Ice (1994) and People Moving from Porn to Mainstream

There are few things that people desire more than money and fame. Money is necessary for survival. People need money to buy food. They need money to buy clothes. They need money to have children. Money is such an essential part of life that people will do anything to get it. And when they have it, they just want more. That way, they can live a lavish life of luxury. Fame, on the other hand, isn’t necessary. It is simply the ultimate popularity contest. When people become famous, they are no longer ignored. Not everybody wants fame, but there are a lot of people out there fighting for their faces to be recognized.

There are many ways in which a person could find fame. Every day, the amount of ways that a person can get famous grows. There are memes. There’s the news. A person could be an author, a comic book writer, a comedian, or an athlete. They could make music or work in politics. Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, Vine, TikTok, and Snapchat have all had people rise to stardom through their apps. Some stars have even outlasted their apps. One of the most popular avenues to fame, however, is still through television and movies.

For the people who want nothing more than to be famous, getting their face on the big screen in a major theatrical release is the ultimate goal. The more that people can see them, the more famous they’ll get. With that fame, they get the adoration of fans and the money of the big stars. But it’s not easy to get there. There are very few people who become a success immediately. Most people have to take small steps to break into the business. Or, when they become famous in another avenue, they decide that the next step to keep growing in popularity is to transition into major motion pictures. That’s why there are always musicians, athletes, and other celebrities stepping into film to perform in both major and minor roles.

Traci Lords was one such actress who transitioned from another form of entertainment. In 1994, she starred in a film called Ice. Charley Reed (Phillip Troy Linger) and his wife Ellen (Traci Lords) were cat burglars. They stole a bunch of diamonds from the home of Vito Malta (Jorge Rivero). Vito wanted the diamonds back and would stop at nothing to get them. After Charley was killed in an ambush by Vito’s men, Ellen teamed up with her brother Rick (Zach Galligan) to get money for the diamonds while escaping Vito’s mafia.

Ice wasn’t the first acting gig for Traci Lords. She had been in movies and television since she was featured in an episode of Wiseguy in 1988. And that’s only if you count her crossover into the mainstream. Prior to that episode of Wiseguy, Traci Lords had been a porn actress. She had decided to move out of that profession and pursue a career as a serious actress, rather than an actress whose sole purpose was to titillate the men and women who wanted to pleasure themselves while watching her.

The porn industry is an interesting one to look at when considered as a stepping-stone for movie stars. The performers in porn flicks are still performing. They are playing a role in a pornographic film. That role might be an exaggerated version of themselves, but it’s still a role. Yet, there’s something different to it. The porn industry, as a whole, is kept separate from the Hollywood industry. Their awards, their performers, their studios, their controversies… It’s all a separate entity. For all intents and purposes, making porn is different than making mainstream films, though all the machinations are exactly the same.

That is why it is sometimes seen as a stepping-stone to being in mainstream movies. That’s why people like Traci Lords crossed over from making porn to making mainstream films. She wasn’t considered to have been making movies the whole time. She was making porn. Then she was making movies. Two separate steps to becoming a movie star. Is it a fair assessment? Not necessarily. But it’s the way the world looks at it.

Traci Lords’s crossover into the mainstream came in 1987. She quit the porn industry in a huge way. Traci had started making porn in 1984 and quickly became one of the most popular performers of the time. She tried to quit the industry the next year, but that didn’t stick. In May 1986, it was revealed that Traci Lords had recently turned 18 and had been underage during her two years in the porn industry. She had been using a fake ID that said she was five years older than her real age. That was the end of her career in porn, and she would jump to the mainstream the next year.

The biggest role in the early part of Traci Lords’s mainstream career was when she was cast in Cry-Baby with Ricki Lake and Johnny Depp. The popularity of Cry-Baby cemented her as having become a serious actress. She went on to have a fairly under-the-radar career with major roles in smaller movies, and smaller roles in bigger movies, plus a bunch of small roles in various television shows.

Traci Lords wasn’t the only porn star to make a crossover into mainstream film and television. Ron Jeremy was one of the biggest porn stars of all time, and that’s not a reference to his penis. He currently holds the record for most appearances in pornographic films. His career began when he tried to break into Broadway in the mid to late 1970s. Nothing came of that and he was broke. His girlfriend sent a nude picture of him into Playgirl. It began a porn career that is still going to this day, when Ron Jeremy is 66 years old.

The highly successful porn career that Ron Jeremy had led to a bunch of mainstream film roles. Mainstream might not be quite the best word for a lot of them. He has appeared in many films produced or distributed by Troma. He was featured in Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV, and Tromeo and Juliet among others. There were a bunch of other horror movies, such as Detention and Jersey Shore Massacre that he had small roles in. He also managed to get into some bigger films as well. He was an extra in Ghostbusters and The Godfather Part III. He had a small role in Detroit Rock City and a bigger role in The Boondock Saints. He even showed up on television in episodes of Nash Bridges and Just Shoot Me.

His most significant jobs in mainstream film were as a consultant. He helped with the film 9 ½ Weeks, which was about an intense sexual affair. It made sense for the filmmakers to want the advice of a porn star to help them flesh out the explicit nature of the story they were telling. The other film that Ron Jeremy consulted on was even more obvious. Boogie Nights was about the porn industry and was inspired by the career of John Holmes. It only seems right that the one porn star who found bigger success than Holmes would help tell the story of finding stardom in the industry.

Few porn stars can jump into mainstream film in quite the same way as Traci Lords or Ron Jeremy. Sasha Grey was a huge star in porn for a few years in the late 00s. She was featured in a few mainstream movies before her big crossover role, starring in Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience. It was about a woman who was hired by men to play the role of their girlfriend. Sasha Grey seemed like the perfect fit for the role, which is why, maybe, it was her biggest mainstream role. Either that or playing herself in one season of Entourage. She would make a few more movies over the years, including the interesting, albeit gimmicky, Open Windows. Nothing would put her on a trajectory of having a great film career, though.

James Deen did even worse in terms of making movies. Perhaps that’s because he was always, first and foremost, a porn star. He was never going to be anything else and wasn’t going to put in any effort to cross over into any real sort of mainstream career. He also has a history of rape and sexual assault allegations, which could factor into the longevity of his mainstream career too. His only notable mainstream film role was in The Canyons, alongside Lindsay Lohan. Other than that, he has stuck to porn and just kept on keeping on in that industry.

The final porn star that will be mentioned in detail in this discussion is Simon Rex. He began his career as a model at the age of 19. He modeled for companies like Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Versace, and Levi’s. When he first got into modeling, he agreed to pose nude for photographer Brad Posey. This led to a few appearances in gay porn films, where Simon Rex would masturbate for the camera. It wasn’t a long porn career, but it was one of the first steps into his future career.

In 1995, Rex became a VJ for MTV. This would lead to major roles in the TV shows Jack & Jill and What I Like About You. After he left What I Like About You in 2002, he went on to appear in the Scary Movie films, The Karate Dog, National Lampoon’s Pledge This!, and Superhero Movie. Most of his work was in comedies, with spoofs and parodies being a large part of his filmography. He also took on the musical persona of Dirt Nasty, finding some musical success with his rap group Dyslexic Speedreaders.

Other porn stars have also made their way into mainstream films. Katie Morgan appeared alongside Traci Lords in Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Piranha 3D featured Riley Steele, Ashlynn Brooke, and Gianna Michaels. Kristine DeBell made an Alice in Wonderland porn before going onto Meatballs, A Talking Cat!?! and Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance. Speaking of the Samurai Cop sequel, it also featured Lexi Belle, Rachel Roxx, Charlotte Stokely, Kayden Kross, and Misty Stone. Then there have been the numerous Playboy models that made their way into the film world. Pamela Anderson, Carmen Electra, and Jenny McCarthy all did Playboy modeling work early in their careers. Andy Sidaris used Playboy models for his films. Porn has brought a myriad of film personalities into Hollywood.

Porn is one of many ways that people break into entertainment. They can find fame by having sex on computer, phone, and television screens around the world. And they can use that fame to pursue other career opportunities that will further push them into stardom. It’s a stepping-stone to the fame they want to find. That’s not to say that some people don’t just like being in porn, or get coerced into porn, or use it to make money for their education. But for many, it’s like having a musician who wants to act. They want to find fame in two areas of the overall entertainment industry.

Fame and money are two things that many people want. They will do whatever they can to get either one. They might take one job and branch that out into a few jobs to find the success that they want. That’s especially true in entertainment. People who find fame and fortune in one area will inevitably go down multiple avenues to build their brand. They’ll try many different things to keep growing their popularity. Or they’ll start in one place to propel themselves into another. There could be a bunch of reasons for it. In most cases, though, it’s for the fame and the paycheck.

Now let’s get a few notes in here:

• Ron Jeremy was mentioned in this post. He was in Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (week 84), Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (week 110), 54 (week 266), and Orgazmo (week 363).
• The Karate Dog (week 281) was mentioned in relation to Simon Rex.
• Kristine DeBell came up in the post, along with her movies A Talking Cat!?! (week 94) and Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance (week 241).
• Andy Sidaris was mentioned. He directed and appeared in Hard Ticket to Hawaii (week 352).
• Carmen Electra was also brought up during that bit. She was in 2-Headed Shark Attack (week 7), Date Movie (week 164), and The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (week 362).
• Finally, Jenny McCarthy was mentioned. She was in The Stupids (week 188).
• Ice featured Jean St. James of the film D.E.B.S. (week 111).
• Finally, Floyd Levine appeared in Ice. He also appeared in Norbit (week 227).
• Have you seen Ice? What did you think? Do you have any appreciation for the porn industry? Do you like when porn stars move to mainstream movies? Let me know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter.
• You can find me on Twitter or in the comments if there’s a movie that you think I should be checking out for the Sunday “Bad” Movies. I’m always looking for suggestions to spice up the schedule beyond the movies that I toss in there.
• Check out the Instagram for the Sunday “Bad” Movies if you want to see some fun pictures, clips, and things related to the movies and the blog.
• This is an old post. Or, rather, it should have come out a long time ago. The post after this one was the anniversary watch of Snow Dogs. Check out that post. I’ll see you soon with the next post I put up.