‘Politics Is a Little Too Sleazy for Me’: An Interview With Porn Star Angela White

In 2020, porn actor and director Angela White made history when she was awarded AVN female performer of the year for the third consecutive year. Since joining the industry in 2003, White’s accolades have exploded and she now sits comfortably in the top 0.01% of earners on OnlyFans.

The Australian has spent the better part of a decade living and working in the US. Her career has spanned a list of achievements and critical acclaim, both in porn and in Australian academia and politics, the latter of which has definitively elevated her to Eternal Icon status. 

VICE caught up with the star while she was in town for Sexpo Australia, to find out what it’s like being one of the coolest people in the world. 

VICE: Hi Angela. It’s an HONOUR to speak with you… Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're the most award-winning female performer in adult entertainment history. How does it feel to hold that title?

Angela White: It's such an incredible honour. It feels amazing to not only be recognised and supported by my fans, but to also have that recognition from the critics and my peers.

It's so cool that you're Australian as well. Holding that title down for down under, as it were. What have been some of the biggest changes in the industry since you started back in 2003?

OnlyFans has really changed the industry for performers. I really feel like it's the era of the performer! Performers are more in control of their financial future, performances, and are also independent content creators. So they're producing and owning their content, which means they're getting the dividends of that content and making the money from that content. So I think that OnlyFans has really changed the game.

This was like, way before my time, but if I could take it back to 2010, when you ran in the Victorian State election with the Sex Party. That was iconic. Can you tell me a bit about that?

So Fiona Patten, who was the head of the Australian Sex Party, asked me to run. And at the time, a Greens candidate named Kathleen Maltzahn was running for the seat of Richmond and she was running on an anti-sex work and anti-sex worker policy. So, she was advocating for the shutting down of brothels in Melbourne. And sex workers have continuously said that shutting down brothels actually makes the work less safe for women and actually sends sex work underground. 

So obviously, that's very concerning, when a Greens candidate and self-identified feminist is advocating for something that's actually going to make women less safe. So, I was very much inspired to try and help with that campaign and my goal was never actually to win the seat. It was just to draw attention to the fact that Kathleen Maltzahn’s policies were going to put women in danger. 

I just wanted to take votes away from her so that she didn't win the seat. And it was a success because she didn't win. So, I'm very happy about that [laughs].

That is just so cool. Was that just a one off? Have you had further interest in politics? Or, would you ever like to return?

Never say never. But politics is a little too sleazy for me.

I was going to ask you whether you think sex workers are adequately represented in policy in Australia, but that’s a little tough because you’ve been living in the US for seven years.

When I was living here, they were not represented, very underrepresented. I'm not living here right now, but from what I've seen, things haven't really changed.

How did the research that you undertook for your honours thesis, “The Porn Performer: The Radical Potential of Pleasure in Pornography,” affect the way you viewed the porn industry?

So for that honours thesis, I undertook qualitative research into female experiences in the Australian pornography industry. And the findings from that were actually really fascinating. The first major finding from that was that the canonical narrative of victimisation shapes the way performers can speak about their work. 

So, this constant myth that surrounds the industry that women are victimised and degraded within the industry means that when performers try to speak about their lives, they're constantly having to justify their existence and speak to that narrative first, before they can tell you about their other experiences. 

Even without being asked about how they felt about whether they were victimised versus empowered, they would say, ‘Oh, I chose to do this. I'm not a victim’, even though I never asked them that question. So that that narrative really frames the debate. 

And the second finding that I thought was really fascinating was that pornography had this radical potential to change the way that the women self-identified sexually. 

So, for example, one of the performers got into the industry identifying as strictly heterosexual, had a boyfriend, had no interest in women, and then got booked for a lesbian scene. So ‘gay for pay’, as we call it. And, in this scene, she ended up having incredible pleasure orgasming. And it completely shifted her understanding of her own sexual identity. 

And I thought, porn is such an interesting environment, because it's categorised as work. She felt comfortable having sex with a woman, even though outside of that work environment she never would have been placed or possibly never would have been placed in that position. And through working in porn actually discovered something about herself that she didn't know before. So, I thought that was very interesting.

Would you continue the same line of research if you went back to study? I know you’ve spoken about wanting to do your PHD.

If I do go back, I would want to expand it. That thesis focused on female experiences, and obviously there's a diverse range of people in the industry, and I'd love to get a broader understanding of their experiences in the industry.

Very cool. Do you have a favourite kind of scene to shoot? Specifically?

I love all sex-Gonzo scenes, because they are the scenes where I can connect with my onscreen partner the most. Those are the scenes that I get to create genuine passion and chemistry and fuck the other person like I would if the cameras weren't there.

Oh, my God, I love the term sex-Gonzo. What makes a great scene? Is it an authenticity thing? 

Connection, presence, chemistry. Those are what makes an incredible scene.

And outside of work, what is the key to great sex?

Communication.

Mic drop. You've been called the Meryl Streep of porn, which is hilarious. What do you think about that title? Do you think it's representative of yourself and who you are professionally?

Well, that title was in reference to winning a lot of awards, which Meryl Streep had also done. But I would say that I'm uniquely Angela White.

And you've always used your real name in work. Was that something you planned? 

It was something that I did as a political statement to say: ‘I'm proud of what I do. I'm not going to hide behind an alias’. And me getting into porn was all about expressing and exploring my own sexuality. So, I wanted to be me, authentically.

What would you say is the proudest achievement of your life?

I'm proud that I paved my own path. I'm proud that I followed my dreams, in spite of the criticism. And I'm also proud to be the only performer to have won AVN female performer of the year, three times [laughs]. I am proud of that fact, and all of the hard work I put into achieving that.

What is your best life advice that you do have for young people?

Do what you love. Follow your dreams. Even if it's deemed unconventional, do what you love.

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