Alisha Klass got the "cover story" treatment on Entertainment Tonight last night. Klass, looking very understated with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, was interviewed about a series that she's doing for Showtime which is scheduled to air this summer. ET's Mary Hart hosted the segment.
Hart: "Adult film star Alisha Klass is attempting to do something virtually impossible for those in her industry. She's trying to move into the mainstream. But will Alisha be able to shake the stigma of her x-rated past? We went to find out in this Entertainment Tonight cover story."
Klass: "I don't think that there's really any reason why somebody should tell me what or what I can't do in this world."
Hart: "She's one of the adult video industry's hottest stars. But Alisha Klass is aiming at mainstream entertainment, and she's starting to hit the target."
Klass: "I really want people to take me for the genuine, sweet person that I feel that I am."
Hart: "She's not the first x-rated star to try. Ginger Lynn tried but now she's back in porn. Traci Lords has piled up the credits, but no former porn actress has become a major star. Lewis Beale from the New York Daily News thinks none will."
Beale: "Producers will not want to cast them because it just puts a bad light on their film."
Klass: "What you put your mind to, and what you put your heart into, you know, will come to you."
Hart: "Alisha's mind and heart has taken her to Toronto and a new series for Showtime. She plays a porn star who enters the lead character's life."
Klass: "He kind of meets me at a party. He has no idea that I'm an adult film star. He thinks that I'm some farm girl. And we have this great conversation., and I kind of really change his life some little bit."
Hart: "Her own life changed thanks to Melrose Place. She played a receptionist on three episodes, and they knew her background."
Klass: "I said this is what I'm about. If you're going to help me then it's going to be on these terms. I'm not going to hide what I do."
Hart: "Alisha also shared this scene in Cruel Intentions. Here scene was cut, but it will appear in the DVD release. She fought the casting director for that part."
Klass: "I can play an 18-year-old cheerleader. He goes, 'Well, I've already read eight girls for the part.' He goes, 'Fine, you can come down and read today, but don't come down looking like a porn star. Well, you know what? I'm not a moron, obviously. I'm going to come down. I've been a cheerleader before, alright? I've been there, done that in high school."
Hart: "The 27-year-old Klass who has a degree in fashion design, was orphaned at two. Her persistance was learned from her aunt."
Klass: "My aunt raised me to work extremely hard, which I hated growing up. Her thing was if you're going to do it, do it right, or don't do it at all."
Hart: "So, will she leave porn behind? Maybe, when she turns 30."
Klass: "I love doing it. If I can do mainstream, and I have enough talent to do both, then I don't think there's a written law or anything. And that was really in my attitude. There's just something inside of me that has kept me going. It's now all coming true. It's so beautiful, and I'm so thankful. I don't want to cry or anything, but it's really for me a very special thing."
Hart: "Alisha's Showtime series debuts this summer, and, in the meantime, she's also branching out into other aspects of entertainment. Next month she'll be recording her own CD."
