LOS ANGELES—Scarlett Sage likes to maintain a positive attitude no matter what may be going on around her.
“I think that when I was growing up that I allowed other people to affect me,” Sage admits. “And when I came into the business I kind of cleaned the slate of who I was and who I wanted to be.
“And I was like, ‘This is what I want from life and I don’t want to be affected by other people—because their negativity is going to look bad on them. And when I allow their negativity to affect me it looks bad on me. So therefore I’m not going to let another person control my life and my image.’”
That wise approach is paying dividends for the 22-year-old native of Virginia Beach, Va., who has emerged as one of the top girl/girl performers in the industry during her fourth year in adult entertainment.
"Some days, yes, it’s a long day and I’m tired,” Sage continues. “But you know what, I just find ways to keep it positive. I’ll drink some Red Bull or coffee or I’ll play some music just to pump it up.
“And hopefully my positive energy can shed on someone else and create a positive energy to trickle down instead of a negative. Because negativity seems to affect people more than positivity.”
It’s no wonder why several influential producers point to Sage’s enthusiasm, professionalism and versatility when she’s on the set—not to mention her All-American, girl-next-door sex appeal. The 2020 nominee for AVN All-Girl Performer of the Year—represented exclusively for bookings by Motley Models—has become a go-to girl for lesbian porn heavyweights such as Girlfriends Films and Girlsway, which is part of Gamma’s Adult Time network.
In fact the 2018 Girlsway Girl of the Year runner-up will be meeting her fans at the Adult Time booth inside Muse Hall at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Jan. 22-25 in Las Vegas.
“I have directed Scarlett in several different series for Adult Time, including Vivid's Where The Boys Aren’t, Girlcore, and We Like Girls,” says Bree Mills, the chief creative officer for Adult Time, who notes that Sage already has more than 30 scenes available on the platform.
“She is also a regular player across our various other lesbian series, including Girlsway and Lesbian Revenge. If it's GG, chances are Scarlett has been in a few!”
Mills continues, “She brings a very positive energy to set—no matter what the shoot—and is friendly, collected and always eager to dive into the headspace of her characters. I appreciate that she is an active listener and wants to take the day seriously, while still keeping a chill vibe with her co-stars and the crew.
“She's also been a great supporter of Adult Time at events and our recent film premiere and we're really happy to have her signing at our booth this year!”
Mills’ network is far from the only place where Sage is a fixture. She has amassed more than 40 scenes for Girlfriends Films going back to her debut for the studio three summers ago.
Sage built a library so extensive that Girlfriends Films released an eight-scene compilation called Scarlett Sage & Her Girlfriends in March.
“From the very beginning with Scarlett it was clear she had incredible acting ability,” says Moose, who is the owner and president of Girlfriends Films.
Moose tells AVN the founder of Girlfriends Films, Dan O’Connell—who sold the company to him in 2014 but continues to produce and direct—describes Sage as “a rare talent.”
“Someone who can perform in the scene but also has the acting chops to pull off some of the unique character roles he sets up in the scripts,” Moose continues.
"In a short time she became one of our family and fit right in. So naturally she was cast in many films. It’s well deserved to give Scarlett her own comp as one of our leading ladies and fan favorites.”
In Scarlett Sage & Her Girlfriends she shares the screen with performers such as Elsa Jean, Lena Paul, Reagan Foxx, Cory Chase, Karlee Grey, Syren De Mer, Kristen Scott and Tanya Tate in various kinky, story-driven scenarios.
“In that film you can probably see me evolve as a performer because some of the scenes are very old and some of them are recent,” Sage says. “So you can watch how my performance has changed—and my hair color. Because in some of them I had brown hair. But I like it because it’s me.
"I wasn’t always seasoned as a performer—or just in having sex. It’s a lot more than just sex and Girlfriends Films is fun because you can really…you don’t have to think as much and you can just have sex, which is my favorite.
“I like everything for what it is. I like to act and to perform and to do a scene where I’m acting a character like I’ve never done something before. And I like just being able to say, ‘OK, we can just have sex.’ … I thoroughly enjoy Girlfriends Films for that reason.”
Sage’s track record with Girlfriends Films places her among the studio’s most prolific performers of the past three years. For starters she has appeared in five volumes of Women Seeking Women—the winningest lesbian series in porn history—four volumes of Twisted Passions and three volumes each of Mother-Daughter Exchange Club and Lesbian Seductions.
Dan O’Connell, who started Girlfriends Films in 2002 and continues to produce and direct, tells AVN Sage is someone he can count on to deliver.
“I’ve liked Scarlett ever since the first day I shot her and she did a great job for us,” O’Connell says. “It was back in July 2016—with Syren DeMer—for Lesbian Seductions 56.
“I write all my own stories. As she is petite, I automatically played her as a submissive character the first three times. On the third shoot, she said that she is dominant in her real life. That was music to my ears, as dominant girls are rare. Most girls prefer a submissive role. So, from then on, I don’t think I ever gave her a submissive role, just dominant characters. I even played her as dominant to Romi Rain, who is one of the most naturally dominant women I’ve ever shot.
“I’ve partnered her with Romi several times and it has always been fun to see a smaller girl pushing around a larger, confident woman like Romi.”
Sage calls O’Connell “a character” who always cracks her up.
“The one thing I think about Dan is one time I think it was—I want to say it was Romi Rain. I was sucking on her nipple—or maybe it was Reagan Foxx—and he’s like, ‘OK, keep on sucking on her nipple and tell her you’re not gonna stop until she produces milk.’ And I’m like, ‘Dan! I’m trying to do the deed!’ And then it cuts,” Sage recalls.
“I found out recently that they want you to have a weird face at the end so then they can like do something with it.”
O’Connell reveals the thought of having Sage back on his set once made him drive his car off the freeway.
“A few years ago, Scarlett left the business for some months before returning as a girl-only performer,” O’Connell explains. “I’d been asking her agent, Dan Declan, about if and when she’d return. I was in North Dakota on vacation, speeding east on I-94 toward Jamestown, when I got a text informing me that she was returning. I pulled off at the next exit and booked her for three dates. That made my day!
"I’ve always been strong into storylines and characters as certain situations make sex much more interesting and erotic. I can always depend on Scarlett to take on any character I give her and come through with a first-class performance.”
Whitney Wright agrees. The industry’s newest A-list shot-caller recently directed Sage in Pledge Night: Origins, an upcoming feature for MissaX’s girl/girl site, AllHerLuv.
“Scarlett Sage truly immerses herself in every role that she is given,” Wright, who is nominated for Best Director - Dramatic Production for the 2020 AVN Awards, tells AVN. “The effort that she puts forth truly shines through and is recognized by her peers and fan base, resulting in a constant member request for her to reappear on sites.
“I know that when she’s on my set she’s going to give me 110 percent in terms of performance, energy and dedication—and she’ll have a wonderful attitude the entire day.”
In Pledge Night: Origins, Sage plays the 80s version of AVN Hall of Fame performer Julia Ann’s character from Pledge Night, which is about the sorority sisters of ATZ.
“So it was 80s themed. I had my hair crimped and like up,” Sage explains. “I basically got coaxed into having sex with my best friend, figuratively speaking. It was fun. It was me and Jenna Sativa. And we’re both top lesbian performers so to have to pretend that we’ve never had lesbian sex was hard for us but we did it, which was funny.
“So it was a cute style of sex scene which was fun for me. Being a seasoned performer I know what to do, so it’s always fun to now act as if I’ve never done anything before.”
Sage says she learned a lot of lines for her role in Pledge Night: Origins.
“And I take it very seriously,” she says. “It was the whole weekend—from like 10 a.m. to midnight the first day—and then we had to wake up at 10 a.m. the next day and we didn’t finish until 9 or 10. So it was a lot but it was exciting.”
Sage, who at press time had eight scenes on AllHerLuv with Pledge Night: Origins yet to debut, was named the November 2019 "Luv of the Month,” marking the second time she received the honor from MissaX and AllHerLuv; her first was in June 2018.
Speaking of monthly honors, Sage was Twistys Treat of the Month in May 2018, Penthouse Pet of the Month in June 2018 and she is Hustler magazine’s December 2019 Hustler Honey and cover girl.
“With Scarlett Sage’s beauty and poise—caught so well by photographer Victor Lightworship—she was a natural for our highest honor,” Anne Denbok, editorial director for Hustler, tells AVN. “The indoor shoot, with earth-tone colors, was perfectly suited to our December cover—and Scarlett’s incredible eyes capture your attention and mesmerize.”
On the same day Sage spoke to AVN she joined fellow Penthouse Pet and Motley Model, Emily Willis, at Penthouse headquarters in Chatsworth for the key ceremony in which they anointed December Pet of the Month Anny Aurora.
“They’re making it a whole family dynamic,” Sage explains. “We opened her key up and helped her put her key on. They’re starting to evolve so I’m excited to see where they’re going with it and I’m excited to be able to be a part of that family and cheer them on.”
Sam Phillips, who is director of Pet projects for Penthouse Media as well as the company’s production manager, says Sage embodies what she looks for in a Pet.
“I had met Scarlett and I was always told by the higher ups when I was looking for future Penthouse Pets to find Pets that were honestly like me,” Phillips, who was Pet of the Month in June 1993, tells AVN. “I was a former top model turned Penthouse Pet centerfold. I had a mainstream background when I got into the adult industry and [Penthouse founder] Bob [Guccione’s] M.O. when he was alive was to have the classiest, most beautiful, most glamorous Pets there were.
“And he started looking at mainstream for those women. He would say, ‘We want to find the next you. We want to find beautiful, model-looking women who are in the industry.’ And when Scarlett Sage walked in… She has the most gorgeous face. And talk about being polite and professional, this girl outshines them all.”
Phillips continues, “She really is a great den mom for the girls at that agency. She drives around a lot with them and helps them and advises them. There’s no one better in my opinion in terms of taking care of those girls and being a shining example for them.
“It’s such a great indicator with how far you’ve come in the industry and the mark that you’ve made when you’re chosen to be a Penthouse Pet. Because we don’t choose just anyone.”
Sage learned about the importance of a strong work ethic at a young age. The former two-sport athlete in high school—she played soccer all four years and competed on the cross country team that went to two championship meets—has had jobs since she was 15.
“My mom didn’t baby me. As soon as I turned 15 she was like, ‘Alright, you’re going to start working,’” Sage says. “My first job was at a yogurt shop. And then I just noticed it was going out of business…I could tell just based on the people coming in. Not a lot of people were coming in and I saw the financial stress of my owner.
“So I had another job opportunity as a hostess and I took that and they like promised me a certain amount of hours and they kind of like ripped me off, but that’s OK—it’s all good.”
Sage continues, “That’s how I learned how to have a backbone was when my boss did that. To promise a young girl a certain amount of money. I wasn’t like a 16-year-old kid that had no responsibilities. I had a car payment. I had bills I had to pay. So I was getting minimal pay of like $30 per week. And it was like 160-something for car insurance each month. So I couldn’t really buy anything. My mom helped out because she understood.”
When Sage turned 18, she started working at a seafood restaurant that also hosted pool tournaments and karaoke nights.
“And then I started understanding the bar scene,” she says. “I was just so open to adulthood at a young age. I saw what was going on.”
Her next job was supposed to be inventory and stocking at the local mom-and-pop jewelry store. But Sage soon proved she could do more than inventory—she also could sell.
“I’m just a very social person and I was able to learn from others how they’re selling a product,” she says. “And I would hear them talk about a product and a customer would come in and I would pick up on that.”
The owner decided to make her a sales associate and also wanted to enroll her in a business course. But even though Sage would’ve had stability doing jewelry sales in her hometown, she was thinking bigger.
“It wasn’t the job; I had a great job at a young age,” Sage says. “And I could’ve stayed there. But my hometown was very toxic. I love it, but there’s not much to do and I wanted more. And I had an opportunity and I took it.”
Flash forward three-plus years and Motley Models president and “Backstage Pass” podcast host, Dave Rock, tells AVN Sage’s steady ascent through the girl/girl ranks is impressive, given how “finicky” the market can be.
“It’s so hard for a girl to come from the boy/girl side to the girl/girl side and be sustainable for over three years,” Rock says. “But she has always delivered amazing girl/girl scenes.
“She can play submissive, but even though she’s only 90 pounds she can take control of the scene, too, and she is used to taking control of a scene. She can carry that girl/girl scene.”
Rock continues, “The brands that do specialize in the girl/girl stuff are consistently booking her. She is consistently busy. They’re a very rare breed of girls that can stay in the spotlight; it’s a special type of a talent to do that. You’ve gotta have the looks, but you can’t just be cute. You’ve gotta be beautiful in that spot, keep yourself free of tattoos and you have to be really into girls.
“Scarlet legitimately loves girls and it shows. She’s reliable and professional—and she’s still very young. She’s mature beyond her years and she does things the right way.”
Rock says one area in particular where Sage stands out is her social media game. The performer at press time had 242K-plus followers on Twitter and more than 320K on Instagram. Her social media feeds are a studio executive’s dream, promoting her sex scenes, offering plenty of backstage footage and representing herself with class at industry events.
Now the former varsity soccer co-captain helps the new Motley Models not only with their social media presence, but also with career tips.
“In anything—whether it be soccer or porn—in anything you do, you learn it and then you teach others,” Sage reasons. “I feel like you learn and then you give back.”
Because of Sage’s social media savvy, she now runs the Motley Models accounts, too.
“Social media has been our biggest thing,” Sage says. “I work the Instagram and the Twitter. On Instagram I’ve seen a lot of engagement so I’ve really focused on Instagram. I think the companies really like that we blast out their photos; the models love that we blast them out. And it’s really good for new talent because they can start getting noticed faster.”
AVN Hall of Fame producer/director Jules Jordan, who launched GirlGirl.com this past summer, calls Sage “a classic blonde beauty.” Sage has shot two scenes for the upstart site, which is nominated for Best New Production Banner for the 2020 AVN Awards.
“She provides an extremely sexy presence in any film,” Jordan tells AVN. “Every girl loves Scarlett and it’s apparent in every scene she does.”
Fellow AVN Hall of Fame producer/director Craven Moorehead echoes Jordan’s sentiment. He recently directed Sage in “Graduation Gift,” an episode of Girlsway’s Mommy’s Girl series opposite Kit Mercer.
“I've been very impressed by Scarlett's growth as an actress and a performer in the years we have worked together, especially in 2019 where we have had her on set for a diverse range of roles—and she has brought her A-game to each one!” Moorehead tells AVN.
Sage, who has more than 50 credits in the past year—including a scene with Jayden Cole in Elegant Angel’s 2019 edition of Lesbian Performers of the Year—says she told herself at the beginning of her career, “I’m not going to half-ass it.”
“I’m going to do the best of my ability,” Sage says. “And the best of my ability is getting accolades, winning awards—not needing them, but just achieving them. Just wanting to continue to grow myself until I get to my maximum.
“And I’m not at my maximum right now. I’m still growing and I’m getting there. I got Penthouse Pet, Girlsway Girl, Twistys Treat, Hustler Honey recently. It’s insane. It’s awesome and it’s where I wanted to be and it’s where I told myself I’m going to be.”
Sage continues, “I’m glad that I’m achieving that because I gave up a lot. I gave up family relationships. I’ve given up friendships… I’ve realized that friends weren’t as friendly as I thought they were throughout this business.
“I’ve learned a lot through it and it’s nice to have something because I was getting a lot of flak.”
She says she became well known in her small town because of how active she was in the community, so word traveled fast when she got into porn.
“Easily 10,000 people knew what I was doing in the span of a day,” Sage says.
“Unfortunately, my best friends at the time were the ones that went and told people. They had no clue I was doing it because I never told them. They said they were excited that they told people and that 10,000 people found out. And to this day they still try to follow me and that’s how I know I made it.
“It’s because no matter what, no matter how much shit they gave me, they’re still wanting to know what I’m doing with my life.”
Sage also is grateful she can show her mom that she climbed the industry ladder.
“My mom was very upset at first. And then slowly but surely she started understanding,” Sage says. “And she started understanding that I was getting a lot. She knew what Penthouse Pet was. She knew what Hustler was. And I’ve educated her on what Girlsway Girl is and Twistys.
“Each accolade is once per year. She knows there’s a lot of girls in this business. So she knows that it’s important even though she doesn’t know exactly what it is, she knows that it’s something that I’ve achieved and that I had to work hard for.
“She might not agree with how I’m doing it but she is accepting. … It helped for me to achieve and go high also helped her. Because I’m not just the daughter who did porn. I’m the daughter who went into a crazy business and made it my livelihood.
“That’s different than just being some girl in porn. And with where I am now, I am just trying to help the new girls.”
Sage adds, “It’s a lot of emotional distress that you deal with being in this business and you have to have something to show for it, whether it be money or accolades or whatever. … Like don’t buy Gucci shoes, save up for your retirement. Put that in your Acorns account, get interest from it. It’s not forever. You want to make it take you somewhere else in life.”
Lead photo by Jeff Koga/@KogaFoto; photos 2-9 by Rick Garcia/@industrybyrick; Hustler cover by Victor Lightworship
