Stacy Valentine, star of The Girl Next Door documentary which opens in L.A. tomorrow, is now living in San Diego and working to make a go of her clothing design business. Stacy goes to Cannes [she leaves on Sunday] at the Invitation of Hot Video Magazine. She's up for Best Actress in Devil in Miss Jones 6. Then she makes tracks back to L.A. to do a signing at The Hustler Store, May 19.
Valentine: "We promoted the documentary last year. This year Hot Video invited me over. I'm up for Best Actress. I have my fingers crossed. We'll see how that goes...I won Best Actress in Barcelona for DMJ 6."
G. Ross: "We all know, as Barcelona goes, so does the world...they're the arbiters."
Valentine [laughing]: We'll see what happens...I'll be flying to San Francisco tonight. September [September Phillips, Valentine's business partner] and I are going to go shopping for a gown for France and get some clothes for all the promotional stuff I have to do in Cannes. It's a shame she didn't have time to make me anything."
G. Ross: "You got the designing-thing. This should have been a no problem situation."
Valentine: "Yeah. If we thought of everything sooner, but this was all last minute."
G. Ross: "Is your life changing substantially as a result of this documentary?"
Valentine: "It's changing with all the publicity and promotion; and all the stuff like that. Other than that, nothing's changing that much."
G. Ross: "Lots of people are asking, are you offically leaving the business?"
Valentine: "I left in February. I did my last movie for Metro the end of February. I wanted to do the last one on Valentine's Day and I did that with VCA. But the Red Vibe Diary feature was shot on film, and it was beautiful and I thought I'd like to go out on that."
G. Ross: "What is your life itinerary right now?"
Valentine: "The fashion aspect, and we're gearing towards opening a store on Melrose by the end of the year. We've got the website going right now. It will be launched June first. They are www.goodgirlclothing.com; and www.badgirlclothing.com.
"We've got Lexus Locklear and Gwen Summers as models for the Good Girl Clothing. We haven't figured out what we're going to do with the Bad Girl. Don Mantooth is shooting the catalogues for us. He's really great.
[Stacy comments on the film's premier party/fashion show at Luna Park, Tuesday night.]
Valentine: "The whole night was pretty much a blur because I was so nervous and concerned. I was getting pulled in so many directions, I thought I was going to have a stroke. Exactly where I was sitting was right where the stairs where, so everytime a girl would walk down the stairs, I can't even imagine what the look on my face was. It was like, please don't fall, please don't fall. I didn't want anybody to get hurt. And sitting next to Hef [Hugh Hefner], I was so stunned, I couldn't thing of anything to say to him. But they were really nice, so now I'm on the list for going to the parties....they're having a party on the 27th."
G. Ross: "We were speculating on whether you'd wind up in the Playboy mansion or on the pages Playboy.."
Valentine: "Yeah.."
G. Ross. "Ah-hah."
Valentine: "Yeah, we'll see."
G. Ross: "How did this Girl Next Door project get started?"
Valentine: "Christine [Fugate] had been looking for someone for a couple of years. She had met with a lot of women but hadn't really found the right person. Actually, Jack Gallagher brought me to her attention. Christine said let me meet her, so I went in. We just clicked, we bonded. I had this potential and dedication...she needed someone who was going to stay in the business. What would you say is the percentage of girls in the business who are out within a year, about 80%. That's what I've been saying in my interviews. I guess she saw something in me and someone who wasn't going to flake out. She told me, 'I'll be in every aspect of your life.' And you know how there's so many documentary crews that come on the sets. After awhile you're like, go ahead. That's how I felt in the beginning. She said I'll be with you for the next year.'
"They started shooting it when I was about six months into the business. It just took off. Christine hadn't planned on shooting me yet. She was still editing another documentary that she was doing. I started calling her telling her I was doing this and that. She said I have to start now. We had like a shestring budget. She had all these ideas about getting the financing together, but when my career took off, she had no choice but to start. That's how it all started."
G. Ross: "What was your impression of the finished product?"
Valentine: "I was really pleased with it. One of the reasons why I agreed to do the project is I went to see one of her documentaries. It was called Mothers and Daughters. I'm a mommy's girl. When I saw the documentary, it brought so many emotions, I could actually feel it. By the end of the documentary I was crying, missing my mom. I pulled out my cell phone and called her, 'I miss you. I love you.' I got off the phone with my mom, turned to Christine and said let's do this. When I watched the Girl Next Door, it brought out a bunch of emotions, other than it being me. The men of course are going to like it because there's nudity. But I was concerned with the women and how they would respond. So many women were coming up to me, embracing me. They felt like they knew me and were so able to relate. There are good things and bad things in this. I'm not trashing the industry, but it's what I experienced. I'm not trying to make anybody feel sorry for me. That's the last thing because I'm doing fine. But people go through the same things that I go through. They are able to realize that there's a real person behind that fantasy image and not be so judgmental and critical about us. We really are normal people other than that we have unique jobs."
G. Ross: "Was there any one thing back in February prompting you to say this is it?"
Valentine: "I had been in the business four years, and I made it. I was fortunate enough to have the contract and I received awards. I did everything I wanted to do in the business and when you get to a level like Jenna, you're reached the top of the ladder. You look around and there's nowhere to step to. I decided to take a step aside and let someone else take over. I had a great, great time, so I decided to pull a Seinfeld and say, thank you and good night."
G. Ross: "I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've talked to a couple of people who did. I gather there's one segment where you're tossing money into the air from someone who was with you...how can I put this delicately..."
Valentine: "I'm a big girl, say it..."
G. Ross: "About selling yourself on the open market if the opportunity presents."
Valentine: "In that situation I'm a survivor and I will do what it takes to survive. Julian and I were broke. I paid the bills. We didn't have money, and I needed money to pay the bills. I will argue with anyone, what's the difference. Bottom line, when we do the movies, I would not do that movie for free. It's just that somebody else is paying you. It's just you have a makeup artist and someone that's filming it. It was something I tried and it didn't work well with me. I think prostitution should be legal. I think it should be taxed and regulated. I don't have a problem with it at all. Everyone sells them self for something. With the movies you're getting paid, so what's the difference?...I can't remember how long I was going with Julian, but when it was all said and done, it was about a year and a half. He was a great guy and there was a lot of mistakes I made. I ytake half responsibility for everything, the good and the bad. But I feel that the business did change him. It did affect him. It went to his head. I experienced that. Everybody does. It's just that you need really good people around you to pull you back down."
G. Ross: "We were talking about this last October, but with a little perspective behind you, with being in this business, can you have a meaningful relationship...or do you have to step outside what you're doing and work on a new identity, a new life?"
Valentine: "When I got into the business I was 25. This August I'll be 30. That's another reason for getting out of the business....But I knew pretty much what was to be expected and what my consequences were. While I haven't come into any negativity, I know it's out there. That's the thing that goes along with being an adult film star. I was prepared for that. The one thing I wasn't prepared for was losing the intimacy of a relationship. That's something I realized I crave and I want. I tried dating while I was in the business. It didn't work. I had such a conflict. I am monogamous, and even though I knew I was doing a job, I didn't want to go home with these people. They're great acquaintances and people I love working with. But it was a struggle in my mind. Then I decided after that imposter episode [Valentine dated a guy who passed himself off as heir to the William Morris agency]...that just really floored me when I found it. He was a nice guy. He certainly didn't give me any money. He ended up mooching off of me. I didn't put it in perspective. There were certain flags that came up that I chose not to see. I think I was lonely and wanted someone, and he, being a con artist, knew excatly what to say. I can look back on it as a great lesson. How do you know what's really great unless you know what's really bad? I appreciate every bad thing that's happened to me because I've learned a lesson. They hurt a little bit at the time, but it's okay.
"Then, I moved away from Los Angeles. I live in San Diego now. Things just started getting to me. I was always angry but for no one particular reason. Things weren't working for me. I just decided this path I was traveling down was not working, so I stopped it right there and changed it. As soon as I moved out of L.A., my life just totally changed. I became much happier and it just worked for me to get away from all that Hollywood stuff. I'm not really into all that stuff. It's really brutal and cutthroat. It takes strong people. I consider all the girls who make it past a year in the business as survivors and strong women. It's not an easy job. There's a lot of things that you have to deal with that you don't get sympathy for, nor do you need that; but a little understanding sometimes. There's are really strong girls. Like Jenna. I was looking back on her career. I've listened to people say negative things about her. I looked at that and realized how insecure people are when people want people to fail. I think that's really sad. I was so happy when Kobe got that mainstream part and Jenna's doing this mainstream stuff; and Janine's on the cover of Blink 182...all that does for girls in the industry is it pulls us up a level. It's making porn a little more mainstream and a little more acceptable. Anyone who can get any kind mainstream publicity I say, good for you. It's not easy to get that, but it only helps us.
"I had gone through some bad times but September always helped me and kept me grounded."
G. Ross: "How did you two meet?"
Valentine: "We met on the set of Satyr. We shot that in 1996. I just fell in love with the costuming she did for Jenna. Jenna looked so amazing. It almost brought tears to my eyes to see this one outfit that she had made for Jenna; the shoes matched the scallops around her dress and I saw that, 'Oh my God. That's the most amazing thing I've ever seen.' I met her then. Then I remember seeing someone at CES and saw her gown. I thought that was the most beautiful gown I had ever seen. I asked where did you get that. She said September made it for her. I said I got to get her number. The girl told me I don't think so. I thought what a shitty thing to say. I just kept plugging away to find her and we eventually hooked up. We really hit it off. I have so much respect for her because she's really dedicated. She will do whatever it takes to get the job done even if she has to stay up 24-48 hours, she will do that. I can't tell you how many times she's stayed up all night making something for me for like CES. One year she came up to Vegas with her sewing machine and was sewing me into my dress. She's that dedicated. That's part of the reason why we got along so well. We're both very dedicated and very career-oriented. Unfortunately I had to pay the price for that. I am truly sorry about that. It was a lesson that I learned.
"I think this clothing line is going to do really well. I was so pleased with the girls at the fashion show. September and I had a discussion whether we wanted to use girls from our business or mainstream girls. We came to the decision that that's where we came from and we're not trying to close the door and pretend that didn't exist. It was kind of our thank you to the business. We had a lot of mainstream press, and I knew that that would have been good. If I can help someone to do better, I will - especially really great girls like the ones we had. I just want to help people. There were people who have helped me, and this kind of my little bit of thanks to the industry. Without the adult industry I wouldn't be here. It had it's good times and it's bad times.With the bad times I learned lessons. If I could go back in time I wouldn't change anything. I would go through every single thing. If I changed one single thing, everything would be different."
G. Ross: "If you didn't get into porn, where do you think you were headed?"
Valentine: "I would be in a very bad marriage. I would probably have had kids. Not that kids are bad, but I'm just not ready for irreversible commitment right now. I wouldn't be happy person right now. When Extra and Access Hollywood asked me if I had regrets getting into the business, not at all. It's been a great ride. I would not have been able to experience any of this. I would not have imagined that I would be sitting next to Hugh Hefner."
G. Ross: "I would never have imagined that I would be staring at Hugh Hefner staring at you sitting next to him staring at him."
Valentine [laughing]: "It was so wild. Every once in awhile I would take a peek over and say to myself I can't believe I'm sitting here."
