You know damn well who Allie Haze is. The star of over 160 pornographic features has won multiple awards in the adult industry, including the 2011 XRCO Award for Best New Starlet, the 2011 AVN Award for Most Outrageous Sex Scene and the 2013 XBIZ Award for Best Actress (Parody Release) for Star Wars XXX. Her latest film may feature a lot of nudity, but it’s not a porno: it’s Aroused, the new documentary from photographer Deborah Anderson, who interviews many of the hottest adult movie stars in the industry and gets to know them as human beings, not as sexual objects.
Allie Haze called in to talk about Aroused, the questions she gets asksed as a porn star, her unusual experience taking over the mantle of Emmanuelle, and her dreams of starring in a SyFy Channel original series.
Aroused is in theaters now. Read CraveOnline’s interview with Aroused director Deborah Anderson, and watch this CraveOnline exclusive clip from Aroused.
CraveOnline: We’re actually both in Star Wars XXX.
Allie Haze: Oh we are?
Yeah, I’m actually in the Mos Eisley cantina scene, in the background.
Oh! Oh, I wasn’t there on cantina day!
I know!
The one day I wasn’t shooting, unfortunately. I heard the set was pretty crazy fun.
A lot of extras, a lot of monsters, it was a good shoot.
I’m glad to hear you had a good time.
I had a great time. Is Empire Strikes Back coming out?
We haven’t shot it. I got wind a couple days ago that we were going to start shooting for it, but I’ve gotten wind of that about three times now, so who knows what that really means? I’ll believe it when I’m in the bikini.
Let’s talk about Aroused. Who contacted you for Aroused?
Actually, a friend of Deborah’s had mentioned the project to me. He was also a really good friend of mine, and had introduced me to Deborah via phone and different things, and she talked to me about the project, and he explained the project to me. I had just gotten finished with the release of Emmanuelle and different things like that. I went to the Cannes Film Festival the year before. I saw what I considered a mainstream project, even though it’s on Cinemax every night, it was originally based in France and over there they watch it on everyday TV. So that was a lot of fun. I’d just gotten done with that project and I was hungry to do something else that was a little more mainstream, and shooting photos is my favorite thing to do in the whole wide world, aside from talking obviously. [Laughs] Once I heard what she was trying to do, I was deeply intrigued for the purpose of… I feel like as an adult star we’re always doing interviews about movies or different things, but nobody ever really cares about “us.” So it was really cool to hear that somebody wanted to hear about us.
I’ve seen some behind the scenes special features on various adult films, and there’s always some token personal questions, and it seems like there’s always some tacit encouragement to perpetuate the persona in the behind the scenes interview. Like, “So, tell me about your first sexual experience…”
Yeah.
Is anything really candid in those interviews, or are you still “selling” in those particular docs?
I’m never a character. [Laughs] I am me, and I think that how my work and the things that I have done have actually gotten picked up… because my gosh I couldn’t play two people… [Laughs] That would be way too intense! Allie is as much Brittany as Brittany is as much Allie, you know? I’m one and the same. So for me, personally, no. There is a couple companies that do some really good BTS. Sweethearts, which is Mile High Media Studios, they do really good interviews afterwards in their girl/girl line and things like that, but yes, generally speaking you’re right. There is the token questions, things that you ask every girl behind the BTS. There isn’t a lot of just good old B-roll.
Have you seen Aroused yet?
Yes, yeah! Of course I have. [Laughs]
Did it turn out the way that it was pitched to you, or did it change over the course of the editing?
No, I don’t think it ever changed. I think her point the whole time was to take bits and pieces of intriguing parts of our lives and put them together to show everybody else that we’re just as same as the next.
One thing Deborah Anderson talks about a lot is the difference between sexuality and sensuality. Did you feel differently in her photoshoots than you do in your films?
I feel different with everyone I shoot, because really it’s the vibe that they’re giving that sets a mood and tone for the environment that you’re in when you’re shooting. So I wouldn’t relate it in comparison to adult vs. mainstream. I would relate it into the fact that I have never worked with a director like her, a director-slash-photographer like her, who made me feel the way she made me feel. I guess there is no other word than copying her own, in saying, “sensual” versus… You know, I always feel comfortable with taking naked in my skin, but I’m always aware if [someone is] staring at me. She didn’t make me feel like that. The crew [didn’t]. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s not a bad feeling, it’s just a different feeling to just feel so comfortable in my skin, talking about my life.
Were they looking at you more objectively, or were they more friendly? What was that environment like?
They were interested in what I had to say! Really, to be honest with you, that’s really what it was. The crew, everybody, and I knew that – not only due to the environment, and everybody that was on set – also because when the camera stopped rolling, the crew and other people would ask me questions, like, “No way! You really did that?!” People were able to converse. It wasn’t like going on a bad date and he was only staring at my boobs, you know?
Do you get that a lot? What sort of questions do people ask you? What things are they bewildered by in the adult industry?
I mean, a lot people think it’s crazy that we have as much control as we do. I feel like they think it’s a sideshow, and we’re thrown into a pit of lions and we have to run from each one. It’s not really what’s going on. I think that’s one of the biggest misconceptions, that people don’t really understand that we have a choice. That’s kind of what Deborah I feel like was trying to say. These women have a choice. They went to college… Some of them went to college, some of them could be any other thing, but we love what we do and there’s a reason for it. So there’s no reason to think any different. Most people don’t care to ask the next question behind, “Why are you doing this?” So that’s really kind of what Deborah capitalized on.
Are you planning on going career? Do you plan on being in the adult industry for decades? That’s one subject they talked about a lot on the documentary, where you’re going with your… “path in life” sounds so ridiculous and bourgeois…
I know, right? Where are you going with your career, I guess is the best. I’m not going anywhere until I’m told to. [Laughs] I love what I do, and until it’s gone or… I don’t know. Though it may not have been the choice of career that my mother would have planned for me, she always told me once I find something that I want to do, there’s no reason to walk away. So I really love what I do, and the great part about it is there’s so many dynamics of this business besides just being a performer, that there will always be something for me to do.
Have you directed yet?
No! I’m trying to get my feet wet. I’m there, I just haven’t made the leap yet. It’s really hard to find a group of people that you mesh well with, that you’re willing to put your ideas into. Because those are kind of your baby [laughs], and creativity is all we got.
Have you thought about the kind of movie you would like to make? Would it be a narrative film, or something more experimental?
Not necessarily. I’m known for my parodies, obviously, and I’m known for my romance and my acting skills and things like that. That’s definitely a huge passion of mine. I would love to experiment more on that end and get an opportunity to really show what I can do, no matter what field it’s in. But for me, I think I would dabble in a little bit of everything. I would like to have a variety of everything, because that’s what keeps me happy and going, but if I had to pick one I would probably stick with the romance stuff.
You know, Lost and Found was a really cute movie.
Thank you!
That was a really funny film. One thing I like about the adult industry is that there is literally something for everyone. There’s more subgenres than any other kind of filmmaking. But it’s nice to see something where the tone is just light and innocent.
Yeah.
Was that a mission statement, or was there just a vibe on the set for that?
That’s just the vibe that came on the set for that. It was actually a lot of friends in the business just getting together and making a movie with the smallest budget we could imagine. We were all really dedicated to this story and getting the point across of something that would happen in someone’s every day life.
Do watch any adult movies that you make or that your friends make? I find a lot of people in the industry don’t.
I do. I watch bits and pieces of my stuff, just so I don’t make that same crazy face again that makes me look like I’m pooping. I mean, really. [Laughs] A lot of us girls critique ourselves on that end, but I watch other stuff and I end up on other sets for the idea of snooping. I definitely do. I care that much.
What was the Emmanuelle experience like?
Oh wow, the craziest thing I have ever done.
Wow.
Nothing came from it but a wonderful experience, which is just fine. Experiences are worth it. Unfortunately with the original Emmanuelle’s Sylvia Kristel dying, it did make a big impact that I did another one. I just wished that the producer wouldn’t have been so offended by my adult career, that we could have prospered more from it?
Really? How so? What were their concerns?
Well, if you look at the series, I did it under “Brittany Joy,” and I was going to try and separate the two so that if somebody wanted to watch me, in general just me, and wanted to see some crazy stuff they could Google “Allie Haze.” And if they wanted to see more stuff that they could show their children, they would Google “Brittany Joy.” So it was nothing – not a shame – in either one, it was almost trying to combine the two. But the producer thought that Emmanuelle would pull me into the mainstream world, not understanding that France, as a space, they’re a little bit different. You know? Because over there they view softcore as mainstream, literal mainstream, whereas over here you do softcore [and] you’re considered a porn star.
Basically, yeah.
Really, yeah. It’s the exact opposite over there. They were just so appalled at, why did I ruin my mainstream career with porn? And I’m like, what do you mean? My porn career got me this movie. They scouted me at an Adult Con. Without my adult work I would have never had the opportunity to do this project. So he had the feeling that Brittany Joy would overtake Allie Haze, but when Emmanuelle came out everybody was like, “Oh my god, Allie Haze is playing Emmanuelle.” And he was like “Whoa,” and I’m like, “I tried to tell you. Allie Haze is kind of a big name.” He just didn’t believe me. “I’m not trying to toot my own horn, I’m not trying to pretend to have success. I really worked hard, and it’s going to happen.” And when that all kind of happened, it kind scooted away. Things on that end slowed down, which is really unfortunate because I really love the project. I dedicated a lot of my time to it. I took three-and-a-half, almost four months off from the business to get the project done. Moved to Hollywood, that’s when I was still living in San Bernadino. I moved to Hollywood for those four months. I really stopped what I was doing in porn to figure all that out. I mean, I love it, it was a great experience, it was crazy, it was interesting. They’re so goofy, it was sci-fi and I love it. I try to call it a sci-fi softcore comedy. That’s really what it is. So it’s really interesting to put all of those elements together. I mean, my overall dream in life, crazy enough, is to have my own series on SyFy. [Laughs]
That would be awesome.
I would love that. That would be one of my all-time goals.
How do you envision that? Are you a crimefighter, are you in space?
I haven’t figured it out yet, because sometimes I love being a superhero, so would I have powers? And then I’m addicted to obviously all the old school “Law & Order,” “CSI” kind of stuff, so I’m like, hmm… And then I’m a big “Tremors” fan, so I’m like, how crazy could we get? I mean, who knows? I’m kind of all over the place. But I would really love the opportunity to do that. They have that series that’s really cool, I’m pretty sure it’s on SyFy, “Warehouse 13?” Which is a combination of history and cops and robbers and a little bit of magic. So a little bit of everything minus the crazy creatures, which is really cool. So that’s my highest goal right now.
You should come up with a concept that allows you to do all those things. Like, you’re a sci-fi writer and you retreat into all these different worlds.
Yes, which is kind of what Emmanuelle is. She’s a time-traveling sexpert.
What do you feel like people should know about you, as a person, that no one is asking? Because I feel like Aroused does do a good job at illuminating people in the industry that we look at in a very specific way.
Wow, you know what? I mean, I feel like Deborah covers it all. I realize she didn’t get to tell all of our stories in full in the documentary, for those bits and pieces, but Deborah did such an amazing job about getting all the questions in there. By the time I was done I felt like I had no more life to give. I told her everything I could possibly tell her, which was really nice to do. I guess the main statement would be, we’re artists. When I’m creating an adult movie I feel like I’m painting a painting, and I have to get all the perfect colors in the right order to make a pretty picture that somebody wants to stare at for years to come. That’s kind of how I like people to view us, [as] alternative artists. That’s really what we’re doing. We’re not hurting anybody. We’re law-abiding citizens. We pay our taxes. And I go fishing on the weekends! [Laughs] What’s the difference?
Really? Fishing?
I do. I’m a big camper. I have a boat, I have a toy hauler, and I have some dogs that love to go out and… I race R/C cars, also. So I do a little bit of it all.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel, co-host of The B-Movies Podcast, co-star of The Trailer Hitch, and the writer of The Test of Time. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
