Katja Kassin Interview

She writes 10/13/05 on ADT:

I clearly see myself as an porn actress and I want to perform with experienced male actors who know how to perform. I don't see myself getting involved with fans because of their motivation to be a part of it. It makes me more comfortable to know that my partner on camera is a professional actor as well and does that for a living, does it because he gets paid for it. I would also be very concerned about the testing. Every performer in this business has a history of testing that I can access online. First timers would make me feel a little unsecure.

Yes, the camera is some kind of an excuse to me. It allows me to be super nasty, where doing it in real life with a real person would make me feel guilty and humilated.

Tricia Devereaux writes:

The main problem I have with fan f--- type scenes is that it often has the effect of making fans watching the video think exactly what you said you wouldn't think of Katja as: an airheaded skank who will f--- anyone just because.

Even as a stripper in a club, I had guys just assume that just because I did porn, I would have sex with anyone, anytime. Not true.

The professional guys are professional because they have the appropriate skills for their job. They have nice dicks, and they know how to f---. That's why the porn girls like to f--- them. It's an enjoyable experience all around.

Also, I hate to ruin the fantasy for anyone who doesn't already know this, but there is often some down time during a scene. During this time, the guy and the girl and stretch out, rest, go to the bathroom, be alone, or if it suits them, just cuddle. I am not so sure that a bunch of non-professional guys would 'get' that this is a job. A fun one, but a job. During a break - TAKE A BREAK! :) If the girl wants water, let her get water. Don't keep shoving your dick in her face because you know you're going to have problems getting it hard again once the camerapeople are shooting again.

Melissa Lauren writes: "Money's nice, but my moral values are first. I'm a porn chick, not a hooker."

Katja Kassin writes: "I don't think that being an adult actress is better than being a hooker. But first of all prostitution is illegal and I want to distance myself from any illegal act. Other than that performing in a porn flick and hooking are total different things. Porn stars are being paid by a third party to perform. Hookers are paid by their partner to satisfy. I don't want to look down on girls that do hook for a living but I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it."

Bumlover writes:

I understand the reasons of legality, safety, working environment etc. to prefer porn over hooking, but I can't see the relevance of who makes the payment. You're selling your body either way.

I'm not sure how being a porn star is not prostitution. Sure, it's a different form of prostitution to being a streetwalker, but still, to me it boils down to the same transaction - you're being paid to have sex. You may enjoy it, you may do it for more reasons than just the money, but still you are selling yourself. The only exception I can see is if you only work with your real life partner.

It seems to me that some performers are misguidedly clutching to the presence of a camera as a "get out of jail free card", rather than challenging their own unwarranted discomfort at being a prostitute.

Tricia Devereaux writes: "The relevance of who makes the payment is extremely important to some girls. Some girls are more than happy to accept money from whoever, for pretty much whatever reason. For the girls that do this for more than JUST the money, then a comfort level of what they do and who they do it with becomes very important."

Katja writes:

I just don't want to do what somebody tells me to. Maybe I just have my own head and I'm too proud to take orders from anyone when it comes to sexuality. That exactly is the main difference between hooking and porn.

I am not a hooker or whore, I am an actress. You might have another opinion on this but please refrain from referring to me as one. I take it as an insult, so please stop it.

I'm not selling my body, I get paid for my service of performing. Nobody BUYS me or my body. I get paid for what I do with it.

Bumlover writes:

So every male performer you ever worked with was someone you previously knew, not just someone who was introduced to you for the purposes of shooting a sex scene?

Whether a particular form of prostitution is illegal or not depends entirely on where you are. Porn is also illegal in many places, so what's the relevance to the moral issue?

Dither writes: "Terms are not facts, they have cultural as well as factual meaning. The term "hooker" is, like the term "criminal", one that culturally has very negative associations. That a pornstar is offended by being labelled a hooker is thus very understandable, even it is semantically correct. It's also very understandable that you wouldn't like to be labelled a criminal even if you've got a speeding ticket, or be labelled a beggar if you collect money for the Red Cross."

Tricia Devereaux writes:

I'll admit that factually, porn stars AND hookers both get paid for performing sex. I know you don't want to admit it, but a LOT of personal emotions come into both of these activities, and a person's boundaries are exactly that - personal. Personal choices.

Katja Kassin writes:

Bumlover: the porn community is like a big family. Everybody pretty much knows everbody. Yes it happens that once in a while there is a new guy that I never worked with before but you can't make the plain statement that porn actresses f--- strangers because it's not like that. I can look up everybody's test history online and I do check their tests and ID's, I know their real names, birthdays and addresses and in many cases I know about their likes and dislikes, their hobbies or their personal affairs. In my eyes that does not qualify as a stranger to me.

March 29, 2007

I interview her by phone while she's at the Phoenix Forum for webmasters. (Audio)

Katja's new website is ClubKatja.com. "I plan to be true to myself. Obviously a lot of anal and ass stuff."

"I'm here to walk around in a t-shirt from PussyCash," she says. "They have seminars here about pay sites and traffic. No fans."

In porn four years, she plans to stay as long as "people want to watch me."

"I really love living in America. Since I was 12 years old, I've wanted to move away from Germany. Far away.

"You're more free in America than other countries. People here, even if they don't agree with what you say, still respect you for your opinion. Even if somebody disagrees with you, they will still let you talk. In Germany, it's not that easy."

"Everybody here is friendly. Germany is not like that. If you are new to a group of people, they are suspicious of you. In America they are like, 'Hey, I don't know you but come to my birthday party tomorrow.'

"In America, people call each other 'friend' after two weeks.

"In Germany, I hate the bad customer service. You always feel like you are begging for something. "In Germany, everybody knows who I am and people judge you for it. In America, you can be a porn star and people don't agree with what you do, but as long as you drive a nice car and have money and are successful, they don't care too much. If I tip well, if they can make money off you, they don't care. In Germany, it is different. Wherever you go, they will always be strange.

"As a customer in America, you will always be appreciated. It doesn't matter how you make your money.

"When I went back to Germany for Christmas last December, I hung out with people I knew before porn. One girl was gossipy about everything. 'Ohmigod, how can you do this?' This is the same girl who went home with three guys she picked up in a club.

"In Germany, everybody thinks sex is no big deal, but if you are a porn star, they look at you like, 'How can you do that?' Because you're making money from it."

Luke: "When you were a child [in Leipzig], what did you want to be when you grew up?"

Katja: "I wanted to be a figure skater because she knew that in communist East Germany in sports, they take the child away from the parents."

"Then I always wanted to be a teacher for German but I when I went to university, I didn't like it. I decided to do porn. Everybody has something they're good at and for me it's f------ on camera.

"People [in Leipzig] really hate me for going to America, a capitalist country. "My parents are OK with the porn but they really don't like me living in America.

"I'm frustrated with Germany because the unemployment rate is so high. It comes from the re-union in 1989. All of a sudden West Germany had to take in 17 million people who had never paid into the social security system. That's a large burden."

Luke: "Why do you think Germany has such a low birth rate?"

Katja: "As the economy does not do well in Western countries, the birth rate will go down."

"I had my first job at 15 working in a restaurant. Through college, I worked as a waitress. I got so frustrated with it. In Germany we don't even have minimum wage. I met a guy who did nude photography. I did it. It paid well. I did that for three years before I started porn in Germany.

"I met the German porn star Dru Berrymore. She said I should come to L.A. That I could live in her house. She introduced me to agents and companies."

"Many people have to work for a whole month for what a porn girl can get in one day. I love the traveling, the sex, my coworkers. I hate it when people don't show up and you have to wait..."

"I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. I don't do drugs. I don't drink."

"Any job has certain risks to it. I try to be responsible. I won't film any creampie scenes."

Luke: "How has it affected you being in the porn industry?"

Katja: "It's hard to make friends because you are in the public eye. Once people find out you are a porn star, they look at you in different ways. Everybody who is successful in something is affected by that."

"It is better to have three real friends than 150 people calling me who don't really care. I've never been a social butterfly."

"I'm straight but I still have fun working with girls. I wouldn't date a girl."

"Not everybody can date a porn star. It's hard to have a relationship... It's more important to me to do my job. I just opened a retirement account. I put my money in bonds."

"I never lie to anybody. As soon as I go out with them, I tell them what I do. I'm not going to quit my job for a relationship."

"My parents never gave me any money. They respect me for that."

"I really like reading your website."

"You need porn stars on your site who don't have drug problems and haven't had five abortions."