Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Porn Stars, From Pay to What It Smells Like on Set

If you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s really like to be a porn star, you’re in the right place. Because the ABC’s latest season of You Can’t Ask That puts porn stars of all shapes, sizes and talents into the spotlight.

“When I’m fucking on camera it’s much easier than an interview like this,” LA-based porn star Angela White says in the episode.

So how does someone become a porn star?

“I’ve always been so fascinated and frightened of it. Drawn to it while being disgusted,” White says.

She was just 18 and still in high school when she shot her first film.

“The thing I was most nervous about was whether the dick was going to fit. It was a tight squeeze but we made it,” she says.

Curiosity was a major driving force for many of the porn stars on You Can’t Ask That. But for Melbourne’s Morgana Muses it was a different form of pleasure she was seeking.

“Within my marriage, I wasn’t able to explore my sexuality,” she says. “I was in a state of depression and I was planning on committing suicide. But I wanted to experience joy, so what I chose to do was book an escort. It was life-changing for me.

“That’s why I decided at age 45 to get a divorce and give myself permission to pursue pleasure and my life.”

You’ll be pleased to know she used her divorce settlement to fund her filmmaking and even won an award with her first porn film.

But if you thought porn stars were rolling in money, think again. Many of them have side hustles in order to make ends meet, or become film distributors themselves. We learn on You Can’t Ask That some on-camera acts will only be paid a couple of hundred dollars, whereas trans porn stars can demand several thousand dollars per scene.

It’s often a long, hard day’s work for porn stars, with many working 12-hour days. And it’s not exactly a sexy time — the director will talk throughout filming, shouting “cut” and “next position” over and over.

At this point, you’re probably wondering what it smells like on the set of the porn film. Spoiler: it smells like sex because there are so many different body fluids flying about.

“It gets stinky pretty fast,” says Sydney porn star Woody Fox.

Joining Porn Stars in season 7 of You Can’t Ask That is Bogans, Postnatal Depression, Gay Men, Models, Prescription Drug Dependency & Addiction, Juvenile Detention, and Dementia. It all starts on Wednesday, May 25 at 9:00 pm on ABV TV, with all episodes available on iview the same day.

If Morgana Muses’ story has raised any issues for you, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.