A version of the article ran in the current issue of AVN Men. To see the digital edition, with more photographs by Keith Ryan, click here.
It was arguably the most memorable and touching moment of last year’s GayVN Awards: Armond Rizzo in shock—and tears—on stage accepting the award for Best Duo Sex Scene with Max Konnor for their Noir Male pairing.
“Last year kicked it off pretty great with the GayVN Award show, and even with the photoshoot before the awards. That’s been a highlight, just seeing things that you talk about and that you fight for, and seeing the shift actually starting to happen,” Rizzo says of what the moment meant not just for him, but for men of color in the industry. “It just shows you’re doing the right thing, you’re on the right path. There’s a reason I’m doing porn, and there’s a reason anything happens in our life. But to see that was a wake-up call that you’re on the right path, so that’s huge.”
The emotion of the moment had little to do with hardware—and everything to do with confidence.
“I never felt like I fit in in the industry, because I never felt like I looked like any of these guys that I was watching. I’m not your typical guy—the white boy with the chiseled body who’s 6-feet tall, has a massive dick. I didn’t see myself fitting in anywhere, so that’s where you start to kind of question yourself—and it gets difficult because you start to judge yourself and compare yourself,” shares Rizzo.
“And like when I was in the Navy, either you find yourself or you lose yourself. I had to find myself in this industry. I had to fall in love with myself and do things that I hadn’t really dealt with in my younger years on the personal side, and dealing with those demons.”
And Rizzo will be the first to admit that he had a lot of growing up to do when he was younger.
“I just wanna yell at 22-year-old me. I was so mad. I was not a very happy person, I’ll tell you that. I would blame everyone for my shortcomings, and just now I’ve learned so much about not giving a fuck, to just not listen to people,” he laughs. “I’ve realized that I can control my own happiness—no one else has that power.”
And that revelation has created a calmer, more confident person—and performer.
“Knowing that now, I feel like I can breathe a bit more normally. Colors are brighter. It just clicked,” he says. “Older me—like now—other people’s emotions can’t affect me anymore. I’m going to stay happy and stay enjoying life. That’s all I can do. I live day by day. I feel like goals normally don’t work out, but usually things that end up working out are the greatest things. So whatever life has in store for me next, I welcome it with open arms. I love change. It means greater things are upon us. This experience is already a highlight.”
Rizzo credits former performer-turned-agent Shane Frost with getting him into the industry—and helping him grow.
“I would have quit a long time ago if it wasn’t for him. I wasn’t being cast in anything and I was about to quit, and he said, ‘You’re different, and because you’re different, they don’t know how to shoot you. You need to show them how you’ll look on camera. You’ll get that opportunity—don’t quit yet. They need to catch up to you,’” Rizzo says, adding they no longer work together but have a strong friendship. “So years later, I’m here because of him. I was inspired by him and what he’s doing.”
Rizzo spent 2019 shooting with a variety of studios, from Noir and Icon to Gentleman’s Closet and Dominic Pacifico. He also did some work with ManyVids, which flew him to Montreal: “That was a great experience, the shoot and having a podcast where you got to talk to people that were like-minded in the industry, and just showcasing the triviality of what we go through.”
The performer has learned to enjoy the ride more than he did before.
“Before, I was constantly busy, constantly saying yes to everything. Since high school, it’s been go, go, go—and I haven’t stopped since I got out of the military. But I’m finding myself in a place now where it’s like, alright, you need to have a normal life. You live in fucking San Diego! You’re very lucky to be living in such an incredible place, so enjoy it. Slow down, make friends and have a life. So that’s what’s happened, just this better balance of work and at-home life.”
That includes waking up when he feels like it, bike riding, relaxing at home, hanging with friends, smoking some weed, getting a random tattoo…“just being spontaneous with life. But when it’s time to go, it’s time to go.”
It also includes eating good food, and Rizzo should know—he specialized in culinary arts while in the military, even cooking for (can you believe it?!) both Presidents named Bush.
“It’s still part of my life, but in a different way. Now, I get to enjoy trying things, and San Diego has a wide variety of cultures and cuisines and mom-and-pop shops. I’m able to enjoy it more and I get inspired from it, so eating and trying new things, that’s still a part of my life. I definitely enjoy trying new food,” he says.
Cooking? Maybe not quite as much.
“I tell people, ‘If I cook for you, you are quite something incredible in my life,’” Rizzo laughs. “Because I don’t even cook for myself that often. I cooked pork shoulder for a friend for her birthday—went full out. She knows that does not happen often. It’s part of my life where it’s no longer every day being forced to do it, day to day working a crazy amount of hours. It’s a way to show people how I feel about them through my food, and show them how much they mean to me.”
(As for Rizzo, he’ll take some good pasta and pesto via old school methods, or just simple fresh pasta tossed in butter and salt.)
The military experience wasn’t always an easy one for Rizzo, but if nothing else it helped prepare the performer for life.
“I went into the Navy, and they hand you a gun and say ‘You’re an adult now, and we expect you to act like one.’ So you quickly have to toss away the fact that you’re a teenager. You get huge responsibility on your shoulder, and for someone of such a young age, you don’t know how people are going to be able to handle that kind of pressure. You have to rebuild yourself,” he says.
“I got broken down at a young age, and I questioned my abilities, my knowledge, my talent. But I had to fight back. I was learning skills because I was like, ‘I’m going to show you I know what I’m talking about.’ That’s how you learn new skills, when you push yourself. You can’t survive in the military when you’re broken down and defeated. You rise up, you find your higher self and your skills. You fight and grow up.”
Rizzo also learned how to treat people: “In the military, we look out for each other; and in civilian life, it sometimes feels like everyone is out for themselves.” And that lesson in particular has proven especially valuable as he adapted and grew in the adult industry.
“(The military) definitely made me grow up so fast. But of course, there is consequence with that, and I’ve had to deal with that as well. I went in straight from high school, so I never really got the time to figure out who I was and follow my dreams, or at least figure out what those things were.”
Enter the adult industry, which he joined in 2013 after some self-reflection—and a decision to not pursue more mainstream acting opportunities.
“I thought it would be for two to three years when I got in, which is typical for a bottom. Tops last longer. I didn’t expect much of it. I was fed up with culinary, I wasn’t really confident in myself to do acting. I was like, ‘I’m not tall enough.’ Those were the dark days of me having to face my demons, but saying, ‘You know what? I’m going to get to be in front of the screen, it’s porn…why not?’” he recalls.
“I’m a very sexual person. I get to do things that I love in front of the camera. I’ve learned and grown so much from it. I’ve learned to love myself, and I know that my differences are the things that make me stand out, and I learned that from the industry. Would I have learned that from Hollywood? I don’t know.”
Rizzo shares that it took him three to four years to realize his talent—surprising considering that the hits were almost immediate.
“It’s interesting how the industry made me more confident in myself, prouder of myself, just because of the reactions. Because sometimes, many people tell you, but you don’t believe them. You don’t even believe yourself. But just seeing and hearing how many people actually mean it…I’ve learned how to take a compliment,” he says “I feel like now, because of the two experiences, I have a higher understanding of myself, of what I’m capable of and what I should tolerate—and what I shouldn’t tolerate—and to just trust my gut and my every move.”
But the doubts still creep in; Rizzo has just gotten better at battling them.
“It’s been seven years, but honestly I still feel like I’m trying to make it in the industry. I truly feel like that sometimes, and I have my friends here who keep me grounded and slow me down and are like, ‘Look behind you, look at how much you’ve done and accomplished,’” he says. “It’s been a little bit of a wake-up call…you’ve been hustling for some time, boy! It’s okay to slow down and enjoy life; it doesn’t always have to be all about the money, because we stop living when it’s all about the money.”
That doubt may come as a shock to many fans. Since his debut, Rizzo has been in hit after hit with many of the major studios, including Raging Stallion, Falcon, Icon Male, Men.com and more. He credits that diversity of experiences with helping him grow.
“My advantage has been being able to reach out to so many different audiences, to so many different markets at one time. Not a lot of people like every site; everyone has their own tastes. And some studios just reach one market, so your reach is limited. For me, being able to work with so many different studios also shows my versatility. Each director is unique, and they all direct very differently. You need to be as flexible as possible,” Rizzo shares.
“It’s about being someone that’s easy to work with. And just having to mold yourself into whatever these directors want has been my advantage. I think that was my military mindset—the ‘get the job done’ mentality. Any opportunity, I would take it. That’s my work-work-work mentality. And it got me to where I am now.”
Through it all, he quickly became arguably the best bottom in the business. Rizzo said he always knew it was in his nature.
“I just love to please. We can say martial arts has helped,” he laughs, “because when people ask me the secret, I tell them breath control. It does wonders, and I tell them that I learned breath control when I was in the martial arts and aikido. I was in for five years when I was young, and you learn about breath control—how to tighten your muscles, how to relax your own muscles when you’re fighting…and it worked. I take a deep breath, and when I exhale, it slowly goes in. That helps me relax my entire body. I feel it relaxing from my mouth, my back and of course down to my ass. And I also tell people, you gotta just want it. I mean, your mind and your body has to want that. It’s that simple. If not, you’re going to struggle and you’re going to get hurt. It’s mental and physical.”
Rizzo has performed some of the industry’s biggest tops, from Rocco Steele and Max Konnor to Noah Donovan and Andrew Stark.
“The ones that are the most difficult are the cone ones—the ones that are the perfect size on top but then just get wider,” he laughs. “Cutler X is another one. This wasn’t for a scene. It was personal, because he used to be my daddy back in the day. I was literally like, ‘No, this is the one. This is not going to work.’ I remember just being shocked at the way he gets in there. It was so much fun. But I remember thinking, ‘This is the one that’s gonna break me. This is not going to go in.’ But it did.”
And it warms his heart to know that as he reaches his seven-year anniversary in the industry, he can serve as the inspiration he was searching for many years ago.
“Just seeing and hearing all these other guys coming in, and the way that they’re coming in—they’re more open and more honest. It warms me, seeing the reaction from people and how they build themselves. It just shows that I went through what I went through for a reason. I’m a cheerleader for them all. Seeing it makes me happy,” he says, adding that the plight for men of color in the industry has made strides—but isn’t quite there yet.
“We’re definitely seeing some change, and its great…I’m loving it. But there’s always room for improvement, there’s always room to do more. We definitely need more men of color directors out there. I don’t think we have enough. And I know that there’s a lot of directors out there who don’t necessarily shoot for big major studios who just aren’t recognized. I feel that would help, just having men of color in every position within the industry…just even being included in the conversation, in the movement.”
