I interviewed Kara Bare by phone Wednesday, April 18. Here’s the audio.
As a child, Kara wanted to become a “professional cheerleader.”
“Cheerleading was my life in high school. I started cheerleading as a child.
“My dad wanted cheerleading to be a career. That didn’t work out.
“I grew up on a farm [outside of Cleveland]. [Her parents] didn’t have too many expectations of me.”
“I didn’t hang out with too many people [in high school]. I was a loner. I just had a few girlfriends. I had one best friend and that was all I needed. I went to a preppy school and everyone was two-faced.”
“I was the girl walking around in mini-skirts. I had a different boyfriend every month.”
“I’d walk down the hall and girls would be mean. I’d turn around and say, ‘Yeah, I’ve got the body for it. So shut up.’
“People from high school message me on myspace. ‘Oh, you look so good.’ ‘We’re so proud of you. You’re a small town legend. Everyone still talks about you.’
“I hear all good things now. They all want to be my friend now. But they weren’t my friend then, so they won’t be my friend now.”
“I was a B student. I did enough to get by.”
“I didn’t graduate. I started doing the [porn] videos the weekend I turned 18 [signing with Skooby of Fresh Talent, her first scene was for Joey Silvera in Service Animals 21]. I started making money and traveling. The school I went to said I was missing too much school and I couldn’t come back.”
Kara says she first had sex at 15 and was with 20 people by the time she turned 18.
“My first scene came naturally to me. It won Best Gonzo Series. I amazed myself. I put all my nervous energy into the scene.”
Kara lost friends over her decision to get into porn. “I had girls that were my two-faced friends in high school [say], ‘I don’t have to show my body for money.’ I said, ‘I enjoy doing what I do. Oh well.’ I’m making the money and living comfortably [in Ohio, she flies to Florida regularly to do porn] they’re working a part-time job and struggling.”
“I just had my breasts done. I was a 32A and now I’m a 32C. I wanted to fit my clothes better and to feel more confident. I want to go to clubs and wear sexy shirts. Even the clothes I owned before fit so much better. I really need the confidence in this industry.”
“The concept of the industry is amazing. It’s like a whole separate world. I just really get into it. I do read gossip.”
“Lowlights? I did go through the drug thing. I did make mistakes. I apologize to everyone I have hurt. I do have everything on track now. The falling out with Skooby would probably be my lowlight. I don’t have anything against him. If I ever win an award, I will thank him for teaching me almost everything I know.”
Luke: “How did you get into drugs and how did you get off them?”
Kara: “It was a girl in the industry… I was staying with her at Skooby’s house. I tried meth one time and I was hooked. I was on it for ten months. Finally I just moved back home, with my mother, and started dancing and got my s— together and working five days a week paying my bills.”
Luke: “What happened that time you slashed your wrists while you were Joel Lawrence in January 2006?”
Kara: “I was on set one day. I was being lifted up off the ground and being choked… Just playing around on set. I passed out. I had fallen. My neck vertebrate were messed up. I had to get acupuncture the next day. I was taking xanax to sleep. I didn’t realize I was addicted.”
“I just woke up one morning [in the ambulance] and everything was a blur.”
Luke: “Who choked you?”
Kara: “I don’t want to name names. I don’t want to make anybody look bad. I do like to be choked, but he was doing it so roughly that I liked it.”
Luke: “What do you love and hate about being a porn star?”
Kara: “I love the attention. Being a cheerleader, I always loved being the center of attention. I always had to be center. I had to be the best cheerleader on my squad. In the industry, I like to keep taking steps up. Hopefully one day I will be the center of attention of the industry.”
“I had a livejournal while I was still in high school. It was copied and pasted somewhere. I have no privacy. People take negative things, not the positive things. People try to make me look like a bad person and I’m not. In any entertainment business, that’s what people are going to do.”
Luke: “Are you a good mother?”
Kara: “Yes. When I was on my drug thing, I didn’t come home to visit my son. I was going through a big custody issue. Since I’ve been clean and gotten my life back together, me and his father have gotten back together. We’re now living together. I spend as many seconds with my son as possible. He’s a beautiful little boy.”
“I’m very very young [19]. One day I’ll wake up and know exactly what I am supposed to be doing.”
Luke: “How does working in this industry affect your self-esteem?”
Kara: “It raises it.”
“I have minor tiny flaws. I walk around. Sometimes in the mall girls get jealous. I live in ghetto city now. We’re in the process of moving. They get mad because I’m a white preppy girl. I blow them off because I don’t care. I’m better than you. I make a lot of money. I’m beautiful. I just keep walking.”
