Lezley Zen

Q: So does anyone back home in North Carolina know?

Lezley Zen: South Carolina.

Q: Oh, god they're going to kill me!

Lezley Zen: [laughs] That's okay. All my friends know. I don't have much family, really, that I keep in touch with. But most of my friends know...back home.

Q: What was their first reaction?

Lezley Zen: They weren't surprised. Didn't surprise any of them at all. They call me, every now and again, when a new movie comes out, or when they see something in a magazine.

Q: When a movie is released do you watch your own stuff, or do you kind of like, "Don't need to watch it...was there...did it."?

Lezley Zen: I do watch a lot of the films I can get. I've probably done as many as forty movies or more since January, and unfortunately the only ones I've received the tapes from are the ones I work with most often. Wicked, Vivid, Sin City, Jill Kelly Productions, Metro. Those are the only movies I've gotten. But like the smaller companies...I haven't gotten a lot of those. As far as the movies from the bigger companies I watch those scenes because I tend to play acting parts, and I like to see how good I do. I like to critique myself.

Q: How much acting goes into the sex scenes?

Lezley Zen: Not a lot of acting goes into the sex. I'm an exhibitionist by nature. I love to be the center of attention, and I love people watching me. I like to put on a show. Even in my own sex life I'm really exhibitionist. It's not really acting. Its just part of who I really am.

Q: Would you like to pursue a career in more mainstream types of acting?

Lezley Zen: Oh, I would love to go into mainstream. I just did an audition for CSI. I'm starting to do a lot of HBO and Cinemax, the late night softcore stuff. I am hoping that will lead into made for HBO movie, which I would love to do. I'm sure every adult star would want to do mainstream acting. I think it would be great, but I don't want it to take me out of porn altogether. This is where I began so I would never totally walk away from that. Until it's time.

Q: In those mainstream casting sessions and cattle calls have you notice casting directors, directors, producers, etc. going "I don't want her, she's in porn"? Is there much of a prejudice?

Lezley Zen: Not really. I think that I am very articulate and intelligent woman. They know they can't really treat me that way because I don't fit that usual stereotype. I'm not that twirl the hair, go "Yes sir" [type]. I'm not that type of girl. I walk in. I have a presence, and you can tell right off the bat that I'm not just some porn girl.

Q: How has working in the adult industry affected your personal life?

Lezley Zen: Made it more interesting, made it a little more fun. My fiancée and I had a little stint there for a while when he first got into the industry also. I kind of got a little freaked out for a few months. So he took a few months off and we started working on our relationship, working on our trust issues and bonding. Now we've gotten all that stuff squared away, and now he's working again. Things have gotten really good. We've even gotten to where we can talk about our scenes and how our day went.

Q: What's it like to be engaged - almost married - and work in the adult industry?

Lezley Zen: Trevor and I actually did a lot of playing before we got into this industry. I'm bisexual by nature. I have been since I was fifteen. So he and I would play quite frequently. This is just kind of getting payed to play outside. It's not easy, but if you have the right mindset and have enough trust in your relationship then it isn't anything different, or surreal. It's just work.

Q: What's the biggest misconception people have about the adult industry?

Lezley Zen: I think the biggest misconception people have about the industry is like the fluffing and the playing around. All this sexual activity goes on, on set, off set... No! It's work. It's a lot of work. I think a lot of people's biggest misconception is, 'Oh, god, how hard is it to do that?' I don't know. You tell me how hard it would be to walk on a set with forty people you probably don't know, and have to have sex with some one you don't know, that you might've never met before, and now you are thrown on a rock somewhere, and said, "Okay go! I'm going to tell you three positions I want you to have sex in, I need you to hold each of those positions having sex for thirty to forty minutes, until I tell you stop. Hold your leg here, put your arm there, make this face, come on make some more noise! Okay, pop right now!" If somebody thinks that's fun and exciting and...[laughs]. I think people's biggest misconception is that we get thrown on set and told go, do whatever you want, we're just going to film it. That's just not how it is. You are doing what the director wants you to do, not what you want to do.

Q: Is there anything you won't do on-screen?

Lezley Zen: On film I won't do anal. I mean, I could probably ask 70% of the population how they would like it if I bent them over and shoved something up their ass. Don't do anal. [laughs as interviewer hums bad version of "Turkey in the Straw"] I haven't done anything interracial as of yet. Just because I don't in my personal life. I don't have anything against anything interracial. It would just have to be the right person, the right mentality before I would do it.

Q: Who are the people you enjoy working with the most?

Lezley Zen: I love working with Brad [Armstrong]. He was the first person I had ever had sex with on film. I like working with Brad because Brad and I have that same sadistic sense of stupid humor. We like to just pick at each other, and it comes through in our scenes. I recently worked with Barrett [Blade], who used to be dating Devon from Digital Playground. I really enjoyed that scene. I like working with Cheyne Collins, and Lee Stone is really great to work with, and I love working with my fiancée. But that just comes very few and far between.

Q: Is there any one you just absolutely refuse to work with?

Lezley Zen: I won't work with Bobby Vitale. That's the one person I won't work with. Other than that, I've never refused to work with anyone. It's just that Bobby Vitale is a bit over the edge for me.

Q: You work for various companies...you're not under contract with any one...would you like to be?

Lezley Zen: I would love to possibly contract with someone. It would definitely have to be the right contract. I enjoy the movies, and I enjoy doing things. The sad thing is I would really like to contract with Wicked, but I feel like I'd just blend. Wicked has so many brown-eyed brunettes, and I don't want to be another face in the line up. I would contract with Vivid in a heartbeat. I would be the only black haired contract girl, and I would stand out. I also love working for Paul Thomas. I've down about fourteen movies for him. I would definitely like a contract for the marketing. I think it would be great marketing. It would get my name out there. And box covers! Seems that's the only way you can get a box cover is if you are contracted with some body!