CHATSWORTH, Calif.—Tori Black told AVN she has never had “a regular job.”
The Seattle native started her adult movie career one month before she turned 19.
“I was a nanny before... I used to watch a few different families’ kids,” Black said. “They would have me as their regular. One family got me a car and a cell phone and literally, I was part of the family.”
Still only 21 years old, Black has already secured a place in porn history. She enjoyed a remarkable night on Jan. 9 in Las Vegas, where she won the 2010 AVN Female Performer of the Year award en route to several accolades at the 27th annual AVN Awards ceremony at the Pearl Concert Theater inside the Palms Casino Resort.
“I’m still shocked about it,” Black said when she returned to Los Angeles. “I think there were so many people that did really well this year. So for me to receive so many awards was...well, I don’t know, it was just amazing.”
Black’s evening included honors for her career performance in Elegant Angel’s Tori Black Is Pretty Filthy, which earned awards for Best Gonzo Release, Best Tease Performance and Best Threeway Sex Scene for her throw-down with Rebeca Linares and Mark Ashley. She also shared two other scene awards: Best All-Girl Couples Sex Scene for Girlfriends Films’ Field of Schemes 5 with Lexi Belle; and Best All-Girl Three-Way Sex Scene for Adam & Eve’s The 8th Day with Bree Olson and Poppy Morgan. Meanwhile, Black delivered one of her finest performances of 2009 in Zero Tolerance Entertainment’s Interactive Sex With Tori Black, which won Best Interactive DVD.
“Obviously, I’m very excited about it, and I hope I can continue working and producing the high quality material that I did last year,” Black said. “That was something I was worried about, ‘Oh my gosh how can I top that this year.’ I’m really excited and really pleased that people took the time to see my work and it’s really just a blessing.”
The starlet was especially gratified, if not surprised to receive the Performer of the Year award.
“I think everybody that worked with me... together we produced such great material. So for me to receive that honor I just want to share it with all the people that helped me to get to where I am,” Black continued. “It’s really much more than me. It takes a village to make it happen.”
AVN: What was it like to be on stage accepting awards in front of the industry?
TB: I didn’t actually prepare anything. I went up and said what was in my head.
At first, I was just shocked. The very first award I won was for the Best Gonzo. That one was my first AVN award at all. I was a little nervous because I knew so many people were watching. At the same time, when I thought about the honor of the award, the words just came naturally. I was able to share with the audience as opposed to just being nervous being in front of everybody. I remember being humbled looking at so many people in front of me. I was honored to not make it about me but make it about something more important. I was humbled. I don’t think I’ve ever had that many people listen to me speak at once. It was just an honor to have that moment.”
AVN: Could you tell us about how Tori Black Is Pretty Filthy came about?
TB: When Elegant Angel first approached me to do that movie, they gave me a choice of either working with Bill [director William H.] or working with Mason. I had worked with Bill many times but I had only worked with Mason once, and I felt the connection. I kind of wanted to explore that spark that I felt. I really wanted to see where we can take this. It is different having a woman and a woman explore a project. It’s a different dynamic. I just wanted to try something. We got along really well.
I started off compiling a cast that I wanted to be in the movie, and what kind of thing I wanted to shoot. Mason and I sent each other a series of text messages talking about my sexuality, and what in my sexuality needed to be explored and hasn’t been utilized. I’ve always been a quote unquote pretty girl. There are expectations of what pretty girls do and don’t do, and that really spoke to her because she also has felt trapped at times. What I was expressing was that being a pretty girl doesn’t mean that you can’t be dirty, or for whatever reason you lose some of your value, because you want to be dirty. That’s how we came up with the title and came up with the idea. I can be very pretty and very dirty at the same time.
That was really a great concept. There are a lot of people trapped behind those taboos, ‘I’m too young, I’m too old,’ whatever, they choose to block their own sexuality. We just decided to create our own movie and said that we’re not going to listen to any of the taboos and do whatever we want to do. That’s how we started. And what I expected was not what happened. I expected a pretty normal storyline and what I found was an eye-opening, genuine moment in my life. I explored my sexuality without any limitation. I had some moments that I’ll never forget.
AVN: What was Mason’s reaction to the news?
TB: She and I talk a lot. She was so excited and so happy, because she put her heart into Pretty Filthy. She was texting me screaming ‘Oh my God! We did it!’ She was very happy.
AVN: What were some of the challenges you had in this movie?
TB: The boy/boy/girl [with James Deen and Mick Blue] we shot in a warehouse that was 95 degrees. With two guys there is lots of body heat, lots of energy and lots of passion. I also really just pushed myself to the limit. Having those extreme conditions kind of pushed me beyond where I’ve ever gone. It brought out a different person in me. I went home absolutely exhausted, like wow, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
AVN: What was it like working on Interactive Sex with Tori Black?
TB: The interactive was the first of my anal endeavors, the first time I tried anal on camera. It is a very different style of shooting. Instead of getting into the chemistry of the other person, you’re getting into the visual of people watching you and getting into talking to each of your fans. There is no contact with the talent you’re working with except for the penetration. You don’t touch them. It’s an exercise in, are you a porn star or aren’t you? Do you like to be watched or are you doing this because you like the money?
I really get into that people are fantasizing about me. I kind of like that. It’s that line between why are you doing this? Again most of the time that’s not really exercised, but most of the time you can distract yourself from the camera with the talent you’re with. With an interactive you can’t distract yourself from the camera. It’s me tapping into enjoying to be watched and loving to be an exhibitionist. … Obviously, it’s a challenge keeping the talent involved and keeping the camera involved. It’s very hard on the male talent because the girl in not interacting with them.
There are so many positions and different angles. We had to fine-tune everything, not to mention keep guy going. There were lots of pop-shots, lots of different male talent. Lots of long days, but really at the end it was a very interesting project to watch the progression of it. I never considered that it would win an award. I really enjoyed making something that I knew was truly just for my fans. Again just another different experience and a great one.
AVN: What does Female Performer of the Year mean to you?
TB: I think I was anticipating the nomination more than I was anticipating the win. I knew I worked really hard and I knew my movies had really great reviews. I figured I would at least be recognized and get a nomination. There are so many great performers on that list. To get a win, as they were reading off names at the show Kristina Rose and I were holding onto each other watching to see who won.
Obviously, when you’re up for an award with one of your friends you don’t really want to make anybody feel uncomfortable. You kind of root for both people at the same time sitting there holding onto one another while all the names were being read. In all honesty I expected it to be her, and I expected to be just as happy either way.
Once I got up on that stage and I felt and I heard the people in the crowd screaming my name and I heard people cheering for me it seemed like people were genuinely happy for me. It really sunk in. And I didn’t feel like it was only AVN giving me the award. It felt like the people in the business were agreeing. It felt like…Oh my gosh, it felt really great. That’s when I had to leave the stage because I knew I was going to cry.
It was hard. You want to go up there and thank everybody and want to be able to put names to everybody, you want to remember everybody. I thought let’s not get into you want to thank this person, this person. There was no way I could say ‘thank you’ to everybody that helped. I wanted to address everybody as a whole. Really, it’s this business that brought the best out of me. You work with people with different styles and different directors. When you see a photographer, every photographer wants something different. It stretches me as a performer and helps me grow and become more versatile. Every performer brings something different out of me.
Even the bad experiences can help me learn and grow and change as a performer. They still made me grow as a person. There is nobody that hasn’t contributed to my win.
AVN: What did you do after the Awards Show to celebrate?
TB: I went to my hotel room. I had worked all day long [at the Adult Entertainment Expo]. When I was signing for Elegant Angel I really put my heart into it. That’s where my voice went. I rewarded myself with a good night’s sleep, and way too expensive room service. I ordered in and spent a lot of money on food that I didn’t eat. I took a bath and went to bed. I’m kind of a homebody as it is. Sometimes Vegas is a little overwhelming so I thought if I retire for the evening I don’t think anybody will mind. ... I was actually the first person on the floor the next day to sign.
AVN: What’s next for you?
TB: I’m starting my feature dancing this coming weekend [Jan. 21-23], that’s opening up another avenue for me. My website [toriblack.com] started in September. I’m really looking to build on my website and collect a bunch of scenes. I really want to make this year a new experience. I’m sure that I will find something.
There is no way I’ve experienced everything I’m going to experience. As opportunities arise I just need to take them. I’m considering looking into shooting some of my own stuff and maybe having a line of movies that I direct. We’ll see where we go from there. I’m looking into a potential upcoming toy deal which would be really awesome. I’m trying to expand into different areas. ... I’m booked out to March, flying to England and Mexico.
