LOS ANGELES—Axel Braun, the most awarded director in adult film history, is officially stepping into the mainstream with the announcement of his first R-rated feature film, Trauma—a dark psychological thriller that marks a new chapter in his storied career.
“This is something I’ve been working on for a very long time,” Braun said. “I actually started writing Trauma in 2004, but never had the physical time to get to it while I was still working full-time in the adult industry. Now that I’m a retired citizen, I no longer have to choose between sleeping and developing passion projects.”
Braun retired in 2023 at the height of his success, after a celebrated 33-year run during which he helped raise the bar for adult productions—earning more industry accolades than any director in the field.
“I lived and breathed adult for more than half my life, and I did it with enormous drive, dedication, and discipline,” said Axel, who started working with his father—porn pioneer Lasse Braun—in the late ’80s, before officially embarking on a solo career in the early ’90s. “Working in the adult industry taught me a lot and gave me the opportunity to sharpen my craft, build an audience, and tell stories on my own terms. It also provided me with the financial freedom to now be at a point where I can diversify and explore different kinds of stories on a larger canvas.”
Casting for Trauma is currently underway, with a formal notice now live on Breakdown Services and its actor-facing platform, Actors Access.
“On day one we received 10,500 submissions, and they’ve kept coming—a few hundred more each day,” Braun revealed. “As you can imagine, it was quite a shock coming from three decades of having a very small talent pool to choose from.”
In this exclusive Q&A, the AVN Hall of Famer goes deep on the pre-production for Trauma, the casting process and how he is approaching his anticipated mainstream debut.
AVN: You famously held open casting calls in the past that would draw long lines outside your office. How does the casting process for Trauma compare?
AB: Back then, people had this very cliché idea of what a porn casting call was like, but my reality was very different—no nudity, no “casting couch,” just actors coming in, reading sides, and auditioning the same way they would for a mainstream project. With Trauma, the tools are different, and the volume is exponentially bigger, but at its core it’s still the same process.
You mentioned receiving over 10,000 submissions on Day 1. How do you even begin to navigate that volume?
It’s definitely a different kind of challenge. In the past, I knew most of the talent personally; now I’m discovering actors for the first time, which is actually exciting. The key is narrowing it down methodically—starting with looks that fit the roles, then performances, then chemistry reads. It’s a longer process, but it’s also incredibly rewarding, because you start to see the characters come to life in ways you hadn’t necessarily imagined.
What has the reaction been from mainstream actors when they realize they’d be working with a former adult film director?
I went into this fully expecting some level of backlash—that’s just being realistic. That’s why I made a conscious decision to be completely transparent from Day 1, and put my name on the casting notice instead of hiding behind a stage name—the last thing I wanted was for anyone to feel misled later in the process.
Have there been a few people who politely declined? Of course. But we’re talking about a fraction—less than half a percent. The overwhelming majority of actors have been exceptionally open-minded, which was a very welcome surprise.
There’s precedent for filmmakers with early connections to porn later becoming respected mainstream auteurs—from Wes Craven and Barry Sonnenfeld to Abel Ferrara and Gregg Araki—not to mention Lars von Trier, who actually made a series of sexually explicit films after achieving mainstream success. And in recent years, acclaimed films like Anora and Poor Things have pushed sexual boundaries in ways that feel much more accepted by the mainstream. Do you think that cultural shift has made the industry more receptive to someone like you crossing over?
I think it definitely plays a role. The conversation around sexuality in cinema has evolved—there’s less shock value and more focus on context, tone, and storytelling. Movies like Anora and Poor Things aren’t provocative just for the sake of it; they’re using sexuality as part of a larger narrative language. That kind of shift naturally opens the door for people to look at a filmmaker’s background with a little more nuance.
That said, Trauma is not an erotic thriller, and it’s certainly not designed to shock anyone sexually. There are some sexual undertones, but they’re more suggested than shown—it’s closer in spirit to a classic Italian giallo from the ’70s, where sensuality is part of the atmosphere rather than the point of the movie, and everything is filtered through mood, tension, psychology, and style.
Do you feel like your background gives you an advantage or a disadvantage in this new space?
An advantage, I hope. One thing working in adult taught me was adaptability. You learn to think on your feet, solve problems quickly, and make creative decisions under pressure. When you’re working with limited time and resources, you either become efficient or you don’t survive very long. So, while the scale is obviously different here, I actually feel very comfortable in the filmmaking environment itself.
What surprised you the most about transitioning into a SAG-AFTRA production?
There are more layers—paperwork, union rules, certain protocols—but you still have to make your day, you still have to solve problems, you still have to tell the story. Mainstream is a larger machine, but at the center of it, it’s still a director, a crew, and a group of actors trying to create something meaningful and memorable.
The tagline for Trauma is “Some wounds never heal.” What can you tell us about the story, are there any autobiographical elements in it, and did your PhD in psychology help shape the material?
At its core, Trauma is about the lingering effects of unresolved pain—how something that happens to you at a certain point in your life can quietly shape who you become, the choices you make, and even the way you see reality. It’s a psychological thriller that unfolds in layers, moving back and forth between past and present. That structure isn’t just a stylistic choice—memory isn’t linear, and trauma responses aren’t always logical, so the film reflects that.
My background in psychology definitely helped me approach the characters from the inside out, especially in terms of how people process emotional damage. I was less interested in making them behave in a way that simply moves the plot forward, and more focused on showing how unresolved pain can distort their perception of love, trust, fear, and survival.
As for autobiographical elements, I think every screenwriter inevitably draws from personal experience in some way. For me, themes like family, loss, and the lingering emotional consequences of childhood trauma carry a lot of emotional weight, so they naturally found their way into the script. Beyond that, I’d rather not say too much—it’s one of those stories where the less you know going in, the better.
After decades in one industry, what does this reinvention represent for you personally?
I don’t really see it as a reinvention, just a natural progression. But I’m also stepping into a world where some people will inevitably see me as just a porn director trying to play in the big leagues—and honestly, I kind of love that. After being ‘the guy’ in one world for so long, there’s something energizing about being the underdog again. It forces you to stay hungry, and that’s often when you do your best work.
Principal photography for Trauma is set to begin this July.
Additional details regarding casting, distribution, and release plans will be announced in the coming months.
