Facts & Figures:
Born: September 15, 1985
Birthplace: Sacramento, CA
Height: 5′ 5″
There has been an uptick in female directors—It seems—though it’s possible they were already around and no one was noticing. Even so, there is a noticeable shift in the world in terms of how women are being portrayed. In the adult industry we are seeing that reflected in projects that are branded as ‘directed by women’—which also often means they are directed for women.
–Kayden Kross[1]https://www.xcritic.com/columns/column.php?columnID=5011
I remember the first time I saw Kayden Kross. (The film may have been “Be Here Now” (2007, VIVID), but I’m not sure.) She was in a scene with Tommy Gunn. The scene began with both of them standing naked, facing the camera, very matter-of-factly, as if they were two boxers being presented before a fight. Here stood these two magnificently-built creatures, one of whom (Mr. Gunn) I was already familiar with. Gunn is a muscular porn vet with a very likeable personality and a distinct lack of toxic ego. (Check out the interview with him in the music video for the Rilo Kiley song “Money Maker!”)
Maybe I was taken by her classic Hollywood glamour looks and figure, perfect skin (and with very few tattoos) and confident erect stance. I was about to see Veronica Lake have real sex with Alan Ladd, see what fucking looked like in a suite in the Chateau Marmont in an afternoon in 1949.
Kayden grew up in near Sacramento and says she was bookish in high school. “I was very shy. I read books on the playground. At home I was a tomboy. I was always climbing trees and bringing lizards home,” she said in an interview with xcritic.com in 2009.[2]https://www.xcritic.com/columns/column.php?columnID=1726 Lucky lizards! She began stripping at age 18 to raise money to save an injured pony from being put to death. She made enough money in one day to pay for the animal’s medical expenses and avoid it being put down. Damn. Is there a sweeter origin story for a porn star than that? [3]https://www.dailystar.co.uk/real-life/broke-waitress-strips-cash-save-24791861
Success came quickly for Kayden. She was Penthouse Pet of the Month for September 2008. Kross signed with Vivid, then Adam & Eve and Digital Playground. Her 2010 feature “The Smiths” was a huge hit. That same year she hosted the AVN Awards Show.
Kayden and French porn star Manuel Ferrara became partners in 2012 and now she performs only in scenes with him, spending most of her time directing. A four-time winner of AVN’s “Director of the Year” award, she owns her own production studio–TRENCHCOATx.com–and has won acclaim for her Deeper series of features, known for their high production values and couple-oriented demographic. Ferrara and Kross had a daughter in 2014.
Kross is very well read and has been a contributor to McSweeney’s and other publications. She blogs for xcritic.com; one of my favorite Kayden Kross posts is “The Art of the Blowjob”:
A good blow job can be better than sex. It is not a coupon that you issue on birthdays and holidays or when you fuck up. It is not a chore. It is an exercise in meditation. I zone out when I give them. I go to my happy place where the penis and I exist in perfect harmony. The very thought of giving one makes me salivate. I don’t believe in lube I believe in blow jobs.[4]https://www.xcritic.com/blogs/blog.php?blogID=2328
FRUITSHAKE: “This is Kayden with her partner Manuel Ferrara. So the sex is probably similar to the sex they have at home? Or do porn stars even have sex at home? Maybe they are like professional chefs; I recall Anthony Bourdain once saying that the last thing he wanted to do when he came home from work was to cook!”
SMOOTHIE: “I really miss Bourdain. Do you think Stanley Tucci is going to be the next Bourdain?”
FRUITSHAKE: “Let’s not get side-tracked here. Watch the scene.”
00:35 SMOOTHIE: “Deeper.com scenes are very romantic. Look at those autumn leaves. Kayden in a hammock. Look at the huge loft! I want to live in a loft big enough to ride a bicycle around in it. Remember the scene in The Conversation where John Cazale is riding abound in the loft on a bike?”
00.55 FRUITSHAKE: “Manuel is a painter! Bien sûr, everyone from France is an artist!
01:13 SMOOTHIE: “Uh, oh. Romantic sex scene visual trope 001: hand clutching a sheet!”
01:43 FRUITSHAKE: “Eh! Oh, she says ‘But I was married. We were married, I should say.’ Married to each other? Or, like the best country song lyric of all time: ‘When you’re married/But not to each other!'”
02:05 SMOOTHIE: “Bingo! From Paris to Paris, Texas we go. Somehow, no matter how good their acting is, I believe that as much as I believe all of these couples having sex in porn scenes are actually step-siblings. I mean, who cares? Do I really need to believe in the narrative setup to have a good wank?”
02:28 FRUITSHAKE: “I understand it is important for the couples watching. They invest in the back story as they sip wine and… Smoothie! Remove your hand from my leg!”
02:30 SMOOTHIE: “Sorry, I thought it was my leg. Wow, Kayden is more perfect than any figure sculpted by Rodin or… remember the Gérôme painting, Pygmalion and Galatea, the one where the sculpture comes alive and is embraced by the painter?”
FRUITSHAKE: “Indeed, one of the most beautiful female derrieres in 19th century art! Back up one second to 02:29. Nice image of two coffee cup stains on a napkin, intersected, symbolizing both of their wedding rings.”
03:30 SMOOTHIE: “Auteur! Auteur! Meanwhile, the sibilance of Kayden’s narration is very alluring. Now the music has stopped and the fucking will begin soon. Good time now to describe why Kayden Kross has such a breathtaking body.”
03:35 FRUITSHAKE: “Oh and the icy lushness of it all! I’m gonna spend a couple grand on her. Gonna pop a rubber band on her!”
03:40 SMOOTHIE: “There you go quoting Gucci Mane again! But don’t let me stop you, go head!”
04:00 FRUITSHAKE: “If I had a loft like that a lady like that!”
04:17 SMOOTHIE: “You’ll need more than one AC, though! I see only one in the whole place. What is that, a 600 BTU? You’ll be sweatin’ like a pig before Kayden even gets on you.”
05:16 FRUITSHAKE: “Kayden was wise to not get any tattoos. Look at that bodyscape! Never seen a better metaphor for Sweden. This should be a travel poster.”
…
11:40 SMOOTHIE: “They’re doing it standing up on a bed! Hey, look at those stairs in the background. No rails. Isn’t that a building code violation?”
11:45 FRUITSHAKE: “Turn it off! I can’t take it anymore. This is Mount Olympus-quality fucking. I’m a top-rated edger and I’ve already come three times in my pants.”
11:50 SMOOTHIE: “Okay. I’m ready for a coffee break, anyway.”
