal. When I produce my own content, it’s a lot more work on my end, but there’s a greater reward for it, both financially and creatively, because I have the freedom to do whatever I want. I shoot a lot of solo content, and when I do collaborative scenes with other performers, I’m often taking the lead on directing and producing, too. So I’m wearing multiple hats: director, producer, performer, editor (yep, I still edit all my own stuff). And then once the scene’s out, I’m usually doing all the marketing and graphics, too.
Since your comeback, which studio shoot are you most proud of?
I’ve really loved creating the scenes I did for Adult Time’s PureTaboo and TransFixed series. Specifically, the “Third Wheel” duo of scenes and my TransFixed scene with Daisy Taylor. I love acting roles, so any time I get to play a character on screen, that’s really fulfilling for me creatively.
In what ways have adult performers been empowered over the past decade? Similarly, in what ways have they been disempowered?
It’s amazing that we have so many channels to sell our own content and connect directly with fans now. That didn’t really exist ten years ago. Even on social media back then, the amount of people in the world using Instagram and Twitter on a daily basis was just a fraction of what it is now. On the other hand, in the last several years we’ve seen a huge resurgence of the “War on Porn,” and that’s leading to really concerning attempts to censor and/or ban all kinds of content, including porn.
Tell us a little bit about your admiration for Constance Penley, the noted academic and beloved figure in the industry. You recently did a guest lecture for her at USC Santa Barbara.
Constance is amazing, and literally a legend in the adult industry, film, and academia. She literally wrote a book about fanfic before anybody had coined that term! She possesses a wealth of knowledge about the history of adult film, and it was a fantastic experience to visit and speak to her class.
That particular lecture was about Netflix’s porn documentary. What were your overall thoughts on that doc? What is the best porn documentary you’ve ever seen?
I’m very proud of Money Shot. From the moment the director Suzanne reached out to me, I knew I wanted to be involved. I understood she was going to take a neutral approach, but I also felt that I could trust her with my story and my experience, and I’ve been really pleased by the end result. I’ve watched it more than a dozen times by now, after all the screenings I’ve been to! I feel it’s an important landmark moment for the adult industry that we have this Netflix documentary that actually presents performers and content creators in a realistic, and humanizing way. That definitely has not been the case with most of the more recent documentaries about the porn industry. I haven’t watched every single documentary about the porn industry that’s out there, but among the ones I have seen so far, I really do think that Money Shot is my favorite, and I’m not just saying that because I’m in it!
Pornstars are often the victims of biographical misinformation. What’s the biggest piece of false “Siri trivia” that you’d like to debunk?
Oh my gosh, they’re almost all incorrect! I don’t know where those sites get some of their supposed “facts” from. One site says I’m a Christian, another says my favorite color is pink. Almost all of them say I’m single and not dating anybody, which is hilarious to me because I’m very open about being in a relationship, I tag my partner in Tweets and posts regularly (he’s also a performer), and I even posted on my Instagram when we got engaged. But in the end I don’t really care that those sites might post random, inaccurate stuff about me, because my biggest fans all know the truth. 🙂
Talk a bit about working with Bree Mills and Adult Time.
Bree is such a talented director, writer and storyteller. She understands the studio side of the business from just about every possible angle, and we’ve had so many great conversations over the years, about all kinds of things, whether it’s creativity, marketing, or just life experiences. So of course when Bree asked me if I’d want to be an official Brand Ambassador for Adult Time, it was an immediate yes! They’re hands down one of my favorite studios to work for, but honestly I should probably say work WITH – because they welcome my collaboration on set in ways that many other studios don’t allow the space for.
What advice would you give someone looking to join the industry?
- Do your research. Don’t jump into it without a plan. 2. Have a concept of your personal brand as a performer before you ever walk on a set. That’s also a part of your research. 3. When you’re ready, tell your family or friends, or anybody you’re close to in your personal life, about your plan to do sex work. It’s not fun when people have adverse reactions, but you can’t hide it forever, and it’s better to “come out” when the situation is under your control and your choice, rather than waiting until people find out accidentally – because they will. They always do! 4. Work on yourself. Understand that you will likely benefit from seeing a therapist at some point. A lot of people underestimate the stigma attached to being a porn performer, or doing any other form of sex work. We face challenges that workers in most other industries don’t face, and it can be stressful at times. Pineapple Support is an excellent resource for helping people in the porn industry find sex-worker-friendly therapists!
Take us through a typical day in your life.
I wake up, and immediately open my phone so I can delete the 150 spam emails I received overnight. Then I water my plants, make coffee and a smoothie, and go find my cats so I can snuggle them while I drink my coffee and my smoothie. If it’s a chill day, then I go for a walk. If it’s a busy day, I sit down at my computer and get to work responding to emails, updating social media, doing zoom meetings, editing videos, etc. I have 1-2 days a week that I use for producing my own scenes, social media content, and custom video orders. At some point I take a break to feed myself. Then I run errands or do more work on the computer. I’ll go to the gym most days, which is pretty convenient because I built a powerlifting gym in my house. Most nights my partner makes dinner for us, and we eat together and then watch a movie or TV show before getting ready for bed. And then the sex commences. 😈
Is there anyone in the industry you consider a mentor?
Anybody in the industry who reads this and knows me well will know the answer is a big ol’ yes! One thing I learned early on is that I’m not afraid to ask questions or ask for advice. Especially since I’ve been a self-booking model for most of my career, I really lean on other people who have more experience than me in certain areas. And I’m also happy to share my advice where it applies, and I’ve mentored newer performers as well! One of the things I love about the community in the adult industry is that we like to help each other.
Currently, what are your favorite TV shows, music, movies, books, etc.
I’m patiently awaiting the next season of Resident Alien, which I got really into over the winter. I’ve always had a thing for Alan Tudyk. I listen to a pretty wide variety of music, but some musicians I’ve been enjoying a lot lately are Fat Tony, Alex Cameron and Kelly Abarca. For movies, I just saw Beau Is Afraid and I loved it, but it might have also broken my brain, so I’ll just leave it at that, LOL. I read a lot of nonfiction books and listen to a ton of podcasts, so I’ve been really enjoying the new podcast “If Books Could Kill,” because it’s like a combination of two of my favorite things. When I do read fiction, it tends to be somewhere in the literary/fantasy/scifi genres. The most recent thing I read was “Saving Fish From Drowning” by Amy Tan.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Well, assuming porn is still legal in the US by then, I want to have written, directed and produced a fully funded, feature-length adult film or miniseries 5 years from now. And I can see myself becoming more deeply involved in politics and industry activism, which is something I already do to a degree, but time and geographical limitations (I don’t live in LA full time) can make it challenging.
What is your go-to coffee order?
I’m basic. Either regular coffee with oat milk, or an iced latte with a little bit of flavor, like vanilla or lavender.
What upcoming projects are you working on?
I’m in a feature that’s coming out soon, I’m working on pitching some scripts for projects I have in mind, and I’m planning collaborations with some performers my fans haven’t seen me with yet! I’m very excited about what’s going to be happening in the next couple months.
