I call Joanna Wednesday morning.
Joanna: "You always have such an energetic voice when I pick up the phone. I like it."
Luke: "I’m excited to talk to you."
"Most people say I sound depressed on the phone."
"You looked good [Saturday night at the Erotic Film Festival] after all the sex and drugs."
Joanna: "I’ve cleaned up. Probably have less sex than most porn stars."
"I used to always like sex rough. Now it depends on my mood."
Luke: "What do you like to talk about when you’re having sex?"
Joanna: "Politics. Philosophy. Religion."
Luke: "How is sex with you in private different from on-camera?"
Joanna: "Not much different. Just longer. Some positions I don’t do. Not as much anal."
Luke: "Do you have a "Joanna Angel" personality that you snap in and out of?"
Joanna: "No. Joanna Angel is pretty close to who I am."
"Are you a completely different person at times?"
Luke: "Yeah."
Joanna: "That’s creepy. I don’t think i could trust a person like that. Maybe you’re like a con artist."
Luke: "You don’t think you can trust me?"
Joanna: "Not if you’re one of those people. That means I only know one side of you."
"Are you going to fast [on Yom Kippur]?"
Luke: "Yes."
Joanna: "I don’t know where I’m going to spend it. My family is not around. My [younger] sister is working as a cantor at a Reform temple."
"I’m proud of myself. I have to do this signing at a tattoo convention this weekend in New York. I cancelled Saturday when I realized it was Yom Kippur and will sign instead on Sunday."
"I figured that the last thing you are supposed to do on Yom Kippur is go to a tattoo convention and sign posters of yourself that people buy because they’ve seen you get penetrated on camera.
"I’m not going to keep everything. I’ll probably turn the lights on and off and drive and do all sorts of stuff."
Luke: "Did you tell them that you are rescheduling because of Yom Kippur?"
Joanna: "No. I don’t think you tell big guys with tattoos that."
Joanna says she’s never encountered anti-Semitism. Neither have I.
Luke: "I have walked out of Jewish events to find screaming anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protesters waving bloody signs seeking the destruction of Isreal."
Joanna: "But that’s political."
"I don’t see anti-semitic people here. People in porn are open-minded. They’re not anti-semitic or racist or anything. If you’re in porn, you can’t be like that because you’re at a level in society that people look down upon."
"My mom thinks people are anti-Semitic when they’re really not. I remember when I went to a public school and they tried to get me to do some Christmas tree thing in second grade and she told me they were anti-Semitic. I remember I came home and she convinced me that they were all anti-Semitic."
Joanna went to temple for Rosh Hashanah.
Luke: "Did anyone say, ‘I respect your work’?"
Joanna: "No."
"A few people talked to me but I felt weird. I didn’t really want to talk to anyone. I just wanted to go so I could feel like I did what I needed to do."
Luke: How does your sister feel about you being a porn star?
Joanna: "She thinks it’s funny. She’s had boyfriends and stuff that knew who I was. Sometimes when she’s home she asks me for things to bring home to her friends. DVDs and posters."
Luke: "Does she look like you?"
Joanna: "A little. She’s bigger. Taller. She has darker skin."
Luke: "Have you tried to get her into the industry?"
Joanna: "No. I would never do that. That’s the last thing I’d want."
"I spoke on a panel with John Stagliano and Andrew Blake [at the Erotic Film Festival]. It was awesome."
"I like speaking on panels. But I was nervous. I did drink a lot of Bloody Marys before I went on. The bartender, when he came in, I said, ‘Can I have a drink?’ He said, ‘I’m not even open yet.’ I made him open."
Luke: "I’ve talked to you when you were drunk. I can’t tell any difference."
Joanna: "I’m not one of those people who acts that different."
Luke: "Have a meaningful Yom Kippur."
Joanna: "You too. Bye."