Rarely is an actor a true overnight sensation.
It takes a lot of hard work, dedication and persistence to achieve a decent amount of
fame in Hollywood and that may include taking on tawdry roles along the way.
While some famous actors may start out in bad slasher movies or student films with stilted
dialogue, others pay the bills by appearing in something much more indelicate.
Here are 10 Famous Actors Who You Didn’t Know Did Adult Movies.
Cameron Diaz Cameron Diaz became one of the hottest and
most sought after actresses to hit the big screen after she made her debut in 1994’s
The Mask.
She continued her massive success in films like Charlie's Angels, Gangs of New York,
and ironically enough, Sex Tape.
.But before she hit it big in Hollywood, she was a struggling model who did photo shoots
for teen magazines but it was a completely different kind of photo shoot that created
a mild media stir.
In the early 90’s two years before she starred in The Mask, she did a nude photo shoot that
also included light bondage.
The photo shoot just happened to be filmed on video as well.
After Cameron became a big star, the scummy photographer decided to sell his footage.
Even though Diaz blocked the release, the video still ended up on the internet.
Cameron Diaz’s brief moment on camera acting out raunchy behavior may seem mild compared
to other adult films, but it certainly is unexpected for a bubbly cheerleader from Long
Beach.
David Duchovny David Duchovny is best known as Fox Mulder
on the science fiction modern classic, The X-Files.
However, Duchovny has been acting for decades, early roles include playing the villains in
Don’t tell mom the Babysitter's Dead and Beethoven, with a ponytail in the former to
really emphasize what an insufferable jerk he was supposed to be.
During those unfortunate hair years, he appeared on the Showtime series Red Shoe Diaries.
The series was soft core and considering Duchovny’s later series, Californication, it definitely
should not surprise audiences to see him in the series.
Simon Rex The name Simon Rex may only elicit familiarity for those who watched a lot of
MTV in the 90s but his face should be more familiar since he has appeared on Jack and
Jill, the short lived television series that also starred Amanda Peet and Jamie Pressly,
as well as, television’s Felicity.
Rex has also appeared in a few of the Scary Movies and a handful of other films.
The man gets a lot of work and some of that work included a few adult movies, mostly solo
scenes with titles like Young, Hard, and Solo.
Rex went under the name of Sebastian for the videos but has never claimed the videos were
not him nor has the existence of the adult films caused any difficulty for him finding
work as he is also a model, rapper, and record producer when he is not acting.
Not bad for an MTV VJ.
Jackie Chan Jackie Chan is a household name thanks to
his acrobatic fighting skills and surprising comedic chops.
Although he has been a working actor since he was a child in the 1960s, he did not gain
international fame until the 1990s.
While a struggling actor Chan accepted a role in an Adult film called All in the Family
where he took part in a single sex scene.
The film was not exactly a highlight of his career but he has stated that he had to do
what he needed to pay his bills so it was not a big deal.
With a prolific mainstream acting career, it is just a minor role that was lost in the
shuffle and probably best stays lost.
Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Stallone was definitely not an overnight
sensation, and surely part of his inspiration for his film Rocky was his own underdog experience.
Before becoming a multi-hyphenate, Stallone struggled not just to earn decent acting roles,
but anything that would give him money to put a roof over his head.
It was after he found himself homeless and sleeping in New York’s Port Authority bus
terminal that he ventured toward adult films.
The Party at Kitty and Stud’s was a softcore film that paid Stallone $200 for his two days
of work.
Six years later after the massive success of Rocky, the adult film was rereleased and
renamed The Italian Stallion.
Stallone, like a few others on our list, does not regret doing the film as it was his only
way to earn rent money.
Adam West For some, Adam West is Batman.
The 1960s campy Batman series featured a well-adjusted Bruce Wayne compared to the more recent Dark
Knight interpretations.
In the 1980s, West decided to take a detour mid-career and star in a few Showtime After
dark soft core films and The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood.
The films are tame but the idea that non-threatening and comforting Adam West decided to take a
few much more adult roles feels like a POW and BOOM straight to the gut for audiences.
Matt Leblanc For ten seasons, Matt Leblanc entered a majority
of living rooms in America every Thursday night playing Joey Tribbiani of NBC’s Friends.
Before he was earning a cool million per episode, he was a struggling actor appearing in a memorable
Heinz Ketchup commercial and Kelly Bundy’s boyfriend on the popular sitcom Married with
Children and even went on to star in two failed Married with Children Spin-offs.
Leblanc had a busy career before Friends, but he managed to fit in some soft core porn
into his repertoire with Showtime’s Red Shoe Diaries.
He had a small role in two episodes.
Just like David Duchovny and a few familiar character actors, The Red Shoe Diaries was
a common stop on the road to fame.
Sibel Kikellie German actress Sibel Kekilli has received
critical acclaim and awards for her performance in the 2004 film Head-On.
She is most recognizable to American audiences as Shae on HBO's Game of Thrones.
While Game of Thrones is known to be salacious, it was her earlier work that raised a few
eyebrows.
Between 2001 and 2002, she appeared in thirteen Adult films under the name, Dilara.
It was a career move she did not plan on sharing and when she accepted an acting award for
work in Head-On, she tearfully explained that she did not appreciate the press bringing
up her past and that it was a smear campaign against her but she managed to move on just
fine.
Helen Mirren Helen Mirren is such a polished and highly
accomplished actress, one may find it impossible to imagine her in an adult film.
Even though she was appointed a Dame in 2003 and began her acting career at the Royal Shakespeare
Company, she was also in the erotic drama Caligula in 1979.
The film sounds like a mainstream film as it is a historical drama about the rise and
fall of a Roman Emperor but that Caligula was a naughty ruler.
Legitimate and well-known actors Malcolm McDowell and Peter O’ Toole also appeared in the
film, so she was not alone in venturing toward explicit territory.
Caligula was produced by Penthouse founder Bob Guccione and featured many “Penthouse
Pets”.
The pornographic film did not tarnish Mirren’s reputation or acting career and she has continued
being one classy dame.
Traci Lords In the last two decades, Traci Lords has carved herself out an impressive
acting career with her 90s film credits like Crybaby and Blade to her television credits
in Melrose Place and Gilmore Girls.
Long before her expansive mainstream work, she was a hard core porn actress.
In fact, older audiences may know her name for the controversy that came with her porn
credits stemming from the fact that she was under age when she starred in 75 films.
The Film Company, as well as Penthouse for which she stripped while under age, claimed
that Lords gave them a fake ID and Birth Certificate, which was true.
Obviously all of her films were ordered to be removed from adult shops and video rental
stores.
Lords has worked steadily and unscathed by her adult work and even poked fun of it by
appearing as a porn star in Kevin Smith’s 2008 comedy, Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
What do you think of our list?
Did we forget any actors who dipped into the adult film pond?
Let us know in the comments.
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