Interview by Dan Taylor

Porn stars come from all walks of life. One might be the fresh-faced girl from your grade school math class. Maybe that nursing student who visited you in the hospital. Marilyn Chambers was an Ivory Snow box model when BEYOND THE GREEN DOOR made her famous and paved the way for porn's acceptance in the mainstream.

Julie Rage -- one of porndom's current queens and star of 100+ films -- found a unique entree into the adult industry...it was her post-Army temp job. Rage, who gets naughty in flicks like NEKTAR, POINT OF ENTRY, DUKES OF ANAL, COUNTRY GIRL and the upcoming BLACK WIDOW spoke with us about the industry's latest AIDS-related scare, her background, and where one of porn's nastiest girls draws the line.

What attracted you to getting involved in the porn business?
The real truth, or do you want a fake one?

Which one do you want me to print?
You can print the truth. I had just gotten out of the Army, and when you're out of the Army they don't pay you very much. They pay you enough just for your very, very basics, so I didn't have any cash. I had quit my job when I went in the Army, so I came out and had no job. I was looking to get in the medical field, well it was almost Christmas time, and no one's going to hire during Christmas. So I needed some cash to float me through, and I answered this ad to do nude modeling for a magazine. And it happened to be Jim South, who's like the big mogul of the agencies, and he took me to lunch.

So he says, "By the way, we occasionally cast for movies." And I said, "What kind of movies," duh... And he said, "Adult movies."

"Oh, you mean like R movies?"

"No, like sex movies." This is how naive I am. In the meantime I met a guy named Alex Sanders who is a big actor in the business and he liked me and said he wanted to do a movie with me. I thought he was cute and I said, "Okay!" Then he told me how much he'd pay me and I said, "OKAY!"

I was really nervous because I had been celibate when I was in the Army, 'cause when you're in training you're not allowed to do that kind of stuff.

You were in the Army for how long?
Just long enough to get my training, I'm still a reserve.

I did my scene and I went back to Jim and said, "Let's do this." Ever since then it's just snowballed, and here I am now. I didn't think I'd be in this long, I was looking at it like a temp job to float me through. "I can make this much money? I think I'll put a hold on that medical bill for a while."

How long do you plan on staying in the business?
Maximum, another three to five years. After that...? I'm starting to venture out into different areas. I just did my first movie for CDI Home Video; it was basically just a gonzo, doing the kinds of sex that I want done. I got to direct it and write the script and say, "This is what I want to see." I don't want to see silly dialogue. If you're gonna do dialogue, do it right. I can act dialogue, but I can't direct another person to do [it]. We just deleted that out and made it a lot of T&A. They're very happy with it, but it hasn't been released yet. It's supposed to be released in the next few months.

One of the things that interests me about the porn business is the way it reverses the Hollywood framework. The women have all the power, and it's many of the female stars that you see setting up their own production companies, directing, producing, etc.
Guys buy the tapes to see us. Most of the guys don't even like to see the guy's "cum shot face." They want to pretend it's them. Where in Hollywood the powerhouses are the guy actors. There's a few really good women actresses, but mostly when you go to see a movie it's because of the guy. In adult you go to watch the pretty girl get naked and nasty.

That's also part of the popularity of the all-girl stuff. Most guys want to imagine themselves in that setting without the interference of a male star.
Well, most of the guys go wild because they don't get that at home. It's like the fantasy trip..."I wish my girl did that so I could come home and catch her with all these girls."

Do you prefer doing girl-girl, or are you just as happy doing a guy?
Good question. I like both...in my personal life I'm married to a man, but I've dated more women than I've dated men. Outside of business, I've only dated four guys my whole life. I've dated a LOT of girls.

So you considered yourself bi even before you got into porn?
Oh, a long time. It was definitely not a stretch for me to do a girl-girl [scene]. It's fun doing a girl-girl just because women are pretty. I like doing both, it's just a different type of sex.

Was your first sexual experience with another girl or a guy?
With a girl. When I was a teenager.

With somebody you were friends with...?
My best friend. She was older than me and she molested me, so to speak.

But you liked it.
Oh I liked it.

Are you married to someone in the industry?
Yeah, I'm married to Greg Steele, and he's a director. He just did that big movie CONQUEST. [Ed. Note: A porno pirate movie starring Jenna Jameson, Asia Carrerra, Shayla La Veaux, and others.] He does a lot of the bigger budget movies and I'm his production manager. I have different lil' ol' things that I do. I don't just act or just direct...it's good training for me in case I decide I really want to do this directing thing. I dabbled in it this one time and I'm considering doing more.

Have you gotten into any situations where a producer or director asked you to do something where you said, "Whoa, no thanks! That's just too weird."
Yeah, a director called me up one time and wanted me to do him in the butt. I said, "Nah," I just totally turned that down. I'm known as being pretty nasty, I just don't want to see a guy taking it in the butt unless it's a gay movie. That was just a little too creepy. I had another director ask me, I forget what they call it, but the guy comes in a girl's butt and another girl sucks it out? That's a little too gross for me. I mean, I'll take a pop shot on the face, but I'm not gonna suck it out of someone's butt! Especially their butt! I think they call it "felching..."

And anything with a name like that doesn't sound too inviting. I just heard that John Stagliano (creator of the Buttman series and one of the most prolific producer/ directors in the business) was diagnosed with HIV. How has that affected the porn industry? I also heard he didn't pass it on to anyone else in porn.
No he did not. Thank god. I worked on a movie he did called Buttman and the Crack. At that time, I wasn't dating anyone and he asked me if I wanted to go out on a date. I just didn't think it was a cool thing to do. Here he was being my director, and it just went over the line, it wasn't professional.

But how has his illness affected the industry, and how does the fear of AIDS affect the overall choices that you make?
It changed my choices for a while because I wasn't getting any work. I was saying, "Look, I'll do a girl-girl, I have no problems with that." Because I don't think you're going to catch anything from a girl unless you've got an open wound in your mouth. This sounds gross, but I don't brush my teeth before a sex scene. I put Listerine in my mouth, but I don't brush because I don't want to open up any gums or have any type of scratches. I make sure I'm careful as far as girl-girl goes. If someone has open wounds or lesions, I won't touch 'em. If I have a cut, sometimes your lips get dry, I won't do any oral.

As far as the way it affected the boy-girl, for a while there there was a six-week window of time before we knew who had what, because it takes two 30-day tests before you know.

Do you get tested on a regular basis?
I get tested every 30 days. I told them, "In the meantime, if you want me to do a boy-girl, I will. Condom only, and there's going to be no facial pop shots until we know." Some directors were very cool about that, some other ones, the ones who rely real heavily on the European sells, had to keep shooting just as if nothing was happening. That's the only way they make any profit. They just break even in the United States, and the Europeans will not buy movies with condoms. So I lost a lot of work. I just went on the road and feature danced.

Now that the scare is over I'm selective about what guys I will work with...people that I know personally, I know their habits, I know that they're not shooting up, I know they're not swingers, and I know they're really careful. A lot of girls are still doing condom-only.

You said that you get tested every 30 days. Is that pretty common in the industry?
You have to get tested every 30 days or you will not work. No one will work with you, and the company will not shoot you. Just like having your id's is a must.

How does your family feel about what you do?
My Mom knows and she is very supportive. She wishes that I was doing something else, but she's not going to disown me, and she loves me. Her only comment was, "Well, I guess I can't watch cable anymore."

Did you grow up in a very strict background?
Yes and no. I grew up in a Southern Baptist home, we were very religious. But my Mom, because when she was younger she was a hippy, about the sex issue was always very open, very easy to talk to, informative. There was never any embarrassment about nudity, she would get dressed in front of me, take a bath in front of me. So I grew up in a very sexually healthy environment. Other than that it was really strict.

For Julie Rage Fan Club & Tour Schedule Info, write:
Julie Rage, c/o DOM Corp., Box 9786, Marina Del Ray, CA 90295