LOS ANGELES—Alex Grey told AVN her first year in porn has been an education unlike any she could’ve imagined.
“I’ve loved it,” Grey said. “I don’t want this to end anytime soon.”
The good news for fans of adult entertainment is she’s just getting warmed up.
The 19-year-old native of North Carolina seemed primed for the fast track from the beginning when she racked up almost 100,000 followers as a webcam girl for Chaturbate—in less than a month.
It was around that time John Steven, the owner of Matrix Models, saw the potential in the blue-eyed, baby-faced newbie, who was camming as Asuna Luv, a name inspired by one of Grey’s favorite TV series, from her home in Hillsborough.
“I met her through another model that I was working with, she told me about her,” Steven recalled. “So I started chatting with her.”
Grey landed in L.A. on April 23, 2015, three days after her birthday, and now her career is “exploding,” Steven said.
“She literally works almost every day,” Steven told AVN.
The blonde stunner worked exclusively with X-Art during her first six months; she signed with the erotic glamour site not long after she dazzled in her first photo shoot.
“Literally the first shoot they loved and they were like we want to sign you to a contract but I didn’t want to do boy/girl [scenes] at that point,” Grey said. “I came out here and I was so overwhelmed. I always wanted to be in California, so it was like trying to absorb everything and listen to everyone and get a feel for it.
“I was still so naive about all these contract things.”
Her first on-camera sex with a guy actually was a three-way with Michael Vegas and Aubrey Star. Then she did a four-way with Mick Blue, Chad White and Star.
“And then I did my first boy/girl. At that point I was like I love doing this and it gave me a huge confidence boost about my body because I hated it at the time,” Grey admitted.
Now as her confidence continues to grow, so does her profile. She’s less than two months removed from gracing the cover of the December issue of Penthouse and less than two weeks removed from the debut of what is arguably her biggest scene to date—her first anal.
That scene was with none other than Mick Blue for Tushy, both of which cleaned up last month at the 33rd annual AVN Awards in Las Vegas.
“It was such an experience being at AVN. I think it was like the craziest four days ever,” Grey said. “The people in the industry are just so open-minded. For the girls that want to make it, it’s not a competition. There’s obviously drama here and there but for those of us that want to be serious about this it’s all supportive. We’re happy for each other.”
Indeed, Grey rolled into Las Vegas for the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo and AVN Awards with momentum and came out of it with even more.
She had already been in contact with Tushy’s chief creative officer and director, Greg Lansky, before Vegas about doing her first anal scene, “and I was like ok I’ll do it for my birthday. I was going to wait and do it for my [one-year] mark.”
“But at AVN I was so excited about everything and I went up to Greg and Jules [Jordan] and I was like, ‘Let’s do this. I want to do this now,’” Grey continued. “‘I want to do these scenes with you guys. Let’s get to know each other. Let’s be best friends. Let’s make amazing movies.’
“… Chris [Strokes] was with me the whole time so I have a lot of thanks to him for that because he’s close with both of them. So I felt a little bit more comfortable I think approaching them.”
Knowing that Grey was ready to go, Lansky & Co. wasted no time when they got back to L.A., shooting her with the two-time Male Performer of the Year Mick Blue a week later.
That scene turned into the Valentine’s Day update on Tushy.com, the eight-month-old juggernaut that accounted for seven AVN Awards on Jan. 23.
“Greg made an amazing deal out of my scene with the press release and everything. It’s great. Everything on my social media is just blowing up,” Grey said. “I actually looked at the scene today and since it came out it’s at 9.5 out of 10 stars.
“So it’s awesome. It’s exactly what I wanted to do. And it was fun and I just completely enjoyed it. The crew, they just make you comfortable.”
Grey performed so well that Lansky’s Tushy and Jules Jordan made a four-scene deal with her to do anal only for their studios in the near future.
“I love doing it,” she said, adding that she already enjoyed anal off-camera before doing it on film. “So I have two scenes with Greg and then two with Jules and that’s the deal for six months for anal. And then I’m going to make people get tired of those scenes and then start booking for it, working for other companies.
“I think the contract deal that we have is perfect because it’s two completely different kinds of scenes and different styles of shooting.”
Lansky told AVN Grey rocked her scene with the consummate pro Blue.
“To me Alex…first of all there is no real definition of beauty. I want to make sure that I state that,” Lansky said. “It’s a completely subjective matter. But Alex is to my taste as beautiful as they get. She’s an amazing natural beauty. I’m a big fan—always have been—of natural beauty. No makeup. Not everyone can pull off this look, but she can.
“Aside from being beautiful she has a very interesting personality. So we had a great collaboration. We had a fantastic first anal with Mick Blue, who’s also an amazing artist himself.”
Grey said she had yet to meet a director quite like the French maestro Lansky.
“It’s insane. He’s just like the nicest guy and it was the nicest set I’ve ever been on,” she said. “As soon as we would cut Jared [the talent liaison] would have a robe for me or have my UGG boots ready—my sparkly pink boots I’m known for. I’ve worn them in so many scenes. I’m just butt-ass naked with these pink UGG boots on.”
Lansky added, “I think with Alex, I treated her No. 1 like a star; No. 2 like an artist as well. Because I want performers that work for me to feel like they are fucking artists. I think that that’s my job as a director to also make talent feel good about what they do.”
Grey’s hot streak included taking the AVN Awards stage at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for the first time as one of the night’s presenters. Wearing a form-fitting red gown, she joined Katie Morgan and Janice Griffith to hand out the awards for Best Actress (Penny Pax) and Male Performer of the Year (Mick Blue).
“I was like freaking out,” Grey recalled. “Everyone that I look up to is out there watching me. All my fans are out there watching me. And I got up there and couldn’t stop smiling. It was perfect.
“My dress, she tailored it perfectly so I didn’t have to worry about tripping, but it still brushed the floor. But red was the color of the night and I met London Keyes and our dresses matched perfectly.
“I was up on stage and I was with Katie Morgan and literally that made everything so comfortable. I love Katie. When I saw that I was presenting with her, I said ‘I’m good.’”
An admitted perfectionist, Grey said she typed her lines into her phone so she could memorize them better. Then she went slightly off script, announcing, “and now the ladies of adult cinema at their finest” before reading Penny Pax’s name.
“It totally did not say that on the teleprompter,” Grey joked. “I said ‘finest’ rather than ‘best,’ so it was good improv. I pat myself on the back for that.
“So then that transitioned into us presenting Male Performer of the Year and of course Mick Blue wins and then a week later I do my scene with him. So yeah I got to present his award and I think my line was like, ‘A lot of men think they’re great at sex but the winner of this next award will actually have a trophy to prove it.’
“I’m never going to forget. … It just blew my mind. My Penthouse cover had just come out. Then I was privileged to shoot the [X-Art] promo [for the AVN Awards]. Then I got approached, pulled to the side in the corner, ‘Do you want to be on stage for AVN?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah. I think so, yes!’”
Not bad at all for the military brat who was born in Georgia and also lived in Kansas before growing up in the small town of Hillsborough, about 42 miles from Raleigh. It was where she took college classes during her junior and senior years, graduating with a diploma and an associate’s degree.
“Everything’s so slow-paced there and I’m in love with the fast life here,” Grey said.
Speaking of fast, her Penthouse cover also was a welcome surprise.
“Tammy Sands shot my cover and I worked with her twice before I was ever approached about Penthouse,” Grey said. “She shoots a lot of their covers and I didn’t even know that.”
Grey said she found out she was lined up for Penthouse when Sands texted her in the middle of the night.
“I was like, ‘no way, is this real?’” Grey recalled.
A few months later she actually signed a copy of the issue, which features her in a white, winter-themed pictorial, for a girlfriend she ran into at the airport on her way back to L.A.
“That was a cool feeling," Grey said. “Tammy told me it was one of her favorite covers that she’s ever shot. Just to hear that from such an amazing photographer was just another confidence boost. Every time someone out here compliments me it’s just like things I’ve never heard before.”
Grey added, “It hasn’t even been a year yet and all these amazing things have happened. It’s mind blowing and I’m just trying to stay humble. … Back to AVN, I can’t stop talking about it actually. I keep having memories. I was hanging out with Carter Cruise and I met Jessie Andrews and I wear her jewelry—her Bagatiba line. I love her music. I listened to her music before I ever realized she was a porn star.”
Grey said she wants to pursue her passions like the AVN Award-winner Andrews has done.
“I want to make it to that point where I can branch out and do what I love,” said Grey, who wouldn’t mind stepping behind the camera some day. “In this city those things are possible here. They’re not possible back home. I definitely feel like I’m in the right place doing the right thing right now. It’s a good feeling.”
Her recent opportunities also included being hired for a one-day part in Vital Signs, which is Apple’s inaugural original TV series. It's billed as a semi-autobiographical drama starring and executive produced by Dr. Dre.
“I was on set for a 12-hour day and I was in like four scenes,” Grey said.
“Obviously, because I shoot adult content I did some nude simulation. I was topless in one scene and there was an orgy scene. In the article that came out they blew up the orgy scene because of course everyone thinks that being nude is so crazy and radical…
“He had me in like the typical Greek pose arched on the floor. I’m front and center of the whole frame for the entire scene. It’s me and everything’s going on behind me.”
Grey wouldn’t mind doing more mainstream gigs, but she concluded, “I would rather be on a set to have sex.”
“It’s so much more laid back. The crew is cool. I can play my own music and I have like heart-to-hearts with every makeup artist, I don’t know why. It just happens. I always vibe with the makeup artist,” Grey said with a laugh. “I feel like every set I’ve been on has been a success. I’ve never left feeling like I’m never shooting again. Never. Everyone I’ve worked for has been like really, really amazing.”
She continued, “I’m in it to actually promote myself as an adult star. That’s the point of this at this point. At first it was like I just need money. But now I’m into it and I love it and I want to be Nikki Benz status.”
At press time Grey was scheduled to shoot for Nubiles in Arizona and Porn Pros in Vegas in addition to getting the box cover for Super Cute Vol. 4, a Hard X production.
