A version of this feature appears in the January issue of AVN magazine. Click here for the digital edition.
LOS ANGELES—Don’t let the kitschy-cutesy name fool you—Cherry Kiss is on a quest for worldwide domination. This Queen of the Extreme Screen has a plan. The 2024 AVN International Female Performer of the Year, Kiss has more than a thousand scene credits over a 12-year career. The willowy Serbian performer was a star before setting foot in the U.S. last year. Now that she’s here, she’s not wasting time.
“I won Performer of the Year in Europe,” she revealed to AVN. “I want to win Performer of the Year here. I will stay here until I succeed.”
Currently based in Los Angeles, Kiss loves everything about America—except the food. Coming from a rural background with her grandmother’s cooking and locally-sourced food, she said everything here is “sugar, sugar, sugar.”
“This country is crazy, I love it—the weather and everything. Oh my God, everything makes me crazy and horny even more, like I love the sunshine. I love to go out. I love extreme sports. Here it’s always sunny. In Europe, we have about two months of summer, and after that, it’s always cold.
“I don’t like the food, though,” Kiss revealed. “In Europe, we have very good food. Here, the food is a poison. Like, I started to cook here, I hate to cook, but here I cook very good.
“The big difference—this country gives you opportunities and gives you possibilities, no matter who you are, what you are, if you are not a lazy fuck. The people in America—I say to so many people here, ‘Guys, you know how lucky you are? Don’t be lazy...’ This country gives you so much that other countries do not, so foreigners come here and make things happen for a reason because they have goals and they have hard lives.”
Kiss said further, “Here, you have it more easy, so—I don’t want to generalize—but the younger generation doesn’t appreciate the opportunities they’ve got, so they get lazy because they have everything already. This country is amazing for the opportunities.”
“Like, I plan things, and I’m not moving until I achieve it, all my life I’ve been like this,” Kiss said. “The point is, I can’t leave because I applied for a green card and process, and blah, blah, blah. I haven’t seen my family for one year and a half now, and it’s hard. It’s a big sacrifice... I respect and love this country for the opportunities you can have here—you have to love and respect it and make the most of it. So, this is what I want to do. It’s a big sacrifice because I’m very attached to my family, and it’s sacrificing, not seeing them.”
The “Belgrade Bombshell,” who debuted in 2011 at age 19, is from a small village in Serbia. But like many small-town girls, Kiss wondered what life would be like in the big city.
“I started as a makeup artist in Serbia, I was working for mainstream movies,” Kiss described. “So, then, I started as a makeup artist in Budapest and that’s how I discovered our industry. One of the directors from Serbia was like, let’s go to Budapest. It’s like, for you guys it’s states, but for us, it’s like countries—basically driving from Belgrade to Budapest is like only four hours. He was like, if we go in the morning and come back at night, you will make more money.”
“Then, I was in the makeup room and I hear [moaning], and I’m like, I want to see,” Kiss said with a smile. “So... then, I was, I wanna try, I wanna try—so that’s how I started. I was 18-year old, and I’m 31 now.”
The industry beckoned and Kiss answered its call, moving to Budapest, the major European hub for adult movie production, where she appeared in scenes for numerous Euro producers and prominent U.S. studio lines. Her uninhibited enjoyment of extreme sexuality made Kiss a natural opposite top male talent, including her ex and good friend, Vince Karter, and legend of Euro hardcore, Rocco Siffredi.
Kiss remembered being a frequent guest at “Roccoland”—Siffredi’s property where several houses are located—and that the Italian director would sometimes track her down to a particular bathroom where she loved to bathe and masturbate. He would interrupt her self-care routine, calling out, “Cherry! Cherry!” to come and shoot a scene.
“I love creating things; that’s why I love directing. But performing is what I love... For people who have ADHD, it’s like fuck yeah, otherwise I go crazy. I shoot a hardcore scene, and then I’ll go boxing, and people are like, ‘how do you do that?’ But sometimes, I’ll shoot three scenes in one day, or two scenes, and then I’ll go boxing and do my computer work—otherwise, I’m like [makes a vibrating sound],” she laughed.
In Budapest, her unabashed horniness, work ethic, and fashion model looks secured her position on the A-list of adult stars for more than a decade. Back home, Kiss became famous by appearing on a Serbian reality show titled “Parovi” (“Couples,” roughly translated). In the no-holds-barred world of Serbian reality TV, which streams live in an hours-long, uncensored format, Kiss found a platform for exposing herself and the profession she loves.
“In Serbia, since I was on TV and reality shows, now, I gained respect now in my country. I’m the first one from my country, and it was so difficult to explain to people that porn is just a business.
“In my country, like Eastern European countries, lots of girls do the type of escorting, which is risky,” Kiss described. “Do what you want. I respect everything, but just be safe—but people were judgmental with porn—where you can travel, make more money, and you’re safe. It took me six years to adjust, to publicly explain ‘what is porn,’ to get back with my family, especially since I was the first one, but it was worth it. I would not change anything, what I survived. It was hard, but I did it.”
After achieving a measure of fame and, now, sights set on cementing her place in the adult superstar firmament, Kiss talked about how the industry has offered her something that nothing else could and what it takes to live up to the opportunity. The words tumbled from her, in that Eastern European accent, full of the same intensity that comes across in her performances.
“I think this industry is just perfect for me,” she said. “I love this job...I found something that is making me happy and I just want to make the most of it. That’s why I’m not giving up. The thing with our job, there’s so many people who come here just for money and that’s not that, especially to work with your body. People see you; they see your emotions. So, you have to work more on educating the sexuality of the people and educate them about the freedom of sexuality because people forget about this. They don’t know what the fuck to do. They don’t know how to speak to people. They don’t know how to do the sex at all. My fans, these are the kind of questions they ask.
“So, this is what we are and sometimes we forget—we come there and just fuck. No! If you are there for just money reasons, no matter how this job is providing you a lot, you’ll fail for a reason. Because sooner or later, your body... it’s not easy. You’ll get burnt out, you’ll have a bad reputation for yourself, and you won’t do shit and just go the wrong way in your life.
“It takes a lot of effort, but it gives you a lot if you know how to ride it and how to use it for your future... It’s a one-way ticket and you get a stamp, it’s up to you to use it or not. I was very young when I started, and everything shocked me, but it’s a one-way ticket, and I’ll make the most of it. People were judging me, but now they’re respecting me because of what I achieved. It’s a one-way ticket.
“You need to take this business very serious and not too many people understand this. Of course, I can understand now that I’m more mature, why other people don’t understand this. But if you’re in the business, you need to understand what you’re doing. Don’t enter this business if you don’t have goals,” Kiss cautioned.
In the thick of awards season, she looks forward to the AVN Expo in Las Vegas next week. Due to a three-year hiatus followed by the pandemic lockdown, Kiss has been able to attend the show only twice.
“Only twice because I arrived last year here,” said Cherry, who is nominated for Female Performer of the Year for the 42nd annual AVN Awards on Jan. 25. “What I experienced—it was amazing. This will be third time, so I cannot wait. Like, I already bought dresses... I love my fans—signing is like work, so for me, I’m just questioning because I want to do it for my fans. I’m not sure, but I need to decide, but I don’t book these big things for the money—for me, it’s something for my fans. I was thinking to do one or two days, just as respect to my fans.”
At the show in January, she’s trying to leave her schedule open for meetings and other opportunities, looking forward to seeing friends new and old, and of course, meeting with fans. And on Saturday night, Kiss is nominated for Best Female Performer.
Weeks before the noms announcement, at this interview, Kiss posed for photos in a chic one-shoulder all-white jumpsuit with her hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail, looking every inch the porn star.
“It’s so ridiculous to say it, but I know I deserve it because I’m a true lover,” she purred.
Photography by @kogafoto
