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I Was an Accidental Porn Star

Swansea student "Kristopher Kodjoe" was scouted on a night out in Barcelona.
Hannah Ewens
London, GB

Luke-Kristopher Davis

Civilian to porn star—it’s a route most travel via casting couches and cum shots. But for Luke-Kristopher Davis—a 21-year-old physics student at Swansea University—everything happened the fairy-tale way. While spending a year in Spain, he was whisked off his feet by director Erika Lust, who cast him in two of her films.

Luke-Kristopher is now back in the UK, but besides his bio on Erika’s site—which says he “dances and attends university when he is not wowing us with his great smile”—I didn’t know much about him or his accidental foray into porn. So I gave him a call to talk it over.

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VICE: Hi, Luke-Kristopher. So how did all of this happen for you?
Luke-Kristopher Davis: I was in Barcelona on a night out with some friends, and this woman came over and asked me if I was a model or an actor. I said I was just a student. Then she asked me to do a porn film.

Did she say what she found so alluring about you?
Yeah, yeah. Well, she thought I’d done modeling. She said, “Oh, you’re very good-looking. Are you a model or an actor?” I do actually get it absolutely everywhere I go [laughs].

Really?
Yeah. Right now I work in a bar, and all my customers ask me. They come up to me and take pictures. It’s quite funny.

What went through your mind when she suggested it?
I wasn’t really shocked, to be honest. I just saw it as an opportunity to have a little—you know, fun [laughs]. I thought about it rationally: 'Would this be worth it?' I had to assess the risk and if it was safe. She described her company, and it didn’t sound like a back-alley thing. It’s very high-quality. And it’s a feminist company, so I was impressed by that.

Had you ever done anything like this before?
Yeah, actually—I’ve done a bit of stripping. A woman once asked if I could strip for her friend’s bachelorette party. I think they asked quite jokingly, but I ended up doing it and I’ve done a few more since. That was also quite fun.

Had you thought about being in porn before being approached by Erika?
Of course, it’s crossed every man’s mind. Every male—or at least 90 percent of males who watch porn—imagine being a porn star and what kind of life they’d have. The cliché life. So it had crossed my mind, but never seriously. If I was going to be in porn, I’d never want to be in mainstream stuff like, you know, James Deen. I like the idea of high-quality cinema porn that’s HD, that’s erotic. It’s not just sex on camera. There’s a story there, there’s chemistry between the performers.

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Can I ask how much money you were offered?
I’m actually not allowed to discuss that. I can tell you it’s more than $700—that's as specific as I can get.

Tell me about shooting the movie. Did you feel self-conscious at all?
No, no. I’m very comfortable in my body and in myself. I think a lot of my confidence comes from my intellectual view. I believe that we’re just humans. I went into it thinking that it’s literally just a bodily act—sex—on camera. It’s not that scary, you know? Some people might have been, Oh my God, they’re going to see me naked. But it’s just the human body at the end of the day, and that’s it.

Was there a plot you had to follow?
Yeah, in the sense that there’s always an idea behind [Erika’s] movies. So in this one, Before the Guests Arrive, the idea is that there’s a couple who are hosting a dinner party, and they have sex before the guests arrive. That’s the idea, and then there’s a script and lines I had to say. Although it’s not totally scripted. A lot of it is improvisation and the chemistry between the two performers.

Did you get direction for the actual sex?
There was. Again, there’s an idea—like, "Go in this position"—and then it’s up to the performers to make that natural and add do different facial expressions for the camera. And then you do it over again. It’s very different from normal sex in that it’s directed, but not completely directed.

Were you imagining porn you'd watched before while you were doing it?
No, no, no. I’m not the biggest porn watcher. To be honest, I just became that character. The actress who was playing my wife, I just imagined she was my wife, and I just got on the couch and literally just acted.

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So you didn’t use any moves you’d picked up from watching porn?
I’ve become [laughs], maybe, a natural? The key is to not fake it and go with your natural body movement and do what you’d normally do in that situation. Any superficiality would get picked up by the director. So I just did what felt very natural.

Were you pleased when you watched it back?
They showed me a trailer as soon as it came out, and I didn’t feel awkward watching it. I thought I did all right. I thought I did the job well.

What have girls thought of you being a porn star?
I don’t tell girls straightaway. I don’t go, “Hi, my name’s Luke; I’m in a porno.” Some girls actually feel quite intimidated. I think a lot of girls find me quite intimidating anyway, because I’m confident and physically quite intimidating.

What did they think about it when you went back to your bar job?
They don’t mind, you know. They know I’m a genuine guy. It’s just something that happened. They obviously find it surprising or shocking, but they don’t look down on it. Some people say I’m crazy.

Are you going to keep doing this alongside your studies?
Maybe. I mean, now I’m just concentrating on my studies and physics and stuff. But I might go back to Barcelona or anywhere where I might be able to do it again.

Would you do any porn in the UK?
Hmm. It depends what type of porn it is. The thing with Barcelona is that it was a very unique company. If someone approached me and it was a very well-made film, or… you know, I don’t want to do anything amateur. I prefer good films.

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Any other career ambitions?
I’ve been considering working as an actor, because I’m very confident on camera, and I have some skills in acting, so maybe that. Aside from that, I’ll probably end up in academia or a researcher or in science, but I’ll always be open to other possibilities. I’m a very ambitious person, so I’ll try to do well in whatever I go into.

Well, best of luck in whatever it is you choose. Cheers, Luke-Kristopher.

@hannahrosewens

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