A version of this feature appeared in the October 2019 issue of AVN magazine. Click here for the digital edition.
LOS ANGELES—Abby Lee Brazil bartended at a nightclub in Florida before porn, not to mention worked as a Hooters Girl.
The gorgeous 5-foot-8 performer still likes going to Hooters every so often—that is when she can get someone to accompany her.
“I’m obsessed with the fried pickles there,” Brazil confesses. “I’m always asking all my girlfriends if they want to go to Hooters with me. I’ll even tell them, ‘Everything is on me; I’ll pay for it.’ And no one wants to go Hooters. I love their fried pickles so much…”
She looks back at her time in West Palm Beach and Pembroke Pines with many fond memories.
“Those jobs were fun, especially for a young girl like me in her early 20s,” Brazil says. “It was awesome. Because you want to party; you want to be out…”
Nowadays Brazil prefers a quieter life when she’s not on set or feature dancing. She’s content to take her “hyper” Yorkshire Terrier to the park and spend time at her favorite hangout—the beach.
“I like the peacefulness of the beach and what it brings me—and my dog loves to dig holes. My Yorkie has the energy of three dogs,” she says with a laugh.
Speaking of energy, Brazil returned to performing with newfound enthusiasm in April after more than a two-year hiatus in which she focused on her health.
“I guess I was little bit nervous coming back and seeing how things have changed, but I was just really ready to shoot again,” Brazil tells AVN.
Born in Boston and raised in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais in Brazil, she made her porn debut in 2014, starring in more than 70 titles before undergoing surgery to have her gall bladder removed in October 2015.
“I had my surgery and then things got complicated, so I stopped shooting because I lost a lot of weight and I wasn’t myself—not only physically, but mentally I wasn’t there at all,” Brazil explains. “I would go look at myself in the mirror and think that I didn’t look like myself—why am I so skinny?
“My mindset needs to be right in order to be a good performer and have fun and enjoy my work. That wasn’t happening and I actually got really depressed. So I just stepped away to take care of myself. And I did that and I’m still taking care of myself, trying to get my weight back to what I was originally used to. I’m healthy now.”
Even though she says gaining weight “can be a struggle for me,” Brazil has been keeping her body in optimum shape—and producers have taken notice. Now represented exclusively for bookings by OC Modeling, Brazil’s hard work is paying off as she has shot several high-profile scenes already in 2019 with more on the way.
“I’ve been shooting two or three times a month and it’s been really great. I’m having a lot of fun. It’s really good to be on set with everyone again,” Brazil says. “I missed everyone—the performers, the directors and the makeup artists.”
One company that loves shooting Brazil is VR Bangers, which keeps inviting her back.
“They’ve always been a favorite company of mine to work for. They’re really nice people and I really enjoy working for them. [Xander Porn] is a really good director and they have really good photographers,” Brazil says.
“I did a boy/girl anal with Will Pounder and Xander was the director—it was really awesome. I’ve never shot a VR anal and I thought it would be difficult but it wasn’t a challenge at all.”
She was also scheduled to shoot a group scene with another girl and two guys at press time in August.
“I am taking the scenes as they come, but obviously I still want to put myself first,” Brazil reasons. “Not that I’m that demanding and I want everyone to put me on a pedestal. But as a human being I want my feelings to be considered. I need to be in the right mindset and be healthy and with my mind clear to enjoy my work. But I look forward to the AVNs and dancing again and shooting with everyone. I hope to shoot with a lot of the big companies. We’ll see what the future brings.
“A lot of people are really happy I’m back and it feels really good to see everyone’s reaction and how they missed me.”
One man who was glad to see Brazil back in the saddle was Charles Dera, aka Karl ToughLove, who hooked up with Brazil for his site, ToughLoveX.com.
“I had never worked with Charles before I signed with OC… He’s awesome,” she says. “We drove three hours to the middle of the desert and we shot in an abandoned waterpark. It was really cool. I had so much fun. Xander was the director for that one, too.”
Brazil also shot her first double-penetration scene for Evil Angel, taking on two AVN Hall of Fame performers in Mick Blue and Ramon Nomar.
“I thought that I was going to be nervous, but as soon as I got on set everything came into place and I killed the scene,” she says. “I’ve worked with Mick before but I hadn’t worked with Ramon prior to that.
“It was my first DP in a while. I just wanted everything to come out really pretty and I wanted everything to really look good.”
Brazil says she wanted to sign with OC Modeling many years ago.
“I always kept in touch with [OC Modeling agent Sandra] and always wanted to be with the OC family. She’s great; I love her so much,” Brazil adds.
Raised in Belo Horizonte until she was 17, Brazil actually finished high school in Stuart, Fla., about 35 minutes from West Palm Beach.
During her hiatus from adult, Brazil moved near the beach north of LA in Ventura County.
“I still was around on my Snapchat; I would post on that all the time and I would go to some parties and see some of the girls or they would come see me at the beach,” she says. “I stayed friends with a lot of people just low key.”
Brazil at press time was looking forward to her 30th birthday on September 8.
“I guess I’m ready for my 30s,” she jokes.
Photography courtesy of Evan Redstar/VR Bangers
