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SEX AND THE CITY OF ANGELS WITH JANA JORDAN

[ VOLUME I // ISSUE 3 ]

Porn stars are people, too.

Jana Jordan is an award-winning adult film performer and Penthouse Pet, but did you know she can make balloon animals? Did you know she’s a mom, dog owner (of a Chihuahua named Bubblegum), and musician? How about that she loves Pee Wee Herman?

At Jana’s place, she welcomes me with open arms, makes me a bowl of Thai food in true mom fashion, and we sit on her back porch chatting over dinner amongst three dogs. I’m not sitting across from a sex industry veteran; I’m sitting across from Jana Grochoske, a warm, funny, and creative woman whose humanity extends beyond what comes up when you search ‘Jana Jordan.’

JANA’S BAND PIPE DREAMS [BandCamp] [Twitter] [Instagram]

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JANA JORDAN INTERVIEW

NATALIE DURKIN (HIGHLARK): So you kind of did [porn] more out of necessity at the time.

JANA JORDAN: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I wanted to leave Texas ‘cause I was tired of it and I just figured, ‘Oh, LA. I’ve always wanted to go to LA; what’s a way I can get to LA and pay off some debts I had? Porn.’ [laughs]

NATALIE: How much does it interfere with your personal sex life and just your personal life in general?

JANA: For the most part it doesn’t interfere at all. I’ve met my best friends through the industry and people through the industry [who] don’t do it, you know? I guess because I only did solo and girl-girl, [in] most of the relationships with guys I’ve had, they don’t even consider it porn. They kind of consider it, like, HBO soft-core. They don’t even think, ‘Oh, she does porn.’ Just kind of like, ‘It’s just her and her girlfriend, isn’t that kind of cute?’ So it doesn’t interfere with mine. Personally, it hasn’t. I’ve never dated anyone [who has] had a problem with it, really. But, I guess I’m surrounded by people [who] are cool with it so I haven’t met somebody [who’s] on the outside who’s not used to that.

NATALIE: So you’ve never had any bad experiences?

JANA: Nope.

NATALIE: What [informed your] decision to do just girl-girl?

JANA: I didn’t really like any of the guys I saw in the industry, it just kind of grossed me out. I think I’ve had a boyfriend pretty much the entire time, on and off, when I started. So, I was making the same amount of money doing just girl/girl and solos than someone [who] was doing boy-girl. So, financially it didn’t seem like it was that big of a jump, so why even do it?

NATALIE: Would you consider doing boy-girl now?

JANA: I think about it sometimes but I feel like, I’ve gone this far; I’ll be okay. If I ever had a boyfriend in the future I don’t want to think, ‘Oh, shit, I did boy-girl and he can watch it.’ But, the guys [are] normal now, I feel like. Like, guys at [music] shows – a lot of them have done porn, like Chad and some others. But, they also do music, so, you kind of think, you know, they’re normal.

NATALIE: Are there ever days where you’re just like, ‘I really don’t want to do this,’ or ‘having sex is the last thing I want to do right now?’

JANA: There have been days when I just didn’t feel like listening to directors and stuff. If I’m in a bad mood the last thing I want to do is be naked in front of this person [who is] trying to tell me, like, ‘lift your leg higher’ or ‘spread your pussy more.’ Even though I’m not getting offended by it – they’re just doing their job – there [are] just those days where I’m just like, ‘fuck you, I don’t feel like it.’ But, they’re not doing anything to offend me or cross the line. So, it’s more with me. But, everyone has bad days.

NATALIE: When directors are giving you direction is it more physical like, ‘lift your leg higher,’ or ‘spread your pussy more’ or-

JANA: Yeah, well they’re just trying to get the best shot-

NATALIE: So it’s more of a physical direction than, ‘what are you feeling right now?’

JANA: Oh yeah, yeah. For them it’s just what they’re seeing in the camera so what they’re seeing is what the viewers are going to see so they want to make sure that the viewers [who] are buying the content-

NATALIE: So it’s more logistical.

JANA: Yeah, they don’t give a fuck how we’re feeling, you know? You put that at the door with any job, I guess. Feelings go; leave them at the door. Having a bad day; put it at the door.

NATALIE: Is that how you prepare for scenes? Is it more emotional or physical or a combination?

JANA: Whatever’s happening, I’ve just got to remember, ‘I’m here to do my job.’ I’m working with people; they’re people, too, so my feelings rub off on them so if I come in with a shitty attitude I’m making everyone’s life a little bit harder. So, suck it up for a couple hours and then it’s over and then I can be a bitch [laughs].

NATALIE: How is your on-camera persona different than how you live your life? Is there a certain way you’re directed to be on-camera or a certain way that you present yourself and how much continuity do you feel like it has within your personal life? How much crossover is there because you’re doing something so personal in public?

JANA: I like to make sure who I am as a person is a little bit separated from the camera because no one wants to see who I really am in a sex video just because I would be talking about Pee Wee Herman and conspiracy theories and aliens and it’s not, I guess, sexy. I kind of created this like, ‘Oh, hi, I’m from Texas, blah blah blah.’ Not bimbo-y but ignorant little southern girl; happy, bubbly. I guess in real life I’m pretty happy and nice but I’m a lot weirder.

NATALIE: Did you do that because somebody told you to or because it’s what sells?

JANA: I did it just because it’s what sells. When you’re in the sex industry, you’ve got to think, ‘sexy sells.’ If I was a guy and there was this really hot blonde girl I was into and she did porn, I wouldn’t want to know about her personal [life], I just want to see her be sexy. Like, I wouldn’t want to hear her talking about aliens; I would think she was on crack.

NATALIE: So porn isn’t really about having sexy emotions.

JANA: No.

NATALIE: People don’t really want to know what’s going on in your head.

JANA: Yeah, I don’t think so, because if they knew what was going on in their heads like, ‘Oh, I gotta pay this bill; oh, I have to pick my kid up from daycare…’ Those things you kind of have to leave behind closed doors.

NATALIE: Going back to the porn persona: do you ever feel like you need to transform into that in your personal life at all or adopt that persona in your personal life?

JANA: If I want to be funny, if someone knows who I am just through porn and they meet me, I’ll do it just to fuck with them just as a joke because people forget that’s a character and in real life it’s completely different. One of my friends told me if my fans knew who I was in real life they’d be really disappointed [laughs] ‘cause that’s not who I am. So I’ll do it just to fuck with people ‘cause they forget I’m not Jana Jordan. I’m Jana Grochoske, you know, and I have bills and I have problems and I have issues just like anybody else but you’re not going to see that obviously in a video you watch for twenty minutes. So I do it for fun just to fuck with people if they’re trying to act like I’m a certain way. There’s been a couple times these past few months where this guy who also has a band – he’s the singer and lead guitarist for another friend of mine’s band – he met me at my friend’s studio and he was like, ‘Oh, I love her, I’m such a fan.’ And, so, when he met me, I had known that so I was just, like, fucking with him. And when we were hanging out he was, you know, going back about all my scenes and just telling me how hot I was. You don’t put me in your phone as ‘Jana Jordan Porn,’ and expect me to tell you personal information about myself if you already have this idea of who I am and you’re telling me all these things and all these people I’ve worked with – that’s real. So, sorry, Courtney [laughs].

NATALIE: Do you want Grochoske to be on the record or off the record?

JANA: It doesn’t matter.

NATALIE: I just wanted to make sure. I am going to change your last name in my phone to Grochoske, though.

JANA: [laughs] No, it’s okay, you can keep it. It’s just guys [who] have watched stuff and are fanboys and then they meet me and they’re like, ‘Oh, you know, I saw the scenes that you and Sasha Grey did,’ and they act like they know everything that was happening in my life at the time and, it’s like, ‘No, I made that up. That’s not really how [Sasha] is either.’

NATALIE: Porn totally is acting, so obviously it stems from you but you’re pulling external things in, too.

JANA: Oh, yeah. For sure.

NATALIE: Was there ever a moment where you wanted to stop doing porn and start doing something else? Or did that never really cross your mind?

JANA: Oh, yeah. I mean, that happens all the time.

NATALIE: I feel like that happens to everyone with their job.

JANA: Oh, yeah. Everyone. The grass is always greener on the other side. I had a friend [who] worked at Journey’s and all she wanted to do was stop working at Journey’s and she got into porn. Now all she wants to do is go back to a normal job and work at Journey’s, you know? So, it’s a loss. But, this is a job where you can get prettied up for a day, make eight hundred dollars; make in a day what you’d make in a week and go home. So it’s just too easy not to.

NATALIE: And, you do enjoy your job.

JANA: Yeah!

NATALIE: Or, I mean, parts of it.

JANA: Oh, yeah, for sure. My best friends I’ve met through porn and I’m in LA because of it and I’m happy. I got music because of it. So, no regrets.

NATALIE: Any last words from Jana Grochoske?

JANA: Come see my band, Pipe Dreams!

[+] JANA JORDAN

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