Porn Stars Tell Us What They Think About During Sex

I often find it hard to focus at work. I’ll be banging away at the keyboard, squinting at words on a screen while my head drifts far away. It's the nature of my job, but then it's possibly the nature of most jobs—I think.

I visited a porn set the other week, and I got to wondering: do porn stars daydream during sex? I mean, sure, it’s sex, but it’s also still work. And interestingly one study from 2010 found that most people daydream at least 30 percent of the time, except when they're having sex. So where does it fall for adult entertainers? I asked a few performers on the set of Lightsouthern's latest production.

VICE: So, Blake, what are you thinking about when you’re shooting your scenes?
Blake: Generally in terms of the actual scene and work it’s am I open to the camera? Is my body in the right position? Is this position going to actually look good on camera? And then as the scene wears on a little bit it’s like: What am I going to eat afterwards? What type of pizza will I get? Do I have beers at home? That kind of thing.

Does your mind ever go to strange places?
Quite a lot. It’s very easy for a lot of mundane thoughts to pop into my head. As a scene goes on you’re kind of mentally keeping track of the time, if you’ve done a variety of positions and held them long enough to make sure the director is getting enough shots, and yeah, honestly I then just drift back to food.

Is the work still a turn on then, or is it just a job you can zone out doing?
Yeah, I’ve never really been someone who gets turned on purely because of the camera. It’s just another day at the office! You can definitely have fun, and every scene is a little bit different, but it’s not a huge big sexual excitement for me. I just enjoy the process.

Hey Jessie. So you’re in the middle of a sex scene. Where’s your head at?
Apart from the camera, I guess I'm thinking about the other performer—because obviously they’ve been paid to have sex with you, so it’s like, do they actually like what’s happening, or are they faking it? Are they attracted to me at all? Have they had viagra today?

My mind can definitely wander, but I guess whenever I’m at work I’m always thinking about making a good scene. I still get nervous. On the flip side, you can get too caught up in the sex. I would say male porn stars are pretty good in bed. That’s just the truth. So sometimes it’s like Am I too caught up? Have we been in this position for like fifteen minutes and need to move on to something else?

With the pleasure side of things, is it as easy for you to come during a scene as it is for you in your private life?
I would say it’s definitely possible and I can orgasm, but it’s definitely harder because there’s that pressure of a camera watching and you have to come. I do really strive to make my porn orgasms genuine and I think most of them definitely are. I don’t want to say all of them, because that’s not true. There’s definitely a pressure and it can take you a bit longer, but the key to that is, male and female, you have to relax. It’s harder for guys because you need the cum shot.

Do you have “spank bank” material for if a scene isn’t quite doing it for you physically?
To be honest, I think that’s probably most of the time when I’ve orgasmed—when I’ve turned to whatever fantasy is in my mind. I guess any porn scenes that I’ve watched recently myself that have been fresh in my mind, I can turn back to that. With a little imagination I can eventually get there.

What about solo scenes? Is it still work, or can you cut loose?
I would say solos are a lot more work because you do everything yourself. But filming solo is a bit more relaxed so my mind can wander to what’s my cat doing? Do I need to feed her? I’ll go to the post office later. Really mundane type things.

While you're here check out the latest documentary from VICE Australia:

Hey Madison. I think a lot of us tend to daydream at work. Where does your mind go when you’re in the middle of a sex scene?
The scene I just shot last week was a BDSM impact scene where I was the submissive, so I had an authentic experience where I went into sub space.

What’s “sub space” like?
Sub space is like a relaxed zen-like space. There's a freedom in there, because submitting to someone means they are totally in control so you literally have no cares in the world. I certainly still felt the pain, but the pain becomes sort of pleasurable. After being in sub space, especially with hard impact and pain play, you go through a high followed by a low called "sub drop" over the next 24 hours or so. It’s certainly a ride!

What about the more vanilla scenes. What are you thinking about?
Most of my scenes are pretty much a formula for me: oral sex, three positions, and cum shot. So I sing songs in my head. My go-to song is "Black Velvet". Singing is all about the timing and getting me into a particular mood. People don’t like hearing it, but I’m rarely actually turned on whilst shooting, so I sing to myself songs that make me feel sexy so I can tap into that side of things. They are also great for timing my movements: one song sung means I can change position, five songs means I can close the scene.

Hey Jake. So, obviously there’s a lot of professional stuff to think about, like how you’re presenting to camera, but where does your mind go when you’re shooting a scene?
I think have I said “oh fuck” too many times?, which is my go-to line. I’m really always thinking about what I’m going to do next. When’s the next scene? What else is happening this week? To be honest, I’ve got things running through my head non-stop. I'm always thinking about painting and getting out for a paint really.

So you’re in the action thinking that wall next to the train station would be pretty easy to reach?
One-hundred percent. I enjoy painting more than I enjoy sex, so that’s a big thing. That’s where my passion is. I’m a creator. So the sex in porn that I do is not my favourite part about doing the porn. It’s a very small part. I’ve had a lot of people tell me "it must be awesome doing that?" And yeah, it’s awesome, but that’s not where the awesomeness is really. It’s the end product.

Does you still get turned on?
That’s a hard one. It’s not a turn on like you’re watching porn. When I’m looking down I’m not thinking she's so hot. I guess if you were to do that, if you tried to be turned on, you’d come quicker.

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Thanks to Lightsouthern for letting us on their set