As he stood at the podium at this year's GAYVN Awards to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, Blue Blake knew it marked the end of an era. Big Blue Productions has closed its doors, and not even a bigger paycheck could convince Blake to stay.
"I was made great offers to stay, and I was like… this is perfect!" Blake recalls. "But then I thought about it. How much money do you need? I was overdoing it. There's a sense of a big weight being lifted off me. It's exhausting making these movies. I was writing, producing, and directing all of them, and promoting them. And I'm such a control freak I was even art directing the box covers!"
It is the second time Blake has left the fans wanting more. His last on-screen appearance in 1998's Men in Blue (for Gino Pictures) earned him acclaim as an actor and a writer, with his screenplay also getting attention. "When I made Men in Blue, it was great. Everyone raved about the movie, and all the other companies wanted me to star in their films," Blake says. "That's how I know that it's time. I feel exactly the same way I did when I was a model. I knew when I was a model it was time to retire, because I was right at the top, and I feel the same way now. Who wants to linger?"
After service with the Royal Marines and a stint as Mr. Drummer UK, Blake got his feet wet as a Colt model, and appeared in The Blake Twins: Raw and Uncut (Palm Drive Video) before the success of The Wild Ones from The Tom of Finland Company made everyone take notice. He was on a roll through the '90s, appearing in a bevy of hits. Among the other highlights were Gino Colbert's and Michael Ninn's Night Walk, Michael Zen's Cockfight, Mike Donner's Our Trespasses, Ryan Block's Black & Blue and his appearance in the documentary Shooting Porn.
"That all feels like a distant memory… it doesn't feel like it even ever happened. The nice thing is that I did them, and that they're captured forever. But now, I don't even think about the fact that I used to do that. Isn't that funny?" Blake says. "It was fun. I had a blast."
After his blue-screen retirement, the classically trained actor spent time performing on stage in Making Porn. But it was the creation of Big Blue Productions in 1999 that gave the star another area to excel in, as he capitalized on a market that many people told him would be a mistake: straight bodybuilders.
"When I was acting in porn, I never in a million years thought I would become as famous as I became, and I never in a million years thought that my company would become as successful as it became. It was really embraced by the movie-buying public, which completely astonished me. I kind of started it out as a hobby, and then it just exploded. And that's incredibly flattering, because all the films were a reflection of me as a person."
Blake's releases quickly developed a habit of getting critical acclaim, with his first release—2000's Demolition Daddy—picking up five GAYVN nominations.
"A lot of companies come into this industry with a big bang, seem to have a lot of money behind them, and then in a year or so they've floundered," says Chad Donovan, another star/director who was inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. "But then I've seen other companies like Blue Blake, who's come in and had a niche. I'm very proud of him, to see how he's conquered his niche… Blue Blake has been a great asset to the industry."
Daddy was followed by 2001's Crash of the Titans (four nods) and 2002's Cowboy, which racked up a whopping ten nominations. The hits and nominations kept coming: Lords of the Ring, The Bouncer, Musclemen Moving Company, Inc., all a part of the library Blake assembled.
"I've produced and directed seventeen films in the past five years, and I was kind of over it. I'd said everything that I wanted to say and done everything that I'd wanted to do within the industry, and I've been in the industry for a long time, for 12 years or so now. So it was time for me to move on. I have no regrets whatsoever. The industry has been great to me."
While Blake won't make any more films, BlueBlake.com will continue to showcase straight bodybuilders from around the world, and all of Blake's films can be downloaded at BlueBlakesMuscleTV.net. Blake's biggest project now will be finishing his autobiography, Out of the Blue: Confessions of an Unlikely Porn Star.
He also plans to sail around the world, relax with his partner of ten years… and work out. "I turned into 230 pounds of blob, and now I'm 220 pounds of quality beef," he says with a laugh. "I'm really enjoying putting my body back together again. That's going to be my new form of expression, my body! I know that sounds really shallow, but I'm really enjoying doing it. I'm happy to retire because I did the best job that I could do, and I am really proud of the job I did. I don't think many people get to say that in their lives. It was a journey that had reached its end, and a lot of people never reach the end of their journey," Blake says.
"Always go out while you're on top. Don't go out when they're kicking you out, dragging you off the dance floor, drunk on apple martinis, and throwing you out the door. Much better to say 'Bye, everybody!' and jump into your Aston Martin and zoom off into the sunset."
