A version of this feature appeared in the March 2020 issue of AVN magazine. Click here for the digital edition.
LOS ANGELES—Liya Silver came into porn with prior modeling experience, collaborating with one of the largest social media platforms in the world during its early stages.
“I was engaged in the development of Instagram,” Silver revealed to AVN. “I worked at the workshop and worked with showrooms.”
Silver, who turned 21 on February 25, won the 2020 AVN Award for Best New Foreign Starlet in January, making history in the process as the first ever winner in the category.
The gorgeous performer, who grew up in the central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan—which is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west and southwest, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east—started her porn career about a-year-and-half ago in Europe.
"I was born in Kyrgyzstan, lived there with my mother until I graduated from high school, and then I moved to my father in Petersburg, [Russia],” Silver said. “Usually, I speak in Russian. My English is still bad, but I have a lot of practice.”
Silver also received the 2020 AVN Award for Best Foreign-Shot Boy/Girl Sex Scene for her tussle with Ricky Mancini in Liya 4 You, which was produced by French porn powerhouse Marc Dorcel.
Silver still had less than 50 performing credits at press time, according to IAFD.com, preferring quality over quantity.
“I have no idea how many scenes with me have already been shot,” Silver said. “I think not too much.
“… I take off depending on my morale sometimes the whole month. Sometimes two weeks a month; sometimes several times. I spend a lot of energy on the set. It drains me. Acting in moderation, on the contrary, I charge with positive.”
Some of her most high-profile work without question is for Vixen Media Group—she has shot for both Vixen and Blacked twice and three times for Tushy.
“I like my scene for Blacked Raw [with Joss Lescaf],” Silver said, referring to “Joy Ride,” which debuted on the site in January 2019. “At first I was nervous, but then the team helped me calm down; I think I'm real there and look good in the frame.”
She continued, “I really like working with Vixen and Tushy. The scenes look aesthetically pleasing and there is always a good atmosphere on the set, despite the fuss.”
Silver said she got into porn after getting out of a relationship.
“And I was disappointed. It was a really boring life. I wanted action. Also I wanted PR, so that people talk about me. I always loved men's attention,” Silver admitted. “I like a lot in my work—traveling, sex, money, the emotions that I get, and making new friends.”
In our interview, which was less than two weeks before the 37th annual AVN Awards on January 25 in Las Vegas, Silver said, “I am pleasantly surprised to be nominated. It motivates me and raises my self-esteem.”
Represented by Budapest, Hungary-based JulModels—which is owned by Julia Grandi, who is now also a full-time producer/director for Vixen Media Group—Silver said it was a girlfriend of hers who connected her to Grandi, whose agency includes about 200 European models.
“She was a porn actress and was familiar with her,” Silver said. “I am grateful to my agency for their support, the opportunity to travel and make new friends, and I am grateful to my family for their love and understanding.”
When Silver isn’t working, she enjoys going for walks, seeing a movie at the cinema and going to parties.
“When I have free time I like to take horseback riding, skiing, arrange some kind of creative shooting, I like to get out of town,” she added.
“I go to the cinema for different genres. I love comedies, thrillers, melodramas. I never watch horrors and dramas because I am very impressive.”
Her distinctive tattoos include a lion in the middle of her chest.
“This sketch was chosen by my ex-boyfriend, as she beautifully emphasizes the chest,” Silver said. “Another ex-boyfriend chose a tattoo on my leg. It’s a wreath of peonies. It’s my first one. The tattoos mean nothing; I just like the pictures.”
Silver said porn has allowed her to show some of her personality that was not previously visible—such as her naughty side.
“In this industry I can reveal some of my qualities that I carefully hid at school age, just that I can be very stress resistant,” she said.
She would like to visit Hawaii someday. “I always wanted to go there,” Silver said.
But apart from that, Silver takes each day as it comes.
“I have no plans for 2020. I just trust fate. Such a person as me can’t make plans,” Silver said. “I change my mind every week and make decisions in half an hour.”
Photography courtesy of Vixen Media Group
