Sasha Grey Goes From Porn to Mainstream, Proving Americans Are Not Prudes

Culture

Americans are often accused, mainly by socially liberal Europeans where porn stars are politically active and even have made it to congress, of being puritanical in their attitudes toward sex. 

However, the mainstream success of former adult entertainer Sasha Grey and other porn stars or adult performers who have gone mainstream by participating in non-nude television series and films is proving that conventional wisdom wrong.

The following are seven porn stars who have gone mainstream, and whose success proves Americans are not prudes:

1. Sasha Grey: 

Marina Ann Hantzis started her adult film career soon after turning 18, circa 2006. After debuting with legendary director and performer Rocco Siffredi, Sasha made a name for herself in the industry and was soon featured by popular magazines and television programs, such as the Tyra Banks Show. Sasha then played herself during several seasons of the popular HBO show Entourage and is set to star in her second mainstream film The Girl From the Naked Eye.

2. James Deen: 

Born Bryan Matthew Sevilla, James Deen claims he wanted to be a porn star even since he was in kindergarten, and his “guy next door” looks weren’t an impediment, but rather an advantage. At 23, he won the adult performer of the year award thanks to his huge female following, which has given him the moniker of “the Justin Bieber of porn.” Deen is set to star along Lindsey Lohan in Bret Easton Ellis’ new film The Canyons.

3. Kim Kardashian: 

Before dazzling the world with TV shows and as a successful entrepreneur, Kim Kardashian jumped to notoriety through the sex video Kim Kardashian Superstar with then real-life boyfriend Ray J. The fact that Kardashian is now such a mainstream pop culture icon is a testament to Americans open-mindedness regarding sex.

4. Ron Jeremy: 

Ron Jeremy is arguably one of the most famous adult performers of all time, with several specialized magazines naming him the No. 1. After winning the Guiness World Record for starring in more than 2,000 adult films, Jeremy went on to have a successful mainstream career by participating in non-nude films such as The Boondock Saints and The Chase, as well as by becoming an author with his 2008 biography Man in Showbiz: Horny Women, Hollywood Nights & The Rise of the Hedgehog.

5. Katie Morgan: 

Born Sarah Carradine, in Orange County, Calif., Morgan claims she entered the porn industry to pay for the bail she got after being arrested for transporting marijuana from Mexico to the U.S. However, Morgan has come a long way since then, and she has been featured in HBO’s Entourage as well as in the 2008 comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno, starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks.

6. Francois Sagat: 

Francois Sagat is a French male porn star actor from Arab origins known for his tattooed scalp and his success with male-to-male studios in Europe and the United States. Sagat has also done mainstream modeling, and he has appeared in mainstream films such as Saw VI.

7. Paris Hilton: 

The heiress of the Hilton hotel fortune became famous through the sex video A Night in Paris, which resulted in a huge media controversy that soon translated into reality television and non-nude contracts as well as a image-related list of products.