Wearing a small tank top and a pair of ripped blue jeans, Stefani Morgan sits on her suede sofa in her spacious Los Angeles apartment. It’s quiet in the tidy room when her cell phone vibrates nearby.
She sniffles slightly then smiles broadly before apologizing for not wearing makeup. “I hope you don't mind, but I’m not feeling well,” she says as her Sidekick mobile blinks incessantly. “It’s a girlfriend. I'll get back to her,” she says just as her cell phone again begins to vibrate.
It’s just another day for 20-year-old Riverside, Calif., native and one of Vivid Entertainment’s newest contract performers.
With her first starring feature Star hitting video stores last month, Morgan is taking a break from work, having recently finished shooting on her sixth starring feature and having completed her first season as co-host of Playboy TV’s “The Bang” entertainment news series.
“People tell me you’re too pretty to be doing porn. You’re too wholesome, but they don’t know me. I’ve always been very sexual,” says Morgan, who recently landed a role in an upcoming National Lampoon comedy.
Besides the film, magazine shoots and a string of new Vivid features beginning with Rawhide set for release April 5, Morgan is on a roll as her high-powered manager works to develop mainstream projects for her.
Adding to her rise was a report last month that she was dating Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, leading to widespread gossip about their relationship by local and national media.
“We’re friends, however, the media has definitely overplayed my relationship with Tommy,” she says.
Now sipping herbal tea as she waits for an order of fresh catfish at a local restaurant, Morgan jokes about the menu and laughs, seeming reenergized despite her nagging cold. Being one of the industry’s most visible performers hasn’t changed her, she says, in between tea sips.
“I still say what’s on my mind.”
But as a Vivid Girl, Morgan is also the face of a brand known for high-end features and for its decades of continuing success. And in that role she travels frequently, meets top industry players and makes more money than most 20-year-olds could hope for.
Yet she remains true to herself, she says.
“I’m very grounded. When people talk about money or about Ferraris or things like that, I get bored. That doesn’t impress me.”
It was just last spring that Morgan became a Vivid Girl. At 5-foot-9 and a scant 115 pounds, the blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty left modeling to pursue a career in adult films.
“I dabbled out of mainstream purely because they give you a selling image and my image didn’t portray who I was,” she says.
“They sell you as an all-American girl or girl next door and I’m really not that. It always bothered me.”
Wanting to move away from the commercial world of modeling, Morgan grew restless. But her chance encounter at a nightclub with “Girls Gone Wild” creator Joe Francis proved pivotal for the then 18-year-old.<?PHP print Create_Archive_Image_Tag('<% Content_ID %>', "Stefani_1.jpg", "", " align= \"right\" height=\"230\""); ?>
Francis hired Morgan to host one of his videos, featuring young coeds who flash their breasts or masturbate for the camera. Despite no experience, Morgan seemed a natural for the shoot, Francis recalls.
“Stefani works really well with our videos because she’s sweet,” he says.
“She brings out that same sweetness to her movies. She’s not a hardcore girl.”
Francis later introduced her to Vivid Entertainment boss Steven Hirsch.
“When I met Steve, I thought he was coolest guy. He didn’t look at all like what I thought a porn guy would look. He was good looking and nice,” she said.
Hirsch today admits he was happily surprised at Morgan’s beauty and bubbly personality.
“From the moment I met Stefani, I thought she had an extraordinary look,” Hirsch said. “I felt that with her beauty, self confidence and intelligence, she had what it takes to be a star.”
With her striking looks and zesty personality, Hirsch signed her to a year-long contract for feature films and personal appearances.
“I’ve never taken my clothes off in front of the camera other than one I did for Joe,” she said.
“I did a masturbation scene for him, but I was laughing throughout so it wasn’t hot at all. It was silly.”
While Morgan was excited at the prospect of doing high-end features for Vivid, her friends felt otherwise.
“She told us she was going to do it, but we all thought she was crazy,” said her longtime friend Christine Symonds.
“We absolutely didn’t want her to do it. But she’s stubborn. Stefani does what she wants to do.”
Despite her friends’ opposition, Morgan saw the industry as an opportunity to start anew doing something she loved – sex.
Even as a young girl, Morgan was aware of her sexuality. She had her first orgasm at age 6 and taught her friends how to masturbate to orgasm shortly thereafter. By the time she was in elementary school, she already had a reputation for being wild.<?PHP print Create_Archive_Image_Tag('<% Content_ID %>', "Stefani_2.jpg", "", " align=\"left\" height=\"230\""); ?>
“I was eight years old when one of my friends who lived a couple of houses over came over and her mom caught us feeling each other up. After that, I was always under suspicion, but I didn’t care,” she said.
“My brother’s friend and I used to dry hump in the closet.”
As one of five siblings, three sisters and a brother, Morgan had a sometimes difficult upbringing.
“My dad died when I was six and my mother was off studying to get her masters so I pretty much raised myself. And I think I did a good job. I didn’t get into drugs or into criminal stuff.”
But she did get into acting and music as a means to nurture her creative side. Outgoing and self confident, Morgan became an A student and a standout singer in her high school choir.
Even as she took an interest in boys, her goal of going to college and making something of herself was always first and foremost.
“I was a girly girl with my dolls and my friends and I always made sure I looked good and not messy, but I was boy crazy,” she says.
At 15, she lost her virginity to her best friend and would later hook up with a girlfriend to find out what sex with another girl was like.
“It was fun, but I preferred guys.”
By 16, Morgan started college, but would later drop out to pursue modeling.
Although she would later join the adult industry, Morgan says she has no regrets about her past choices.
“I know what I’m worth and I know what I want. And I love what I’m doing now,” she says.
Paul Thomas, the AVN Award-winning director who directed her first feature, says he’s not surprised at Morgan’s rise in the industry.
“She’s light years ahead of a lot of performers,” he says.
“She comes in well prepared. She knows her lines, she knows her marks and is always ready to work. And she has a great attitude.”
Having locked horns a few times with Morgan on the set of Star, Thomas understands his young performer’s sensibilities.
“She’s feisty, a little loud and opinionated, but it comes from the heart. It’s because she cares.”
During filming of her first sex scene in the movie, Morgan admitted being frustrated with co-star Nick Manning.
“He was really taking it easy with me and I was getting annoyed. I finally told him ‘fuck me hard damn it! I’m not going to break.”
The two went on to heat things up, earning her director’s respect.
“She’s like that pretty high school girl you could never get, but once she’s on, she can fuck,” Thomas said.
But even as her career is on an upswing, Morgan steers clear of the subject when it comes to her mother.
“She doesn’t like what I’m doing, but she respects the decisions I’ve made,” she says.
Although she’s been immersed in the business for nearly nine months, her circle of friends are those she’s known for most of her life.
“I haven’t gotten to know that many people in porn, so I still hang out with my friends,” she says.
“When my movie came out, I invited them to come over and they all laughed and got a big kick out of seeing me. It’s a funny movie, even with the sex.”
Morgan’s friend Christine Symonds, like her other friends, understands her career choice.
“If she’s happy, then that’s what matters,” she says.
Although she dates occasionally, the one-time model says she’s not looking for a relationship, preferring to focus on her career and her family and friends.
“There are too many things I want to accomplish right now,” she explains.
A fan of Marilyn Monroe, Morgan admires the late actress’s tenacity and will to persevere and succeed.
“That’s what I’ve had to do too and I admire that in other people.”
As for the future, Morgan says it’s still wide open. Doing mainstream movies interests her nearly as much as doing adult films. But she also loves to sing and dance and admits that a record deal is still a possibility.
“I would love that.”
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Top 10 Stefani Morgan Facts
1. Favorite music: “I listen to everything. I love low key rock. I really like The Fray. 2. Favorite movie: “Anything Marilyn Monroe is in, especially ‘Some Like it Hot.’ I also love ‘Wedding Crashers.’ I’ve loved Vince Vaughn since he was in ‘Swingers.’ 3. Favorite position: Doggie. 4. Spit or swallow?: “In my personal life, I swallow all the time. In my professional life, I spit. 5. Extracurricular activities: “I’m a sociable person. I love spending time with my friends… I work out everyday and also do Pilates.” 6. Weirdest thing she does: “I always clean my apartment naked. And when I need to cheer myself up, I put on my pink cowgirl boots.” 7. Hobbies: “I like to decorate. I love to do art. Painting and stuff like that opens my creative mind. 8. Favorite author: “I don’t have one. I don’t read novels. I used to be a biology major, so I like reading about health. 9. Favorite person: “I don’t really have one. I like mysterious people. The people I find fascinating are James Dean and Marilyn.” 10. Most admirable quality: “Loyalty. If someone isn’t loyal, then I don’t want anything to do with them.” |
