Porn Retiree Michelle Sinclair Hits Big Screen in 'Inherent Vice'

HOLLYWOOD—This weekend sees the limited theatrical release of acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson's new film Inherent Vice, starring (among others) Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Maya Rudolph, Benicio Del Toro, Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson ... and an actress porn fans will surely recognize most readily: Michelle Sinclair, known to them from her previous on-screen escapades as Belladonna.

Those familiar with Anderson's work will know this is hardly the first time he's thrown someone from the world of triple-X into the ring with Hollywood heavyweights; most famously, his breakout opus Boogie Nights featured AVN Hall of Famers Nina Hartley and Veronica Hart in memorable cameos. But Sinclair's Inherent Vice role may just be the biggest Anderson has given an adult industry vet to date.

"I play a character named Clancy Charlock, and I am the sister of Glenn Charlock [Christopher Allen Nelson], and I am trying to find out more information about my brother's murder," Sinclair told AVN. "And so I go to Joaquin Phoenix's character, Doc Sportello, in hopes that he can give me some help. I have just about five minutes [of screen time], and most of my dialogue is with Joaquin. Near the end I have a little bit with Maya Rudolph, which was really exciting. It's a pretty big chunk there, for it being my first major motion picture."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, in fact, it's a more sizable role than those of Witherspoon, Del Toro or Rudolph ... and the venerable trade outlet notes that Sinclair "more than holds her own."

The now several-years-retired adult icon, an AVN Hall of Fame member herself, explained that the role came about because "I've been friends with Joaquin for awhile, and I'm assuming that they were in the midst of casting Inherent Vice, and he's the main character so he's very close with Paul, and I think he mentioned me to Paul, and Paul was also familiar with my work. And so they put me in touch with the casting director and asked me to come in and do a reading, and I did, and then next thing you know, I got cast. I was super excited."

Even so, she initially had her reservations about going through with the project.

"I was really excited about just the idea of being a part of a Paul Thomas Anderson movie, because I've seen so many of his films, and I just feel like he's very talented," Sinclair explained. "But then once I was speaking with the casting director about the role, there were some things that I was not interested in doing anymore. They wanted to cast me in a sex scene, and I just was like, 'You know what, I'm done with that—I've done that, it's not something I'm interested in anymore. I want something different or at least not that.' So I actually almost said no. I was basically like, 'No, I'm not interested in that, but if there's something else get back to me.' And she got back in touch with me after she talked to Paul, and he was kind of like, 'Are you crazy?' He was kind of shocked."

After she was assured, however, that there would be nothing graphic or explicit required, Sinclair relented. "I was like, 'All right. For P.T. Anderson, I'll go there,'" she said. "But what's so amazing is in the end, it actually got cut from the film, which I was very happy about. Paul was like, 'Are you mad at me?' and I was like, 'No, I'm super excited!' Because now people who don't know my previous work will have a chance to see me as just this new face. And if you've seen my work, you'll just see me doing something without sex."

Now that she's had the true Hollywood experience, Sinclair says she absolutely foresees herself pursuing it further. "One hundred percent," she asserted. "In the past, I was never really looking to do that, but I think being where I'm at now, looking back, I see that I was afraid of that. I was so afraid to go after something that I wanted, and I wanted it to just come to me. Now I realize that yes, this is something I want to pursue. I don't want it to be the only thing that I do, I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket like I've done so many times in the past, but I'd like to explore more roles and take more acting classes so I can learn. I'm sure I have so much I can do and so much to learn. The good thing about me is I'm so comfortable in front of the camera, so that makes it so much easier."

Reflecting on the transition she's still in the process of making from life in porn, Sinclair said, "You know, it's been a fuckin' ride. I have to say, being super successful in an industry and making a lot of money and then walking away from it is not easy. But I've definitely had it easier than I'm sure a lot of people, and I've got Aiden [Riley, her former husband who continues to oversee their jointly founded production company Belladonna Entertainment] to thank for that. But it's been confusing, because I never did anything else before. That was my career, and that's what I was really great at, and it's a really safe place to be. So I've been trying to figure it out. And what I've really come to realize is that variety for me is what keeps me alive. And so [I want] whatever I'm doing to be full of that."

She noted that she does have another mainstream project on the way in the near future, a horror movie she shot several years ago that has been retitled Ladies of the House and is scheduled for release in early 2015.

Inherent Vice is playing in Los Angeles at the AMC Century City 15, Landmark and ArcLight Hollywood theaters.

Photo of Michelle Sinclair at the Inherent Vice premiere by Carrie Nelson/Image Collect.