A version of this article—an on-the-set report about Drive, Kayden Kross' big movie of the year, ran in the November 2019 issue of AVN magazine. See the digital edition here.
It’s the third day of a planned seven-day shoot for this year’s big movie from reigning AVN Director of the Year Kayden Kross, and she’s striding briskly down a hallway space set up inside a cavernous studio space in downtown Los Angeles. Soon the day’s shooting will begin, but for right now two-time Transsexual Performer of the Year winner Aubrey Kate is waiting for her turn with the makeup artist in a smaller room outfitted with couches. She’s booked to shoot a scene with two-time Female Performer of the Year Angela White, who plays the lead character in the movie. Sitting next to Aubrey are Pierce Paris and Dante Colle, two versatile adult stars who work in trans, bi and gay scenes. All three of them have worked together multiple times.
Kross says of the production, “It’s called Drive. I like that it’s a single syllable. It’s got a direct, hard sound to it.” It’s already mid-August, but Kross plans to have it out by September 30—the AVN Awards eligibility deadline: “I think we’re going to not sleep and get it done.”
“Angela’s been great,” Kross said. “This has almost been like a collaboration with her. She approached me originally. That’s how this project came to be. She called me and invited me to coffee and was, like, ‘I want you to make something with me.’ And I said, ‘You know what? That’s what I want to hear. I want to make something with someone who is as invested as I am.’ So I wrote it to her completely.”
White describes her character: a workaholic political consultant who has repressed her sexuality so completely that she’s undergoing therapy. “I have this incredible drive, and I realize it’s dangerous,” she says. But ultimately it’s not her therapist who helps her—it’s a mysterious woman who is the embodiment of her sexuality.
The lineup for the final group scene in Drive included (back row) Mick Blue, Emily Willis, Isiah Maxwell, Angela White, Marcus Dupree, Kira Noir, Rob Piper (front row) Alex Mack and Jason Moody.
Yesterday White made it through the movie’s biggest set piece. “We shot a really intense orgy last night. It was a beautiful scene. Crazy. There were four main guys and there were three blowbang guys and there were three girls. It’s was fun because I got d.p.ed and then I got to really unleash in that scene because that’s the moment when my character lets go. And so I’m stealing cocks off the other girls. I’m stealing the cum. It’s all me. It’s this moment where I get to be completely selfish and ask everybody to do everything to me. In the end I actually get tied up and suspended and I get fucked while in suspension and I keep begging for more, more, more. Until I actually go so far that I faint. I didn’t actually—though with the suspension I was getting close to it!”
White enthuses, “We had a plexiglas table so for some of the action the camera crew was able to get under the the table to look up and get the perspective that you don’t usually get. I’m very excited to see that, because Markus made me squirt all over the plexiglas. Kayden said that was pretty spectacular, especially when I was being used as a mop to mop it all up. So I’m excited to see that footage.”
Asked about the script, White explains, “Things have been changing on the fly. I’ve been working on my character. I’ve certainly recognized in myself that my drive is dangerous, especially if I push it to the limits. And so you learn in the movie that I’ve been repressing it for many many years. I haven’t even had an orgasm. That’s how scared I am of my own drive.”
Playing the character who represents White’s libido is Maitland Ward, a porn newcomer but a seasoned mainstream actress who is best known for the television series Boy Meets World. Ward was also on set that day—standing even taller than her six-foot height in stilettos and laced into a tight black corset, she leads White around on a leash, figuratively and literally controlling White’s sexual energies.
Kross shares a copy of the script, which is much more dialogue-heavy than After Dark, which won Best Drama at the 2019 AVN Awards. But even richer than the dialogue are her descriptions of the action, which vividly bring the story to life.
White certainly agrees. As she explains the plot, she concedes, “It’s better if you just read the last page. Kayden has written it better than I could ever describe it.”
Last year Kross directed White in two Trenchcoatx features, including “Who’s Becky,” which garnered the Australian performer an AVN Award for Best Actress - Featurette. And this year Kross cast her in a two-episode series for the launch of Deeper.com. But, White says, “This is the first really big movie we’re done. This is next level.”
Sitting on the floor in a quiet corner of the warehouse, Kross sets aside her laptop to talk about Drive. Calm and relaxed, she says, “I did so much work prior to coming to set that I’m actually finding myself sitting down on set, which is not something I’m used to. … Everyone’s doing exactly what they should be doing. We’re losing no time right now, but I am seated. And it’s a very unique situation.”
And given the production’s size, that’s an accomplishment. Kross goes over the breadth of the scenes and the performers she’s chosen.“I feel like I would like to pat myself on the back for my casting. I’m not unique in this. … When I’m shooting my day-to-day content I’m always keeping in the back of my mind the people who really stand out for the big stuff.”
Lena Paul, Angela White, Alina Lopez and Autumn Falls take on Manuel Ferrara in Drive (Deeper/Vixen Media Group).
This is particularly important in the group scenes, she says. “My reverse gangbang—I’m so proud of this one; this scene was perfect. I can’t imagine one space where I said, ‘I wish this could have been better. Perfect. It was Manuel and then Alina Lopez, Autumn Falls, Angela White and Lena Paul. Like, perfect. And then the big orgy we had seven men, and then we had Kira Noir and Emily Willis with Angela. … Emily and Kira balance really well. They complement each other. They’re similar build, similar size. One doesn’t outshine the other sexually. They’re all in, 100 percent full throttle, but they still allow Angela to stand out in the way she needs to. Because in our story she needs to be the one overdosing. They didn’t hold back—they just walked that line perfectly.”
In addition to the more seasoned players, Kross also cast some newbies. “I’m really excited about Brooklyn Gray. I just shot her. To me she’s going to be someone to watch next year as a Best New Starlet. … I’m beyond impressed with her. I’m excited to have a newer girl who’s going to not lag behind in the way she performs on set.”
And then there’s the casting of Ward, who had only done a handful of scenes before tackling Drive. Kross had written the role for another performer, who had to bow out.
“The day that I knew I had to replace that person, Maitland’s sales numbers came back on Blacked,” Kross said, so the Vixen team encouraged her to consider Ward. “I looked her up and she’s kind of particular. She only takes projects that she wants. So I sent the script. …
“What I love about her is I will say something that I need on that day, and she reflects the look. She just immediately mirrors the look on her face. As an example, it’s really unique. I’ve never worked with that before.”
Today, the cast and crew are shooting a series of short moments as Angela makes her way through a sex club at the end of a leash held by Maitland. “She snapped and she’s just fucking her way through everything and there’s no break from one thing to the next,” Kross relates. “At first Maitland is trying to control what she’s doing. Like for so long she’s been repressing her sexuality and now her sexuality is like, ‘Hey, chill out. You’re going a little overboard.’”
During her rampage, White participates in a reverse ganging, and then a pegging scene with Joanna Angel and Wolf Hudson. Throughout, she keeps seeing Aubrey Kate. “She’s making her way through these bodies, trying to find her. And today she finds her, and that’s what we’re shooting. We’ve got an encounter with Aubrey, Pierce Paris, Dante [Colle] and Angela where it Xjust turns into this quick and dirty thing. And then Maitland calls her away.”
Kross explains that in between the reverse ganging and the final orgy are “real sexual encounters that are brief. And this is where we’re doing something that I don’t think has been done, maybe it has. I hate saying something’s never been done in porn, because that’s stupid and is probably not true. But I have not seen a feature movie from a more mainstream company that includes bisexual, transsexual, pegging, gay interactions—interactions of all kinds. … Angela unleashing is Angela fucking her way through every person who comes across her path.”
She describes Kate’s character as “the belle of the ball,” and reveals she will be wearing the forest green gown that Kross wore at the 2019 AVN Awards. White keeps getting glimpses of Kate in between her other encounters and then finally finds the elusive beauty engaged with the two men. “And so that’s what we’re filming today.”
Kross credits White with delineating “the particulars of these encounters. She made a good point—it’s not truly bisexual if we don’t have a man with a man with a woman. And … if we leave out having some sort of transsexual experience at that point, it’s sort of a gross oversight. … Of course, it would be impossible to represent the range of sexual behavior available to us, but we’re trying to get some broad strokes, so that we’re not representing heterosexual activity as the only thing you’re really going to go toward if nothing stops you.”
Angela White and Gabbie Carter in Drive (Deeper/Vixen Media Group).
White has been on her own journey this year, rampaging through the porn world with the same energy and passion her character will exhibit today. Fearless and open, she’s taken on three other massive projects: Perspective, a psychodrama about a couple’s descent into madness, directed by Bree Mills (Adult Time/Pulse); Angela White Dark Side, a six-scene showcase directed by Jules Jordan; and finally, her fifth volume of Angela Loves Women (AGW/Girlfriends Films).
And according to White, the scene from Drive is a harbinger of what’s to come. “It’s not a full [bi] scene this time. It’s more of a moment. … But it’s really cool to even have that moment, and I’d love to do a full scene, hopefully soon. But even to have a moment like this in a huge mainstream movie, it’s a big deal.”
In addition to Ward and the four performers in today’s main scene, there are also some other performers playing clients at the sex club. There are two relative male newcomers: Jason Moody, an Israeli who came into the business two years under Markus Dupree’s wing, and Tommy Wood, a Czech performer who recently started shooting in the U.S. And there to provide more eye candy are Aria Lee, Verronica Kirei and Katy Jayne.
Kross directs the setup of the shot where Angela tries to catch Aubrey Kate in the hallway. She prepares a faux cocktail for Kate with some glassware on a car. “I love the bar cart,” she says. “This is an aggressive bar cart.”
As Aubrey walks down a hallway, Angela sees her from a side room. She runs out, wearing a strap-on, which she rips off. Kross comments on the takes. "That was the best flying dildo shot of all time,” she cheers.
Once that scene is nailed, they move on. White runs right by Colle and Lee, who mime a standing doggie sex act, while K drips wax in her inside forearm. Afterward, Colle asks, “How did my butt look?” Kirei responds, “Tight."
A love seat, lamp and armchair are set up for the scene where White finally connects with Kate. A translucent curtain is behind them, and there are figures back there—someone is getting flogged. Kross surveys the setup through the monitor with satisfaction.
Colle asks White if there’s anything he should not do: “Like, don’t touch the hair.” And White does the same. Colle takes his place on the couch next to Kate, and they begin touching. Colle is shirtless, showing a distinctive circular tattoo on his left pec. Paris is in the armchair, fully dressed in a suit and looking somewhat aloof.
White comes upon this tableau and leaps at the chance to touch the object of her desire. Colle watches as White blows Kate.
Meanwhile, in the background, the extras stay busy. “Jason, do not stop flogging,” Kross directs. “Let me have some bodies crossing my shadow. Background bodies, find your way out.”
Through the monitor, the scene is intimate, sensual. Colle and Paris engage with each other, while White focuses on Kate. But the tryst is soon broken up.
“Pretty quickly you’re going to hear [Ward] and look up,” Kross tells White. “And this time when you leave, it’s not to chase someone. It’s because she’s pulling you out. … You’re regretful you have to leave, but her pull is always the strongest.”
After the final cut, Kross says. “You guys are fucking amazing.”
White checks over the playback on the monitor: “Aubrey, Dante—come have a look!” They gather around to absorb the scene they’ve created.
Next, a new configuration of bodies is set up for an even shorter scene. Paris and Jayne walk by, arm in arm, carrying cocktails: “Very high society,” Kross directs. Again, Angela runs into the scene, shoves aside one of the bodies and begins blowing a bespectacled Tommy Wood. And again, Ward jerks her away. White gives her a fierce look, but pulls herself away.
Once it’s all edited together, these fleeting scenes will create a rhythm for White’s sexual rampage. Kross is loving the process. “If i could do five-minute sex scenes all the time, I’d be so happy.”
After shooting these scenes, White and Ward talk about what comes next. In a couple of day, Ward plans to shoot a boy/girl scene with Manuel Ferrara, who plays White’s husband. But for the rest of today, it will be mostly B-roll—shot outside on the streets of downtown Los Angeles.
And later tonight comes a scene involving Angela’s younger self, when she almost let herself go with her boyfriend, played by Wood (sans glasses). The setup with involve bicycles. White muses, “I haven’t ridden a bike in so long. But they say it’s just like riding a cock.”
Ba-dum ching … cue laughter.
