LOS ANGELES—About three years after “slowly” entering the adult industry, and just 10 years after showing up in the United States for the first time, speaking no English, Alex Mack now finds himself nominated for two 2021 AVN Awards — including Best Male Newcomer — and working steadily for such major studios as Naughty America, Hustler, VR Bangers, and others. That’s quite a journey for an economics student from Siberia, Russia, after what he now calls an “impulsive decision” to relocate to Southern California.
“Back in 2010, I visited California and basically fell in love with it. I lived right by the beach, and liked it so much that I came back to Russia and was like, ‘This doesn’t feel like home anymore.’”
His decision was propelled in part by the California weather, which is just a little more livable than the Siberian climate. “I come from a very cold part of Russia. Even though we have four seasons, and it gets pretty hot in the summer, still it gets extremely cold in the winter.”
So he packed up and returned to California, at the age of 22, with no prospects and not even any command of the language. “My parents did support me for the first year. When I moved to the United States I didn’t speak any English. None. Wasn’t able to order food in a restaurant. And then I moved by myself, learned English as quickly as I could, and went to college here as well.”
Mack had already completed a university education in Russia, earning a Master's degree in Economics from Kemerovo State University in southwestern Siberia. But in the U.S., he added a two-year associates degree in computer science from El Camino College in Torrance, California — which served him well not only prior to the launch of his career as an adult industry performer, but this year when the industry was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He worked an IT job, as he had before entering the industry, which enabled him not only to earn money, but do so remotely, from home.
In fact, it was his previous work at an IT firm in Los Angeles that provided him his somewhat tentative start as an on-camera performer. He became friends with a co-worker who, as it turned out, was married to performer Jennifer White. And through that couple, he met director Jim Powers.
“At some point, Jim invited me to one of his shoots. He was doing a few scenes, and trying to stream it live as well. So I helped him with that technically, with the computers and stuff. And then he was like, ‘Hey, if you want to participate, get tested and stuff.’ So I did that a couple of times. He didn’t show my face or anything, because I wasn’t ready for that.”
His new friends then took Mack to his first AVN Expo. “I had a blast over there, an amazing time at AVN,” he said. “Met a ton of girls.” And from there, he “started shooting content, little by little.”
At that point, he had yet to reveal his face in a shoot. “It wasn’t about making money. It was more for me to have fun, the girls get content. That’s it. And at one point, I had one girl, who was like, ‘Hey, let’s shoot some content, but I’m going to have a videographer there. He’s going to capture your face and everything.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, man.’”
He didn’t agree right away. It took some time to come to the decision — and when he did, he Skyped Russia and spoke to his parents.
“I told them, that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m basically going to get a second job. I’m going to join porn. I’m going to shoot some scenes. Obviously, they weren’t very thrilled about it. They still aren’t. But they did support my decision. They always did. I moved to a strange country. I have two degrees. I was doing pretty well for myself. So they said, ‘If that’s something you want to do, go ahead.’”
But Mack did not plunge into the industry headlong. He proceeded “very slowly,” shooting scenes only occasionally — until about a year-and-a-half ago when he “decided to jump in and make a living out of it.” It then took him another six months or so to quit his day job at the IT firm. Now, a year later, he’s a two-time AVN award nominee.
“So far, I’m having a blast. There’s good days and bad days. It’s still a job. But I love what I’m doing. I’m meeting all these cool people, working with all hot girls. Who wouldn’t like that, right?”
He also became close friends with fellow Russian emigre Markus Dupree, who became something of a mentor to Mack, as well as a neighbor. The pair lived “two minutes walk from each other” in Hollywood. It was Dupree who pushed Mack to seek professional representation, which led to his contact with ATMLA, the firm that still serves as his agency.
“Markus, he really taught me a lot,” Mack says. “For example, some of the positioning. I didn’t know how important it is, at the beginning. He taught me what positions, when you do, like, threesomes, DPs, and all that. He explained a lot of details. Likem how to do it the way that you don’t get too tired — he really helped me a lot.”
Now that he’s established his own career in the industry, Mack hopes to pass on that knowledge, and everything else he has learned along the way, to other newcomers.
“The industry is not a competition. If there’s a new talent who comes up to me for advice, I’m gonna help. I’m going to tell him everything I know. And wish him best of luck. Because we’re all a family here. That’s how I see it.”
