Sunrise Adams

Q: We're here at the Vivid booth, and you're taking a break from signing...are you done for the rest of the morning?

Sunrise Adams: I am done for the rest of the morning...actually, I've been waiting on you guys!

Q: Now, you've been in the business for what...about two or three years now?

Sunrise Adams: Three years. The 8th of January was my anniversary.

Q: How long have you been a Vivid Girl?

Sunrise Adams: It's my second year being a Vivid Girl.

Q: And your aunt is Sunset Thomas?

Sunrise Adams: Yes, Sunset Thomas is my aunt. We're kin!

Q: Do people ask you that a lot?

Sunrise Adams: They do. I'm always being asked about her. We are in adult, but that's pretty much all we have in common, aside from the fact that she's my aunt. But a wonderful woman.

Q: Can you tell us how you got in the business?

Sunrise Adams: The way it all started was my aunt got in the business when she was 18, and she told me how it was in the 80's...and she's only a couple years older than me. So it always filled my head about going and having free love and free sex...so when I turned 18, I showed up to work in Texas and they asked me if I was ready to go, and I said "Yeah". And here I am!

Q: You were in a lot of gonzo flicks before you became a Vivid Girl. Was it your goal to become a contract girl or did you prefer working as a freelancer?

Sunrise Adams: I did enjoy very much being a freelancer. Vivid actually got in contact with me after a couple of months in the business and I turned them down. I never thought I was going to have a contract. But I'm very honored to be here with them, I love them, and I'm going to be with them until I retire.

Q: Any plans for retirement...is that something you have planned in the next 5 to 10 years? Do you plan to stay in the business directing or writing?

Sunrise Adams: Well, right now I'm getting my Business Management degree. I just bought my second home, and hopefully I'm going to buy multiple other properties. And that's pretty much what I want to do until I pass away. But I've always wanted to do this (porn) just to have fun. I've always loved porn, and I've set my goals: I'm going to retire when I'm 31 from this business...from actually being in front of the camera...and I might direct or produce or even own a part of Vivid in a couple of years! So, only time can tell!

Q: Were you actually born and raised in Southern California?

Sunrise Adams: I was not born in California. I was actually born in Missouri, but raised in Texas. So I'm a Texas girl.

Q: Before you became a Vivid Girl, were there any favorite companies that you worked with?

Sunrise Adams: I think all the companies I worked with are my favorites! I walk through these halls today, and all these people know me from way back...they still love me, and they're the coolest people I've ever known. So most of the companies are pretty good...aside from a choice few.

Q: Before you started doing adult features, was acting something you've always wanted to try? Or do you prefer just to give a sexual performance?

Sunrise Adams: You know, I could give a hoot about acting. I'm not an actress. I've never tried to be an actress. I like to fuck and that's what I do. I don't want to be an actress...that's not me. I can't act!

Q: Do you have a boyfriend?

Sunrise Adams: I do have a significant other. He's not in the business, and he's a cool guy. I don't see it lasting forever, but if it does...good for us. But as for right now, it's working.

Q: Sunset Thomas, your aunt, has been making a lot of mainstream appearances. Is that a goal of yours as well?

Sunrise Adams: I think it's Vivid's goal to make us more mainstream. I've done Howard Stern, I've done lots and lots of news and press conference things, I have done mainstream movies and TV appearances. She's (Sunset) in a little more than me...but here I come, so watch out!

Q: Do you have any favorite Vivid flicks that you've been in?

Sunrise Adams: Some really good videos that I've done would be Heart of Darkness, Portrait of Sunrise...which is my all-time favorite. Aside from that, I've done the Debbie Does Dallas: The Revenge...so all of those are really good.

Q: Do you have a website?

Sunrise Adams: Right now you can reach me at www.vivid.com. I do not have a website. I know nothing about computers...I don't even know how to turn one on!

Q: Now that you've been in the business for three years, do you have any advice to new girls who may look up to you and want to have your kind of success?

Sunrise Adams: The first thing I would really want to say to anyone getting into this business: I grew up knowing what I was going to do. I had always known the pros and cons of what this business could do to you. So the first thing is that you would really want to ask yourself is if this is something you're prepared to have with you for the rest of your life. Do you really want your children and grandchildren looking at your pornos? Are you ready for all the ridicule that's going to be judged upon you? And if you have your head on straight and you know the business, it might be fun...but it is a business and if you have a goal out there, then get into this business. But if you have any doubt at all, or if you think you can do just one or two and no one will see it...that's a lie. My first video...people in Texas, where I'm from, saw within a few months of it being out. And I lived in the middle of nowhere! So really just look deep down inside of you and make sure this is something you really want to do for yourself and then go from there.

Q: You worked "freelance" before. What's the difference between being under a studio contract and doing that?

Sunrise Adams: The difference being between being alone and being under contract is when you are on your own, yes, you make a lot of money. But you're looking for work anywhere you can get it. It's all yourself. You have no one looking out for you. No one making the phones calls for you, no one finding the best jobs. You are out there doing it yourself. You're alone. You have to stick up for yourself, you have to be very independent, you have to be very strong. When you're a contract girl I have people looking out for me. They're saying, 'Yes, you'll do this job'. They dissect things. They go and look at the job, they go and look at these people. They go and look and see if these people are for real. And they make sure you're not going to get cheated. That to me is the difference.

Q: How did you get into the adult film business?

Sunrise Adams: I got into the adult film business by my aunt. She's also in the film business. She's Sunset Thomas, she's in the hall of fame, she's been in the business for over ten years. She showed up when I was eighteen. Asked me if I wanted to leave, and I left and I've been doing this ever since.

Q: Why adult films?

Sunrise Adams: I've always been intrigued by adult films. As a child I'd always steal my parents' porn and I'd watch them. I just loved them. I mean, I have a college education, I have a business management degree. I can do anything, but I love the adult. I think it's beautiful. I think its intriguing taking some one's dream, or fantasy and making it real. I love the lighting, the camera work, I love everything about adult.

Q: What do you love most about it?

Sunrise Adams: What I love most about it is being able to be free. Being able to express yourself however you want to be expressed. And no one freaks out, because they feel the same way. There's going to be at least one or two other people out there that going to love looking at toes, or brushing your hair. So many different parts of the adult and so many different ways people fit into it.

Q: What don't you like about it?

Sunrise Adams: I don't like that in the normal world a porn star is not supposed to feel proud about what she, or he is. I love who I am, I love being a porn star, I love being who I am. I love who I am, and when I go out in public I love telling people who I am. But those are the people that look down on you, those are the people the shun you, and try to make you feel bad. And those are the same people renting your movies, buying your movies, sneaking around and cheating on each other and their partners. Why? Why make it a bad thing when every one is bad in a way. At least we are doing it legally, and we're being protected, and we're doing it with people we know. Instead of going to a club and picking up a complete stranger. I feel strongly about that, I guess.

Q: You're obviously very bright and intelligent, just sitting here talking to you... What do you think of that stereotype - that from my experience is very untrue - but that stereotype that if you are in the adult industry you are basically in it because that's all you can do?

Sunrise Adams: The stereotype that comes from just that. Of young girls, young men, getting into the business for the wrong reason. They get pushed in it, they get pressured from their boyfriends, their girlfriends, they need money for , they need an easy way out. And the stereotype comes exactly from that. From those people. Those are going to be your users, those people are going to be the ones committing suicide, those are the ones going to clubs all the time having sex with random people. Then again you have those people that do it because they love it. They're smart people. We have doctors, we have people that do all kinds of amazing things, and yet they love porn because they can express themselves. Because they can express themselves. You make good money, yeah. I love the people. I love watching. I love being able to express myself in a different way than I am at home. At home I am a quiet, calm person. I'm very shy. I don't even undress in front of the mirror. Here I'm walking around with my top off, being able to express myself in the ways I can't at home. I'm being a completely different person. And yet I'm not going to the clubs, I'm not screwing around, I'm not doing the , I'm not drinking. I don't need that when I'm at work. I love what I do, I don't go out and blow my money, and I represent the good part of the adult business. I think only positive things about it and not the bad.

Q: How has working in adult affected your personal life?

Sunrise Adams: Oh, god, that's a good question. I was very gifted to grow up in a family that was very open-minded. I can talk to my Grandmom when I'm on set. I can talk to my Mom, my sisters, 'So yeah, I just did a girl-girl was so-and-so and it was really good'. But then again there's people, especially like my boyfriend, there not grown up around that. They've grown up where everything is supposed to be quiet and hidden. The things you feel and the way you think are not supposed to be shown. It hurts me, because I am in certain parts of my life to hide who I am. If some one asked me who I am I'm not going to say a model, I'm not going to say a singer, or whatever. I'm going to say I'm a porn star. I love being a porn star. But it does affect my life. I have to go around and feel like I'm undercover, because oh, god, what happens if somebody finds out that I am a porn star? There going to look down on me. Those are the people that are going to whisper about me, or shun me, or those are the people in my apartment complex that don't want to have their little kids walking by my door. Because of the stereotype, 'Oh my god I'm a porn star I'm a bad person.' I'm not that way at all. I feel that there are people around me that are tens times as bad as I'll ever be.

Q: You mentioned your boyfriend. What is it like trying to work in the adult film business at the same time?

Sunrise Adams: In the beginning it was very, very hard. They don't understand. No matter how hard you push for them to understand that when you go into work you are going to work, and that's all it is. Its protected, its clean, its all kosher. You're not going to somewhere to fuck around. You're going to work. That's your family. Its like the person your doing a scene with is an old friend. You know his wife, you know his kids. You go to work and you talk about your day. 'Oh, how's your wife doing?' 'Oh, how's your wife doing?' They just don't understand that. They understand you are going to work and you are getting fucked by somebody. No matter how much you pressure them, they don't understand that. So it's very hard. It's great. We've been together seven months, and he's working so hard to understand. And I'm trying to understand his side. We work together on how much I let him see. I try to keep him protected. I don't want him to see that. Of course he sees it, of course his friends see it, and they through it in his face. He's really trying to open up, trying to keep his mind open and trying to focus about how he feels about me.

Q: Back to what people think, or not think. What are people's biggest misconceptions about the adult film business?

Sunrise Adams: I think people's biggest mistakes in how they see us is that they think we are horn-crazed, disgusting people, that go and have unprotected sex, that we're dirty, and that what we do is wrong. The part they don't see is what happens when a couple runs out of ideas? What do they do? They pop in a porn flick. We're helping them create ideas. We're helping them have a healthy sexual relationship. What happens when a perverted man is out there having fantasies about a young girl? He goes out and watches a porn flick, and watches his fantasies through that instead of going out there and that young girl. He's going to stay home and do it over a video. People have so many misconceptions about what we do. Again, let me relate back. There are some people in the adult that give us a bad name. They're the people using the , going out and having unprotected sex and bringing it back into the adult. We are protected, we are safe, we are keeping it inside. Instead of Regular Joe. Every weekend he goes out and takes a girl home from a girl club. He doesn't know where she's been, he doesn't know if she's tested, if she's clean, and he's going off. But he's okay, because he's not in porn. It's okay to have dirty sex, it's okay behind the scenes...if its not on film it's okay to do what you want. If you're a governor or president [it's okay] to go and cheat on your spouse. They're okay...they're normal. But us, we live normal lives. We have families and lives beyond this and we're not going out and doing these things. We just do it on film. We create fantasies and dreams. And that's the way I see it. At no time in my life will I think what I'm doing is wrong. Because I am helping people. Yeah, I enjoy it sometimes. Yeah, sometimes it's pleasurable. But sometimes I come to work and I hate coming to work, because I know I am going to have to sit here all day. But I love what I do. I just wish people could understand that we do is not wrong. And it's never going to happen. But you know...actually it is kind of happening because it's more on cable now, because it's more recognized. The sex industry is more recognized now. It's everywhere. But will it ever be fully okay to your regular teacher who's also a Mom? No. I lived in a neighborhood, and just because I did porn I couldn't hang out with the kids my age. Because I did porn and the parents didn't want me around other teenagers. That's okay for them to think that. But those are the closed-minded people that aren't going to get too far in life.

Q: Do you feel it's as glamorous as some people think it is?

Sunrise Adams: Oh, gosh, you're walking around the set. You realize that it's not as glamorous as people conceive it to be. It's struggling, it's us getting ripped open, it's us getting put in uncomfortable situations. It's too hot, or freezing cold weather. And you have to perform with lots of people around. To me it's beautiful, yes. To me it's glamorous, yes. I come to work and I feel like a hag, and I get all this make-up on me, and I feel incredible. But I do think it's glamorous. But in all in all, no, it's not that glamorous. I'd love to take a Normal Joe off the street that thinks what we do is dirty and put him here and say, 'Look, this is what we do.' It's not everyone hiding in closets having sex. It's not everyone slinging their body parts everywhere. It's more down to earth. It's more like going to work, getting paid, going home. If we have fun in the middle of it, great.

Q: Hearing you talk about your family, and your experiences in porn I am reminded of Boogie Nights. The whole idea that the entire adult industry is kind of one big, off-kilter family. Do you ever experience that?

Sunrise Adams: It is! It is! Everyone is looking out for one another. Unless they're all backstabbing. You have the gossipers, of course. Of course, the druggies. You have the bad people. I come to work and it is a family. I trust these people. I trust these people with my life. It is a family. You get used to seeing the same people over and over again. And I've helped many girls do the right way of doing things. It's very much a family. I did have a very messed up childhood. That made me a strong person. In no way would that ever lead me to porn! That would lead me to and insanity before it would lead me to porn. But I see it very much a family. A lot of people in the adult film business come to my house. We all hang out. I love it, I really do.

Q: Now you're getting your business degree?

Sunrise Adams: Yes.

Q: What do you want to use that for?

Sunrise Adams: I'm actually at a halt. I went to college when I was . I did a few years there before I came here. I am having a little waiting period before I go back. I'm enjoying my life. This is always what I wanted to do. But with my business degree... I don't plan on being in front of the camera too long. I plan to do this. Through this I want to learn everything. I want to learn camerawork. I want to learn directing. I want to learn producing. I want to learn everything I can. I want to be behind the scenes. I want to run the camera, I want to run the lights, I want to be the person in charge. And not only that. I want to speak out for the adult business. The pros and the cons. I want to be one step above the freedom of speech, and one step below a lawyer. I want to go to the courtrooms, the jury meetings. I want to help people understand what the adult business is all about.