A lot of people say you are what you think you are. Pornstar James Deen doesn’t find anything wrong with his profession stating: “Having sex with beautiful women for money? My God. I want to shoot myself every night when I get home. Honestly? I’ve said repeatedly to people that I know, if I ever make a single complaint about this business that they should just beat my ass on sight, pretty much. I cannot imagine something I’d rather do than this. Like in the entire world. ” Want to know what else he said about the porn industry? Or what people think about him? Keep reading to know more about the life and career of James Deen, who also happens to be an actor! 

Here’s What Didn’t Know About The Porn Actor James Deen

Why is he called James Deen? 

At the age of 12, James was first called “James Deen” after some people commented about the way he smoked. When he was 17 years old, James was attending a community college in Pasadena. While he was there, he took the decision to break into the adult film industry after meeting girls who had connections to the porn industry. Through these meet and greets, James was introduced to Pamela Peaks who helped him choose his old nickname as his stage name (other options included Clint Cullingus). When the name James Deen stuck, he wanted his fans to call themselves “Deenagers”.

His real name is Bryan Matthew Sevilla. And Sevilla’s paternal grandfather, Stanley Sevilla, was born in Ohio, to Dienna and Isadore Sevilla, who were Sephardi Jewish immigrants from Istanbul, Turkey. James’s paternal grandmother, Lois Howell, had English, Scottish, and German ancestry. Lois was also born in Ohio, to Thomas William Howell and Ruth Mary Hirst. Lois’s own mother (James’s great-grandmother) was a white woman who was born in South Africa, to American parents. James’s mother’s family is Ashkenazi Jewish.

He had sex in public to gain 6 inches of confidence: 

As a teenager, he listened to a radio interview with Jenna Jameson on the nationally syndicated radio program, “Loveline.” When a male caller asked Jenna how he could become a porn star. She responded that he needed to be able to masturbate in a room full of 20 of his best friends. Taking this advice to heart, James began having sex at parties and Raves. He credits this exhibitionist behavior with helping him perform in front of the camera.  

He is the Bill Cosby of the porn show: 

In late November 2015, frequent adult film co-star and ex-girlfriend, Stoya, accused him of raping her while on set. Soon after, another ex-girlfriend and adult film collaborator, Joanna Angel, came forward and also accused him of being a rapist. After that, over a dozen adult film female stars who have worked with him have accused him of rape. He has since then been dubbed ‘The Bill Cosby of Porn’.

Stoya:

On November 28th 2015, Stoya, porn actress and ex-girlfriend of Deen alleged that he had held her down and had sex with her, even though she said “no”, “stop” and used her safe word.  She also stated that she wasn’t getting any support while people were standing up for Deen: “That thing where you log in to the internet for a second and see people idolizing the guy who raped you as a feminist. That thing sucks.” 

Either way, Stoya’s statements started an avalanche of other rape allegations that followed. 

Ashley Fires:

Ashley said she hoped speaking out about the moment Deen allegedly ‘nearly raped’ her in 2015 would spur positive change in the adult entertainment industry and create better, safer working environments for other performers. But Fires revealed that she experienced the complete opposite effect, leaving her ostracized, taunted and even bullied by her colleagues – some of whom she’d worked with for years. So far her story sounded similar to Stoyas. 

‘The reason I put him on my “no list” was because he almost raped me,’ Fires told the Daily Beast in 2015, just days after Deen’s former porn star girlfriend Stoya publicly accused him of raping her. 

Ashley went into more details saying that she had been getting out of a communal shower after a shoot at Kink, in San Francisco, when she had reached for her towel to dry off and felt Deen come up from behind her, and push ‘himself and his erection into my butt.’

‘He pushes me against the sink and starts grabbing on me and I was like, “No, no, no James, no,” and he released me from his grasp, and says, “You know, later if you want to f*** around I’m in room whatever-it-was,’ Fires continued.

‘I didn’t even know this guy, he was so out of line and entitled with my body.’

Fires would be one of the first three women to accuse Deen of sexual assault, an allegation that soon consumed her identity and negatively impacted her career. In the wake of her allegations, Fires said she felt as if she couldn’t return to set. Though at the peak of her career, she didn’t want to – or couldn’t – bring herself to perform. She felt as if she so desperately needed to spend time away from being in front of the camera that she sought out jobs behind it, producing and directing.

In the year that followed the purported assault, Fires says James Deen continuously hounded her to ‘stop telling people about it’. When she refused, James Deen allegedly asked her to at least stop telling people the real reason why she won’t work with him.

‘[Deen said] “Okay, can you just say something else? Say that I remind you of your brother,” is what he says — his advice to me — to tell people why I won’t work with him instead of the truth,’ Fires recounted.

His porn company drop James Deen after rape allegations:

Kink, the porn company, has called itself “the largest producer of BDSM and fetish pornography in the world”. This company said it would “cease all ties” with Deen after his ex-girlfriend, Stoya, also a porn actor, accused him on Saturday of rape. Two other porn performers, Tori Lux and Ashley Fires also spoke about Deen sexually assaulting them. (In total 12 of his colleagues complained of sexual assault). 

While James Deen has vehemently denied the claims against him, Ashley Fires spoke to the company directly about being assaulted by Deen in the communal showers at the porn company’s castle-like facility in San Francisco.

Kink’s website lists some 237 films starring Deen. After Kink’s decision, porn company Evil Angels also spoke to BuzzFeed News stating it would suspend its relationship with Deen “until more information is available.”

“In light of the recent accusations against James Deen, Evil Angel today has decided not to sell any newly created scenes featuring Deen,” John Stagliano, the company’s founder and president, told BuzzFeed News. “While our company presents what is consensual and exploratory about aggressive and rough sex, these accusations are of a nature so contrary to our company values that we feel it necessary to suspend the sales until more information is available.”

Writing on Twitter, he has described the allegations as “egregious,” “false,” and “defamatory.” “I respect women and I know and respect limits both professionally and privately,” he wrote. Sadly for Deen, his words weren’t enough and he had to resign as the chairperson of the board of directors of the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC), a labor group that represents porn actors.

He acted in Diminuendo, a non-pornographic film by the deceased director Richard Hatch

Diminuendo was shot in 2018 and had its world premiere at the Sarasota Film Festival on April 20, 2018. We can assume for a fact that Deen attended as he was acting in the movie along with Chloe Dykstra, Leah Cairns, Walter Koenig, Gigi Edgley. 

The movie is a drama film directed by Adrian Stewart and written by Sarah Goldberger and Bryn Pryor. Set in the near future, the film stars the recently deceased actor Richard Hatch as a director who becomes obsessed with a lifelike robot that replicates his girlfriend who killed herself nine years earlier. James Deen played the role of Richard Ballantyne, a callous, egotistical, emotionally-abusive movie star.

Here is a review of the film: 

In short: If you liked Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) chances are more than good that you will like this one. It’s simply a well crafted low budget movie. There are usually less than a handful of these done every year, this is indeed one of those. And even though it contains clichés, it does have originality.