The article originally ran in AVN Men magazine. Click here to see the digital edition. Above, DeAngelo Jackson and Nic Sahara in Blended Family (Icon Male/Mile High Media)
Blessed. It’s a word that comes up often when talking to Chi Chi LaRue. And to be honest, it’s pretty appropriate way to describe this veteran adult director’s world.
Last year was a big one in many ways. Most notably, LaRue took over directing duties at Icon Male, the brother studio to Noir Male, which he launched with Mile High Media honcho Jon Blitt in 2018. And as if that wasn’t enough, this industry veteran also helmed Love and Lust in Montreal for Falcon Studios and co-directed high-profile features with three top directors: Steve Cruz (The Night Riders), Tony Dimarco (The Pledge) and mr. Pam (Scared Stiff 2: The Amityville Whore).
And since getting his hands on the reins at Icon, LaRue has put his own stamp on the studio while at the same time keeping up his passion for Noir Male. “It’s an all-inclusive, very diverse studio,” LaRue says of Noir. “It’s men of color, Latin, Asian and everything in between, and I like that.”
Rhapsodizing on what the word “noir” means to him, LaRue says, “When I think of noir, I think of sexy, I think of dark, I think of mysterious, i think of glamour, i think of beauty, I think of fashion, I think of perfume. It’s just a very sexy word. It means dark, it means black, it means night. It’s French. It’s gorgeous.”
Zario Travezz and Brian Bonds in Dad’s Poker Night (Icon Male/Mile High Media)
Speaking of gorgeous, LaRue says one of his favorite things about Noir Male has been working with different performers. LaRue was able “by the grace of Flavaworks studio to bring a couple of guys,” including DeAngelo Jackson, whom he describes as “one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever worked with, inside and out. Not just visual beauty but also a really good man, a good soul.”
Jackson was also at the center of one of last year’s big movies from Icon Male. “I wanted to put DeAngelo in a starring role and give him an active part,” LaRue says, but he admits to having felt some trepidation. “He’s not boisterous and theatrical and flamboyant. He’s very quiet—like a gentle giant. And I thought, ‘What am I getting myself into? This has a lot of dialogue!’ But he got that script and he rocked my world.”
Jackson held his own cast against Silvia Saige, who plays Jackson’s wife and is "a frickin’ insane tornado of an actress,” LaRue says. “Nic Sahara plays her brother—the three of them together were awesome. … I love bringing things out of people as a director.”
And the critics liked it, too, because Jackson snagged a Best Actor nomination in the GayVN Awards for his work.
Saige is also in another one of LaRue’s favorites: Don’t Tell My Wife (Icon Male). “That’s another one I’m really proud of. It’s a good movie, with Nick Capra, Wesley Woods and Silvia Saige.”
Producing two Noir Male scenes and one Icon Male title every month, LaRue has to maintain an identity for each studio. In addition to its mandate for diversity, Noir Male focuses on beautifully shot scenes that are curated later for DVD release, whereas most Icon Male movies have storylines. In addition to Jackson, Noir Male regulars Max Konnor and Jaxx Maxim have also been cast in acting roles for Icon Male features.
LaRue jokes about Icon Male’s well-earned reputation for its family role-play titles, saying that his movie My Stepdad’s Stepdad “was a tongue-in-cheek way of saying, ‘For god’s sake, how many stepdad/stepbrother/my transsexual babysitter’s wife [stories] can we do?” So he’s branched out with such titles as The Psychotherapist and The Doctor Is In … Me. “I really need to be able to be a little creative, and Jon [Blitt] has allowed that.”
The director is more than happy to share credit with others for the success of both studios. “I’m so lucky to be working with such an awesome crew,” he says, noting that Dana Vespoli and Shawn Alff write some of the scripts and veteran cameramen Alex Ladd and Sal Genoa work their magic on set. “I do the makeup. I have an amazing production assistant. We’re a well-oiled machine,” LaRue says. “We have a really good time on set. I’m blessed to have them.”
Casey Everett (front) gets dealt a foursome with Drew Sebastian, Link Parker and Ryan Carter in Dad's Poker Night (Icon Male/Mile High Media).
But the most important ingredients of all are the performers. “I have what I call my family unit of guys. If I could use them in every movie, I would, but obviously I have to keep finding new talent. I have really been blessed by working with some of the greatest guys in the business.”
The director confesses, "I love working with older guys, like 40 and up. Those are my type of guys. I’m not really personally, sexually wise, attracted to younger twinks, but I know there are a lot of people who are. By doing the Icon Male movies I’m able to work with twinks and twunks and older guys and jocks and everything in between.”
After many years of living in Los Angeles, LaRue moved back home and spent some time in rehab. Now he lives in quietly in Minnesota near family. But given all the travel for shooting, drag shows and DJ gigs, LaRue spends a significant time on the road.
“I’m blessed to be doing these movies,” the industry icon muses. “I’ve been doing it for 35 years and I still love it as much as I did when I started. I’m constantly having to adapt to new things, which isn’t always my favorite, but if you snooze you lose.”
And one new thing is LaRue’s attitude toward condomless porn. The director was a well-known advocate for using condoms on set. But in the post-PrEP world, LaRue’s attitude shifted and he agreed to leave the condoms off for The Pledge. And he vows to do more bareback titles in the future, now that there are more safeguards in place for performers: “We’ve made a lot of strides since I started back in 1985.”
