Model/actress Julie Strain is a part of the growing trend of talent who parlay their looks and notoriety into adult Internet sites. And although Strain may be one of the more recent celebrities to go online - her first foray was in 1999 - she is also one of the more accomplished to do so. With dozens of movies and a television show to her credit, Strain already has a hardcore contingent of fans of her powerfully charged yet softcore presence.
JulieStrain.com (www.juliestrain.com) is a fan site featuring photo and video galleries of Strain and other femmes fatale, primarily of the Playboy Playmate and Penthouse Pet variety; interviews and appearance updates; and a small shop of Strain mementos. Plans for a live chat room are in the works, according to webmistress Doria (www.doria.com), a former Playmate and hostess of Playboy TV's interactive "Night Calls" series.
Strain's presence on the Net extends beyond her own website, though, as the much photographed, multi-talented model is herself a photographer. Strain's work has appeared in numerous publications, and she takes pictures for the websites of friends (like Doria) and Alexandra Silk (www.alexandrasilk.com). "Julie takes beautiful photos, and treats models better than many male photographers," says Silk.
Strain's self-published bio, Six Foot One and Worth the Climb, boldly alludes to her unique appeal: Envision the strength of Conan the Barbarian infused with the wildly erotic spirit of a savage and witchy raven-goddess. The buffed Amazonian of the B-movies realized early on it was unlikely she'd get conventional leading lady parts, more often playing what Erin Brockovich screenwriter Susannah Grant calls "kick-ass broads." In movies like Queen of Lost Island and Return to Savage Beach, Strain shoots-'em-up like a female Arnold - playing post-feminist characters who make Julia Roberts' self-assured legal assistant pale in comparison.
The statuesque beauty has posed for top magazines like Playboy, and at the ripe old age of 31, became the oldest Penthouse Pet in 1993. She's also appeared with Charlie Sheen and Jay Leno, among others, on numerous of Guccioni covers. According to Strain, she's been in "about 100" movies, ranging from extra work in major studio productions such as Bugsy and The Doors, to more prominent and leading roles in low-budget and cable TV fare along the lines of Enemy Gold and Day of the Warrior.
Heavy Metal 2000, the $15 million sequel to the 1981 cult favorite Heavy Metal, is our heroine's latest big screen and cable venture. Like the original, HM2K (www.heavymetal2k.com), is an R-rated, animated feature, with characters created and designed by illustrator Simon Bisley, and Strain's partner and husband, Kevin Eastman (perhaps best known as the co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise). Our six foot-plus vixen provides the voice and the physical model for F.A.K.K.2 (Federation Assigned Ketogenic Killzone), the lead character in the film. Strain posits F.A.K.K.2 as "a steel-eyed huntress and expert warrior, a ravishing avenger on a deadly mission."
Eastman, who is also publisher and editor-in-chief of Heavy Metal magazine (www.heavy-metal.net), envisions HM2K as a combination of The Road Warrior, Aliens, Blade Runner, and the late Akira Kurosawa's Ran. "It's the story of a female warrior relentlessly avenging her sister's enslavement," he says.
HM2K co-stars the voices of actor Michael Ironside (Starship Troopers, The Perfect Storm) and rocker Billy Idol, who also lent his singing talents to some of the music for the film; the soundtrack was released April 18.
The movie is scheduled to premiere July 14 on the STARZ! cable and satellite channels, as well as at selected "midnight movie" theatres. Also in July, Ritual Entertainment (www.ritual.com,) in association with Gathering of Developers Games (www.godgames.com) plans to release the CD-ROM Heavy Metal F.A.K.K.2, an action-themed videogame that is, in effect, a sequel to the sequel, as it continues the story 30 years after HM2K. As part of the promotion, a scantily-clad Strain appeared on the April cover of Incite PC Gaming, which offered a sneak peak and free CD-ROM sampling of the HM2K videogame.
Strain can currently be seen on the small screen, where she presides over Playboy TV's Sex Court as "Judge Julie." The droll courtroom farce would make Perry Mason spin in his grave, as defendants and plaintiffs air their sex-related grievances before the Judge, whose courtroom attire consists of form-fitting black leather beneath a semi-transparent robe.
In March, Strain joined one of Doria's live weekly chats online. Her sense of humor and spunk were evident throughout the two-hour session, as Strain begrudgingly removed her long johns at members' requests. True to herself, the erotically feral enchantress sternly and clearly defined her terms: "They get bush, but no lips!"
