A version of this interview ran in the current issue of AVN Men. See the digital edition here. Alex Riley was named one of the two Best Newcomers at the 2020 GayVN Awards; read about that here.
A few fun facts about Alex Riley: He has an impressive ability to remember dates of film shoots in his career; he likes to eat good food at elegant places; and he loves sports with a passion (more on that later). And he’s always been ballsy. While living with his grandparents, he would sneak looks at porn on his grandmother’s computer whenever she went to check the mail.
“She had a long driveway to walk, and I would go up to her office. I could get on the computer and look out the window and watch her, so I knew she wasn’t going to walk in on me. She would casually be enjoying the weather, she would stop and water the plants, so I had a few minutes,” he laughs. “I used to watch porn in there, and when she would walk back, I would exit everything and log out. I guarantee you they knew, but they never said anything. I used to watch Helix Studios porn—that was what I was into, and still am. So it’s so funny, because now I’m with Helix.”
Born and raised in Dallas, Riley shares that he always knew he wanted to do porn as far back as the fourth grade, which was a pivotal year in his life for another reason.
“I moved in with my grandparents when I was in fourth grade. I had lived with my mom, and I have a little brother who’s four years younger. We moved in with my grandparents because my mom was sick. I eventually went to high school, then moved back in with my mom—and me and my mom have been super close ever since.”
He eventually made a profile on SexyJobs to find an agent and get started in the industry—but then didn’t pay attention to the site for a few years. Then during his two years at Texas State University in San Marcos, he started camming.
“I had never even heard of that being a thing. A friend told me about it, and I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll give it a try.’ I didn’t realize you could make money doing that … my eyes lit up making lots of money just to sit in front of the camera.”
After moving to Los Angeles (“I just didn’t want to live in Texas anymore”) and logging back in to SexyJobs, he had a lot of messages waiting for him. He signed with an agent and found himself working for the likes of FraternityX and Missionary Boys.
“I was so new to everything. He was like, ‘Okay, you’re gonna go to Palm Springs and shoot with this guy named Trenton [Ducati], and you’ll have a scene partner and they’ll tell you all about that.’ I just wanted to do it, but I didn’t really know what was going on.”
That first shoot was for Brother Crush, where he used the named Alex Rim.
“I was super nervous. I remember getting out there, and the other model wasn’t there yet. I didn’t know anything. I was hanging out with all these older guys, and they were like, ‘We’re so excited to shoot you today!’ Then when Vinny (Blackwood) got there, we started talking about ideas. It was fun, and me and Vinny have been friends ever since. And soon after that, I got that first taste of money. I was like, ‘Oh shit, this is great!’ And I had that agent who was wanting more money, so he would book me with another studio. We were both trying to do as much as possible.”
After that contract ended last year, Riley signed with Helix after the studio reached out to him through Twitter.
“It was funny because I didn’t actually see that at first; it was in my requested DM. I didn’t see it pop up, and so after my contract had ended, I decided to go through everything, and there was something from Casey Roman sitting there, and he had a Helix shirt on. I was like, ‘What the fuck?!’” Riley laughs. “I was like, ‘There’s no way!’ And he was just asking me about coming to shoot for Helix. He messaged me forever before that; if I had seen it earlier, I would have reached out.”
His first Helix shoot was with Jacob Hansen, and Riley has appeared in nine scenes since (and counting).
“I was nervous, but I feel so comfortable out here. And I got to meet everybody—they’re my same age, my same size. So many other studios have these big guys, and I’m not into that as much—obviously, because I watched Helix porn growing up,” he laughs. “I do like guys that are smaller than me, just in general, because it’s easier for me to fuck them harder. It’s not about being in control, because I really don’t care about that; I just love to fuck hard. So a guy that likes to get fucked hard is perfect. I’ll give you a great example: Collin Adams. We did a scene together, and he likes to be fucked hard—like, fuck his brains out. A guy that verbalizes that and lets it be known—that’s so hot.”
For now, Riley’s contract runs through October 1—and he hopes to go even longer.
“It was super weird, but being out here is the most comfortable thing ever. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” he says. “The industry in general, it’s so fun. Because even when we cut and take a break or whatever, I talk with all the models. Even with the other studios, we would just have a conversation and it was cool. I think meeting new people is the most fun thing. And the coolest thing working with Helix is that we have this big mansion. So every time we come out, we get to sleep in a different room. I’ve slept in every room—I know this place like home.
“With many other studios, typically the other models are in another hotel, sometimes the same. They didn’t always house us together. So you meet on set for the first time to have sex, which is kinda weird. But here, we all sleep in the same house—this big mansion. We all sleep together, watch movies together, cook … it’s great, just shooting with and working with your friends.”
And the work has paid off, landing Riley nominations during awards season—something that has inspired him to be even better.
“I just want to be the best model that I can. My goals are to save a lot of money, get better financially responsible, pay bills … I really need to do a better job figuring out how much I can allow myself to spent if I have my rent paid for the month, and what I need to save. I’m pretty good, but my goal is to do better. Professionally, being nominated for best newcomer at these award shows is so cool to me. I don’t expect to win anything, but I just wanna continue to get nominated, and it just shows me that I’m doing decent at my job, so my goal is just to continue to receive that recognition.”
He'd also love to get back into camming. “I used to have so much fun camming. Every day I would just want to come home and cam, just sit there and have people watch me.”
Most of Riley’s family knows about his career, and most of his experiences have been positive.
“I called and told my mom like seven months ago. My mom told my grandpa, and I saw him over Thanksgiving. We talked about it, and that’s totally cool. My little brother knew I was gay my whole life, and that was no big deal; he just found out Thanksgiving break about what I do for a job, and he was totally cool about it. My uncle knows, my cousin knows, and then there are gay friends every single day messaging me saying ‘I’m so proud of you!’ or ‘That’s great, I could never do that and it’s awesome!’ Pretty much everybody knows, and if they don’t know, the probably will. Nobody has been nasty about it or anything like that.”
In the meantime, Riley will get back to doing what he does best: fucking hard. Although he has one thing he loves even more.
“I love football more than anything. That’s the No. 1 thing. I know everything about football. I love the Dallas Cowboys. Seriously, I’m a diehard fan. They could lose every single game by like 80 points and I wouldn’t care; I love the team. I’ve gone to the stadium probably 65 times. I did sports in high school, so like for football, the Nike combine would be held there. I went to see the SMU combine several times. I’m an athlete, and football is my favorite thing ever. I love to watch, play…Jesus Christ, I love sports. I ran track in high school and in college, so I love to run. I wanted to go to LSU so bad; I love their football team, and they have an amazing track program. But did I get a track scholarship?” he laughs. “No!”
